Legal Question in Family Law in Oklahoma

Marriage

I was told that if you get married and then find out your spouse is still married and he files and gets his divorce after wards that your marriage is still legal because the 2nd supper seeds the 1st marriage as long as the divorce does take place is this true?


Asked on 2/19/07, 10:28 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Ben Stevens The Stevens Firm, P.A. Family Law Center

Re: Marriage

The answer to this question is "probably no". Your wedding ceremony was not valid because your spouse lacked the capacity to enter into marriage at that time.

The next issue is whether or not you are common law married. You meet most of the elements to prove a common law marriage, but the SC Supreme Court decided a case back in Sept. of 2005, which said if there is an impediment to common law marriage at the beginning then it does not automatically become valid if the impediment is removed.

The facts of that case were a little different but the outcome may be the same in your case. The safest option is to simply get married again with a marriage license, etc. You can read more about this case by pasting this link into your web browser: http://www.scfamilylaw.com/marriage-common-law-marriage-development.html

If you need more information, you can visit my family law blog (www.SCFamilyLaw.com) or our website (www.StevensFirm.com). I wish you the best of luck.

Ben Stevens

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Answered on 2/19/07, 2:36 pm


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