Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Divorce
I am married and have been trying to get a divorce for a few months now. I don't know where my spouse is and haven't seen her for three or four years. People that do hear about her heard that she was getting married this month.That means that she got a divorce somehow. I need to get verification that we are either divorced or married still. I don't want to go through the divorce paper work if I don;t have to. How can I get that info.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Divorce
Wow, looks like you have a bit of detective work before you.
She should have served you with notice when the petition for divorce was first filed, but that doesn't always happen.
You can check with Texas Vital Statistics which is part of the state health department. Here is a link to their site:
http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqproc/mdverification.shtm
Also try checking with the district clerks in any county where she has lived since you split up. They could provide you with a copy of any divorce decree if they have one for you.
If none of that works you might need to hire an investigator to find out.
If you can't find out for sure if you were divorced, you wold be better to assume that you weren't divorce and go ahead and file for divorce on your own. It's either that or risk bigamy, which would not be a pleasant situation to find yourself in.