Marriage legal bigamist??

Hannah7116

Good morning all

Just wondered if anyone could shed some light

I got married 3 years ago in florida. Split up 10 months later never got back to together.

My ex is now with another woman in which i found out they had an engagement party the other night

I have tried contacting to arrange for a divorce but have had no response im sure they are going to move to new zealand straight away after the marriage

Im worried they move away im still legally married? If my marriage was ever legal?

Any help would be great

chesky

If you were married in the US by a legally authorised person and never divorced, then you're still married. But if you're close enough to know when he gets engaged, why have you never divorced him?

Might be an idea to let the poor woman know that she might be committing bigamy, before she does so.

Browntoa

You can notify the local registry office if you think he is going to get married , they need to post notice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4328557.stm

The registry office will supply the forms , you can ring up your local one for advice

Rain_Shadow

Browntoa wrote: »

You can notify the local registry office if you think he is going to get married , they need to post notice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4328557.stm

The registry office will supply the forms , you can ring up your local one for advice

There's no indication that the intended marriage is in the UK. Would be useful to have it confirmed

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

How do you know when the wedding is? It might be a long engagement whilst he sorts the divorce out, bit unfair to label him a bigamist at the moment...

Placitasgirl

There's nothing to prevent anyone still legally married from getting engaged. He just can't get legally married again without your divorce being finalised first. They could however have a "symbolic ceremony" which isn't legally binding but people still celebrate as a "real" wedding.

Seems you know enough about what's going on his/his new fianc!es wife to make contact to instigate divorce proceedings to me !

jackyann

You also asked if your Florida marriage was legal.
I know that most marriages that take place abroad have to be registered in some way with the country where the participants reside. I don't know the exact technicalities of this - the venue may have done it.
I am sure that you could check this, but can offer no advice as to where to begin, other than searching on gov.uk

Spendless

I married in Florida over 17 years ago. You go to the 'courthouse' (I can't remember the official name) read a booklet, signing some forms and they ask you if you have a ceremony booked or you wish to get married there. We had a ceremony booked for the following day. You are issued with a wedding certificate, which I think came a few weeks later. There was no requirement to register the marriage back in the U.K. My marriage is legal. What makes you think yours isn't?.

Detroit

Marriages that take place abroad are recognised as legal in the UK provided they were legal in the country in which they took place.

You can find out if your FLorida marriage is legal by contacting the Department of children and families in Jacksonville (you'll need to Google the details) who should have a copy of your marriage certificate if everything was done to legal requirements.

colesy

jackyann wrote: »

You also asked if your Florida marriage was legal.
I know that most marriages that take place abroad have to be registered in some way with the country where the participants reside. I don't know the exact technicalities of this - the venue may have done it.
I am sure that you could check this, but can offer no advice as to where to begin, other than searching on gov.uk

If the marriage was legally valid in the country where it took place, it is automatically valid in the UK. There is no need for it to be registered here, and indeed no means by which that could be achieved.

TBagpuss

jackyann wrote: »

You also asked if your Florida marriage was legal.
I know that most marriages that take place abroad have to be registered in some way with the country where the participants reside. I don't know the exact technicalities of this - the venue may have done it.
I am sure that you could check this, but can offer no advice as to where to begin, other than searching on gov.uk

No they don't. If the marriage is recognised as valid in the country it took place in it is valid in the UK. And there are various international treaties which means that this is true for most countries.
There are some exceptions, and of course people may need to prove they are married for various immigration, tax or benefits reasons, but those don't make any difference to the validity of the marriage.

OP, you would need to check that you Florida marriage was valid , and assuming that it was, you can then ether start divorce proceedings (you can issue proceedings in this country provided that you are living here) , or you can simply contact your husband and remind him that you are still married and ask him whether he is planning to sort out a divorce.

Whether you chose to tell his fiancee is up to you.