Thank you for all the replies

MEM62

It is very difficult to prove a negative.  If someone claims that you OH is married get them to prove it.  If you cannot then they certainly would not be able to.  

tightauldgit

What do you mean by a marriage type ceremony abroad? Are they legally married or not in that country? 

Which country are we talking about? It may be possible to get something from that country that confirms they were never legally married but that is going to take time. 

If they were legally married overseas then it's not as simple as saying it's not registered in the UK so it doesn't matter. 

If the authorities are not prepared to allow the wedding to go ahead then I have to say I doubt you would be able to obtain any evidence by Friday that would satisfy them. 

Have they asked for anything specifically? 

sheramber

Could the 'someone' be the other party to the marriage ceremony?

Does 'court/LA 2011' mean  the ceremony was in Los Angelos?

If the ceremony was registered abroad then there is no need to register it in this country.

If it was in LA 

you can request a copy of any certificate here  https://www.lavote.gov/home/records/marriage-records/marriage-records-request/online-request

Ergates

biscuit.lover said:

Hello I'm posting here as there is so much learned experience on this forum that someone may be able to help.

I urgently need to prove that my partner is not married (yes).  

They had a marriage type ceremony abroad many years ago but did not make it legal here in England.

We paid a solicitor to look for any evidence in the courts/LA in 2011 and they could not find anything and said they were free to marry.

We finally decided to wed!  But are unable to as someone has informed the place we were getting married that he is already married.  He is not.

The solicitor has destroyed any paperwork relating to this and I can't find any either.

Where would you start with this?  I'm due to be married on Friday 😢

What you're asking is, as you've discovered, more or less impossible.  How could you ever prove that there isn't a legal marriage certificate for someone in some dusty drawer in an office in a small town in some far off country.

Tell the venue that they've been misinformed and ask them what they need from you to be satisfied of this.

If the solicitor destroyed all the paperwork - would they be willing/able to provide a statement that said that they checked and weren't able to find anything.

noitsnotme

sheramber said:

Could the 'someone' be the other party to the marriage ceremony?

Does 'court/LA 2011' mean  the ceremony was in Los Angelos?

If the ceremony was registered abroad then there is no need to register it in this country.

If it was in LA 

you can request a copy of any certificate here  https://www.lavote.gov/home/records/marriage-records/marriage-records-request/online-request

“Local Authority” seems the most plausible.

biscuit.lover

Thank you for all the replies.  
The court have found the original documents from 2011.  My paid for solicitor told us he was free to marry so no he did not 'lie'.  It's all there in the court documents.
However it looks like the solicitor failed to follow up that advice officially (another issue to deal with).
A judge is looking at the documents now.  
I suspect the actual marriage won't go ahead at this time...and I'm glad we know so we did not do anything potentially criminal.
Something good always comes out of something bad. 

Ergates

biscuit.lover said:

Thank you for all the replies.  
The court have found the original documents from 2011.  My paid for solicitor told us he was free to marry so no he did not 'lie'.  It's all there in the court documents.
However it looks like the solicitor failed to follow up that advice officially (another issue to deal with).
A judge is looking at the documents now.  
I suspect the actual marriage won't go ahead at this time...and I'm glad we know so we did not do anything potentially criminal.
Something good always comes out of something bad. 

So, just to clarify, your partner is *not* free to marry?  (i.e. they *are* legally married to someone else?)

Flugelhorn

Ergates said:

biscuit.lover said:

Hello I'm posting here as there is so much learned experience on this forum that someone may be able to help.

I urgently need to prove that my partner is not married (yes).  

They had a marriage type ceremony abroad many years ago but did not make it legal here in England.

We paid a solicitor to look for any evidence in the courts/LA in 2011 and they could not find anything and said they were free to marry.

We finally decided to wed!  But are unable to as someone has informed the place we were getting married that he is already married.  He is not.

The solicitor has destroyed any paperwork relating to this and I can't find any either.

Where would you start with this?  I'm due to be married on Friday 😢

Thank goodness someone quoted the original post - lots of people making helpful comments then the OP deletes the original and replaces with an update which means the thread makes no sense 

onomatopoeia99

Flugelhorn said:

Ergates said:

biscuit.lover said:

Hello I'm posting here as there is so much learned experience on this forum that someone may be able to help.

I urgently need to prove that my partner is not married (yes).  

They had a marriage type ceremony abroad many years ago but did not make it legal here in England.

We paid a solicitor to look for any evidence in the courts/LA in 2011 and they could not find anything and said they were free to marry.

We finally decided to wed!  But are unable to as someone has informed the place we were getting married that he is already married.  He is not.

The solicitor has destroyed any paperwork relating to this and I can't find any either.

Where would you start with this?  I'm due to be married on Friday 😢

Thank goodness someone quoted the original post - lots of people making helpful comments then the OP deletes the original and replaces with an update which means the thread makes no sense 

Edit button should be disabled 15 minutes after a post is made.