Divorced w/o knowing

[nixrae]

August 26, 2010
Texas

The moral of the story is my mom found out Tuesday August 24, 2010 that her husband passed away 2 weeks ago. She contacted his retirement plan to see what they needed from her to start receiving his retirement, and she was informed she wouldn’t receive any retirement due to the divorce decreed on file.

What’s strange is my mom didn’t know she had been divorced from Rob. She called the county clerk’s office in Arkansas and found that indeed she was divorced, but she never received any notification. The clerk stated the address they show was in Sache, TX and the divorce was granted in August 2008.

She and Rob married in Sache TX in June 2005, but in 2007 she sent him back to Arkansas due to the fact he lied to her about moving to TX full time. She has sent off for a copy of the decreed. What is really weird is that I called the constable office in Sache, and they don’t show any record of my mom trying to be served.
My question
1. Can someone get a divorce granted if the other party didn’t know about it?
2. If someone else signed her name to the decreed what action can be done in order for her to receive his retirement?
3. Should the people that forged the documents be prosecuted for their action?
4. The retirement amount is only $258.00 a month, but he did make her the beneficiary, and she is on income.

Sincerely,
nixrae
any advice would be helpful god bless and have a wonderful day

 

[Tex78704]

I called the constable office in Sache, and they don’t show any record of my mom trying to be served.

Unless the constable was the one who served the petition, that office would not have these records. Service could have been attempted by any number of means including sheriffs dept or private process server.

You would need to contact the clerks office in the court where the divorce was handled and get a copy of the Clerks Record in that case that pertains to the initial filiing of divorce and service. Given this divorce was apparently 'uncontested', the file should not be that large, so it would be best to get a copy of the entire Clerks Record in this case.

Once you have the file, you may need an attorney to review it to understand exactly how this divorce was handled from beginning to end.

If there are any issues with the handling of this divorce such that the divorce may not be deemed valid, then you will almost surely need an attorney to fix it.

 

[nixrae]

Divorced w/o knowning

Thanks, Tex78704

True my mom has sent off for the papers. Both Rob and my mom didn't want a divorce because I truly believe that he loved her. On the other hand his kids didn't like her.

Rob had been battling Cancer and his kids did have power to handle all of his bills,etc so here is what I'm thinking before their father was so far gone they did the divorce for him with out him knowing and that's where the problem lays.

His kids are so greeted that they didn't want my having nothing from him. I'll keep all posted to what I find out when she does receive the decree.

 

[Zigner]

Thanks, Tex78704

True my mom has sent off for the papers. Both Rob and my mom didn't want a divorce because I truly believe that he loved her. On the other hand his kids didn't like her.

Rob had been battling Cancer and his kids did have power to handle all of his bills,etc so here is what I'm thinking before their father was so far gone they did the divorce for him with out him knowing and that's where the problem lays.

His kids are so greeted that they didn't want my having nothing from him. I'll keep all posted to what I find out when she does receive the decree.

His kids didn't do the divorce for him without his knowledge... it doesn't work that way.

 

[ih8idiots]

What is really weird is that I called the constable office in Sache, and they don’t show any record of my mom trying to be served.

No, what's really weird is that your mother lived in a completely different state than her "husband", that they had so little communication that she didn't even realize he divorced her, and that it took 2 weeks to realize he was gone yet she still considered him her husband legally or otherwise yet still feels entitled to his retirement benefits.

Yes it is legal and possible to get a valid divorce with only 1 of the parties present. If your mothers signature does appear on any paperwork either she is lying to you or somebody forged her signature. IF her signature does appear and IF you can prove it was forged there's a possibility the divorce decree can be repealed. Don't get your hopes up that they're going to do it out of sympathy just because she is on a fixed income and wants his retirement pay.

Did you even check to see if she's still listed as the beneficiary for his retirement pay? Not sure if the company it's through will tell you or not, but it's worth looking into. If he divorced her without her knowing he easily could have changed his beneficiary as well. If she isn't listed as the beneficiary still this is all irrelevant anyways.