Curious Situation

I have a friend who is in a real jam, and I thought I'd pose the question here:

She's not married, but apparently she has to get a divorce. Confusing? You bet.

Her "spouse" apparently was married to someone in one of the Northern states (I can find out which exactly) and left the woman. He assumed she would eventually divorce him. She did not. They both now reside in Texas.

He married my friend, who of course had no idea of the previous circumstances. About three years ago, he apparently found out that he was still married to the first woman, but neglected to tell my friend any of this until recently, when she told him she wanted a divorce. She sought some legal advice and it was recommended that she seek a standard divorce as the easiest way of reconciling the situation. She wants out of the marriage, or whatever it is, pretty badly. He on the other hand is being very uncooperative and claims he doesn't want the separation at all.

What can she do? I'm posting on her behalf since she has no Internet access available.

Thanks for your help.

Thoth

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

As for "easiest", only a local Family law attorney can advise in that regard. However, based upon your facts, she can also obtain an annulment. The court forms are the same as for divorce; the only difference is the boxes on the forms that are checked off. Below are the controlling Family Code Statutes for Texas :


§ 1.003. Suit for Dissolution of Marriage
"Suit for dissolution of a marriage" includes a suit for divorce or annulment or to declare a marriage void.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 7, § 1, eff. April 17, 1997.


SUBCHAPTER B. GROUNDS FOR ANNULMENT

§ 6.202. Marriage During Existence of Prior Marriage

(a) A marriage is void if entered into when either party has an existing marriage to another person that has not been dissolved by legal action or terminated by the death of the other spouse.

(b) The later marriage that is void under this section becomes valid when the prior marriage is dissolved if, after the date of the dissolution, the parties have lived together as husband and wife and represented themselves to others as being married.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 7, § 1, eff. April 17, 1997.


§ 6.203. Certain Void Marriages Validated

Except for a marriage that would have been void under Section 6.201, a marriage that was entered into before January 1, 1970, in violation of the prohibitions of Article 496, Penal Code of Texas, 1925, is validated from the date the marriage commenced if the parties continued until January 1, 1970, to live together as husband and wife and to represent themselves to others as being married.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 7, § 1, eff. April 17, 1997.

Good luck to her.

IAAL

Thanks for the quick reply. Do I read this to understand that even if she gets it annuled, then she's still automatically married to the guy since they "represented themselves to others as being married" when things were starting out?

If so, then you have to have an annulment and a divorce. That seems far too complex to be even considered useful.

Thanks again.

Thoth

I think you mixed two things up.

She should get an annulment, UNLESS she wanted to remain in the marriage. Then the marriage would be considered legal AFTER he divorced the first wife.

This marriage cannot be divorced because in fact it is not currently recognized as a marriage.

(I'm not a lawyer, just trying to help)

I quote:

The later marriage that is void under this section becomes valid when the prior marriage is dissolved if, after the date of the dissolution, the parties have lived together as husband and wife and represented themselves to others as being married.

--------

Later marriage = the one that is being voided by the annulment, as I read it. This says that said marriage "becomes valid" when the prior marriage is dissolved if the parties "have lived together as husband and wife," etc.

My question is does this automatically happen or do the parties have a choice in the matter? I would think that most folks who had been lied to in such a manner would not want to be part of a marriage contract with such a person.

The language is just somewhat confusing, I suppose. But then again, that's why we have lawyers.

Thoth

The later (you're right that's the current) marriage that is void becomes valid if, AFTER the dissolution (of prior) the parties live together as husband and wife.

So as long as she gets an annulment before he can get divorced from the first marriage**************