Is the marriage legal?

[klucich]

What is the name of your state? Missouri.

Stepson who lives in Missouri, married a Phillipino girl, in the Phillipines in 2002 and had a nice service and gathering of her family members. He has been back to see her once or twice on vacation to visit. She claims she cannot get out of the country and has stories of repeated trips to the embassy with no luck. he was sending her quite a bit of money every month, but I think that has stopped last year.

Now, 5 years later, he has moved and has not left her his phone number or address. It seems he is hoping this marrige will just go away. She is calling, crying, trying to find him, saying he has not called her in two months now.

My question(s): Is this marriage legal and binding? Has it somehow it become automatically annulled? What are the legal ramifications of his ignoring or abandoning his responsibility to her? Can she sue for support from that country? I just think this thing is going to return to haunt him at a most unfortunate time.

Thanks.What is the name of your state?

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state? Missouri.

Stepson who lives in Missouri, married a Phillipino girl, in the Phillipines in 2002 and had a nice service and gathering of her family members. He has been back to see her once or twice on vacation to visit. She claims she cannot get out of the country and has stories of repeated trips to the embassy with no luck. he was sending her quite a bit of money every month, but I think that has stopped last year.

Now, 5 years later, he has moved and has not left her his phone number or address. It seems he is hoping this marrige will just go away. She is calling, crying, trying to find him, saying he has not called her in two months now.

My question(s): Is this marriage legal and binding? Has it somehow it become automatically annulled? What are the legal ramifications of his ignoring or abandoning his responsibility to her? Can she sue for support from that country? I just think this thing is going to return to haunt him at a most unfortunate time.

Thanks.What is the name of your state?

Yes the marriage is legal and binding. It will not just become annulled. She can sue for divorce and if the Phillipines allows support then she can be granted it. It most likely will return to haunt him. If he decides to get married again in the future he would be committing a crime by not having gotten a divorce -- he would be a bigamist. Not to mention that this does not say much about your son's character.

 

[IrishLady47]

Not only is the marriage legal in both the US and the Philippines, she will not be able to get a divorce in the Philippines, unless the law in that country has changed very, very recently. She can only obtain an annulment and that is even more difficult and expensive in that country than it is here.

However, if your stepson (not being a Philippine citizen) obtained a divorce here, she can then get permission to legally marry again in her country.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Missouri.

Stepson who lives in Missouri, married a Phillipino girl, in the Phillipines in 2002 and had a nice service and gathering of her family members. He has been back to see her once or twice on vacation to visit. She claims she cannot get out of the country and has stories of repeated trips to the embassy with no luck. he was sending her quite a bit of money every month, but I think that has stopped last year.

Now, 5 years later, he has moved and has not left her his phone number or address. It seems he is hoping this marrige will just go away. She is calling, crying, trying to find him, saying he has not called her in two months now.

My question(s): Is this marriage legal and binding? Has it somehow it become automatically annulled? What are the legal ramifications of his ignoring or abandoning his responsibility to her? Can she sue for support from that country? I just think this thing is going to return to haunt him at a most unfortunate time.

Thanks.What is the name of your state?

Most likely its a legal marriage. Any marriage that is legal in the country where it was performed, is legally valid in the US. Therefore, if your nephew no longer wants to be married to her, then he is going to have to get a divorce.