Marriage Valid???

[fatalbyte33]

What is the name of your state? Florida
I was married in Oklahoma in 1993. Found out later my wife was already married in West Virginia in 1991. She got a divorce from the original marriage in 1997. Was our marriage valid? Am I married? We have been together since 1993 and have lived in Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Florida.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Unless you got remarried after her divorce you are not married, however, OK recognizes common law marriage, so if you qualified for a common law marriage in OK after she got her divorce, then yes you are married and would still have to get a divorce if you were to end your marriage.

 

[fatalbyte33]

We lived in Oklahoma from June 1993 - December 1998. I am not familiar with how long you must live together to be considered common law marriage by Oklahoma law. Anybody familiar with it?

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Did you present yourselves as married, filed taxes as married in at least the time after her divorce was final?

 

[fatalbyte33]

Yes, we did all those things.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Yes, then you have a valid common law marriage from OK, in general FL will recognize as such, however there could be questions that might have to be addressed on an individual basis, such if a divorce were to take place, this might affect the type of divorce and or settlements etc.

 

[fatalbyte33]

Does it still hold even if she was still legally married to someone else during the whole time we lived in Oklahoma. Well we lived there 6 months after her divorce became final. To me, the issue is two pronged: 1) Yes we did present ourselves as a married couple while we lived in Oklahoma. By Oklahoma law, that would constitute a common law marriage.
2) During that time, she was legally married to someone else(they married in West Virginia), and I didnt know about it.
Truthfully, if I had known about it, we would have never gotten married. Byt the time I found out, we had two children.
So, would Oklahoma recognize it as being a: a) legal marriage, b)common law because we presented ourselves as a married couple but I didnt know she was still married to someone else), or c) a "void" or "voided" marriage?

 

[fatalbyte33]

Does anyone know the answer to the question on my last post?

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Does it still hold even if she was still legally married to someone else during the whole time we lived in Oklahoma.
NO but that is not the question you asked and in #4&5 you filed taxes together after the divorce was fnal, so you have a valid marriage based on the common law marriage in OK afer the diiiivorce was final.
Well we lived there 6 months after her divorce became final. To me, the issue is two pronged: 1) Yes we did present ourselves as a married couple while we lived in Oklahoma. By Oklahoma law, that would constitute a common law marriage.
2) During that time, she was legally married to someone else(they married in West Virginia), and I didnt know about it.
Truthfully, if I had known about it, we would have never gotten married. Byt the time I found out, we had two children.
But you continued your marriage once you knew, so grounds for annulment of the common law marriage don't exist.

So, would Oklahoma recognize it as being a: a) legal marriage, b)common law because we presented ourselves as a married couple but I didnt know she was still married to someone else), or c) a "void" or "voided" marriage?

You presented yourselves as married after the divorce and after you knew she had been married.