marrige sonfusion

[Bristol]

I'm a 19 year old female and i live in Florida.
I was married last July to a man in New Hampshire. Now there is some confusion on whether or not we are actually legaly married since the JOP who had married us told us that he was not going to give our marriage license to the town hall and that we must do it ourselves. Well we never did and we ended up splitting up. Additionally, I was tricked into marrying another guy for immigration purposes only. Now I am trying to get a divorce but what scares me is the fact that my first husband just told me that i am legally married to him. My mother is going to check this out but if it is true then I am married to 2 people. Like i said i had no clue until today that i was possibly married to the first guy and so I remarried another guy in a different state but have since split with him also upon finding out that it was all a trick for him to become legal into the country. I have been totally pushed away by INS on this matter. They are telling me that i must go to their local office and meet with them some 2000 miles away up in Boston. Miami INS also insists that I must show up in Boston.

Since I am married to 2 people i'm afraid of getting into major trouble for bigamy. Does the first marriage mean that the second is annuled?

Could you please assist me as I am just trying to straighten my life out at this point.

Evidently I am going to need some legal council at some point regarding this, but I have been unemployed for several months and have no funds at all.

How can I begin to do things "smoothly" by myself and avoid getting in trouble for bigamy?


Thanks

 

[Whyte Noise]

If you were still married to the first guy when you married the second, then your second marriage is void. That means it doesn't exist. It's not legal. You don't have to get an annulment, divorce, anything. It's automatically void.

 

[Bristol]

thank you so much for your response

how do I get away from the whole bigamy thing?

let's keep those comments coming

 

[sunsneak]

.

 

[stealth2]

I would probably talk to a lawyer. Likely, there needs to be some sort of paperwork to show that the second marriage is null & void, and then you have to finalize the divorce from your first husband.

 

[kat1963]

FIRST! You need to find out if the license was filed in NH. I find it hard to believe that any state would allow a minister, deacon or what have you NOT file a license that he/she signed within a certain number of days. ARE you SURE he/she said the LICENSE wouldn't be filed and not the CERTIFICATE????? They are usually 2 different things. You can request a copy by filling out forms here:
http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/BVR/LIBRARY/Form/A1.htm

As for bigamy, if you are married to the first guy, you are going to have problems..no way around it. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. You are going to need a lawyer...you need one now. INS will, WILL put you in jail, you certainly don't need that on your record at such a young age. At least go see a lawyer for a free or low cost consult.....then borrow the money to pay him/her from your Mom. This IS serious in more ways then one.

Good luck! whew!

KAT

 

[Whyte Noise]

kat, in response to your first sentence...

A friend of mine was married here in March at her home, by her minister. He signed the license after the ceremony, and it was up to her and her husband to file it with the courts. Not the minister. I was there, and saw this myself.

 

[kat1963]

And so your point is? The poster said she married in NH??? Are you stating the laws are the same there? Because I certainly am NOT.
I am a Deacon. Licensed, bonded and insured to perform marriages in 2 other southern states beside the one I live in (and it ain't free either)...oh look, I just back from one this weekend. I am under legal obligation and can be sued if I do not submit the legal docuatment within as little as 3 days. But then again we are talking about the North. That’s right, for 5 bucks I can come up there to marry anyone…..who cares if it’s legal or not….well, maybe the guests who gave gifts.
The woman has NO CLUE.
KAT

 

[Whyte Noise]

kat...... and YOUR point is? Other than the fact you felt the need to be rude towards me about my comment....??

Just because YOU have to file when you are officiating the ceremony doesn't mean it's like that everywhere. I never once said that Missouri laws were the same as NH laws anywhere in my post. I was just showing that not ALL clergy or JOP's are the ones required to file in every state. Such is the case here in Missouri, and such might be the case in NH since the JOP TOLD her it was their responsibility. You said you'd never heard of where the person officiating the cermony wasn't the one that had to file. I gave you an example of it. And you attacked me for it. Just because it's like that where YOU are, doesn't mean it's like that everywhere.

 

[karma1]

In CA...

we had to file the signed marriage certificate after we were married-(charge for marriage certificate and for filing afterwards, if I remember correctly)
point is-
may be different for each state-and those particular minute details change all the time----
original poster should ask an attornery in that state-
no need to be so rude, kat-