New marriage after a confidential divorce?

[nearSacramento1]

California

Ok...if s

 

[nearSacramento1]

Sorry my finger hit send too soon! If someone had a confidential marriage and (we were told) a confidential divorce in California, and that person was going to get married again, is there anything in the application process for the second marriage, I mean getting a license, that would alert the parties that the divorced person was in fact NOT actually divorced and was still married? Or would the marriage appear to be valid and only upon some future incident where the new spouse needed to prove marriage would the issue be discovered? Does this make sense? If the new marriage was not legally valid because the person was not legally divorced from their first wife, what would happen upon some possible future divorce or (since there was bigamy) separation where the person needed spousal support but in fact was never legally that persons spouse? Thanks for help.

 

[adjusterjack]

Actually, none of that makes any sense.

Marriages and divorces are public record so there basically is no such thing as a confidential marriage or confidential divorce.

Maybe you'd better explain those terms, why you think they even exist, and what is happening to you that gives rise to the questions.

 

[CdwJava]

Oddly, we DO have "confidential" marriage licenses in CA.

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birthdeathmar/Pages/TypesofMarriageLicenses.aspx

Confidential Marriage License:
-- The participating parties must be at least 18 years old to apply for a confidential marriage license. Minors may NOT purchase a confidential marriage license.

-- The participating parties must be living together as spouses at the time they apply for the marriage license, and must sign an affidavit on the license attesting to those facts.

-- You are not required to get married in the county where you purchase the confidential marriage license; however, you must be married in California. You must file the license in the county where it was purchased.

-- No witnesses are required to be at the ceremony, AND no witnesses sign on the marriage license.

-- The marriage license is a confidential record and is registered at the County Clerk’s Office in the county where it was purchased. Only the couple may purchase copies of the marriage license and must present valid picture identification together with the required fee to the County Clerk in order to do so. Persons other than the married couple requesting copies of a confidential marriage license may only do so by presenting a court order to the County Clerk in the county where the license is registered.

-- Copies of confidential marriages are not available from the state office.​

It CAN make certain things difficult, but, couples can get them.

It appears to be our way of addressing "common law" marriages.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/70252/what-confidential-marriage-license-and-why-does-california-offer-them

 

[nearSacramento1]

Yes exactly. So I assume the divorce can be confidential also.

What I mean is if you marry someone, get licenses and everything, what happens if one of the parties is in fact still legally married to their former spouse? Can you even get a license if you are not legally divorced from the first spouse? What "is" the second marriage in the laws eyes? Let's say the new union lasted five or ten yeArs and then ended. Would the new unsuspecting "spouse" have no legal standing because the parties were never legally married? How does the law see it?

 

[CdwJava]

If you get married and are already married, it is the crime of bigamy. And the party perpetuating the fraud could face serious criminal and/or civil penalties.

 

[nearSacramento1]

That's what I thought. But there's nothing in applying for marriage licenses that would ever catch that ahead of time I assume. It's something you wouldn't find out until say a future divorce where the already married person might try to claim they don't need to separate assets or give up any spousal support or child support because the marriage was never really legal. But of course the courts would award them something because of the fraud.

 

[Zigner]

Yes exactly. So I assume the divorce can be confidential also.

What I mean is if you marry someone, get licenses and everything, what happens if one of the parties is in fact still legally married to their former spouse? Can you even get a license if you are not legally divorced from the first spouse? What "is" the second marriage in the laws eyes? Let's say the new union lasted five or ten yeArs and then ended. Would the new unsuspecting "spouse" have no legal standing because the parties were never legally married? How does the law see it?

The phrase you are looking for is "putative spouse" - and the putative spouse does have rights. Using that phrase, read up and then come back with any questions.

While there is "confidential marriage" in California, there is no such thing as a "confidential divorce."

 

[nearSacramento1]

Ok thank you! So are all divorces in California a matter of public record even if the marriages were confidential?

 

[nearSacramento1]

bumping this last question

 

[Zigner]

Ok thank you! So are all divorces in California a matter of public record even if the marriages were confidential?

Generally, all divorces in California are a matter of public record. There are ways to suppress certain information in certain instances, but those are very fact specific. If you feel the need to keep some information out of the public eye, you will want to seek the help of an attorney.

 

[nearSacramento1]

Are or can the parties to the divorce be alerted when someone else looks into the records at the county courthouse?

 

[Zigner]

Are or can the parties to the divorce be alerted when someone else looks into the records at the county courthouse?

Not that I'm aware of.

 

[nearSacramento1]

I think the part of the question that I still am wondering about is: when the two parties are registering or applying to get married, or registering the marriage (whatever it is you do. in this case i do not mean a confidential marriage, just a regular one), does some kind of "alert" come up that it is not possible to register the marriage or approve the application for the license because one of the parties is still married? I think if this happened there would BE no bigamies!

 

[Ohiogal]

I think the part of the question that I still am wondering about is: when the two parties are registering or applying to get married, or registering the marriage (whatever it is you do. in this case i do not mean a confidential marriage, just a regular one), does some kind of "alert" come up that it is not possible to register the marriage or approve the application for the license because one of the parties is still married? I think if this happened there would BE no bigamies!

No. Because the individuals swearing to a marriage license are doing so under penalty of perjury.
A felony.