please help!!

#1 05-03-2003, 03:24 PM

hi, my name is shannon, I'm 18 years old and from Iowa. about 1 1/2 years ago, this guy and I "pretended" to get married. we did however have a real minister, and signed papers with wittnesses. it wasn't the actual marrige certificate though, but we filled it out just like it would be. I was told that we were actually married, can this happen? or does it have to be notified by the court?

CMSC · #2 05-03-2003, 03:47 PM

Shannon,

GO to the county court house where you were "married" and see if in fact, a license was ever filed and issued. They should be able to tell you. A marriage can't be performed without obtaining a license first. WHat papers did you sign?

#3 05-03-2003, 04:10 PM

we just had a piece of paper that we filled out, but we weren't married at the courthouse, it was outside.

nextwife · #4 05-03-2003, 04:34 PM

Yes, but what did the "piece of paper" say? Do you have a copy?

#5 05-03-2003, 05:15 PM

it stated that in the eyes of everyone we are married, and that we both agreed, and then we had witnesses sign. and the minister.

#6 05-03-2003, 08:03 PM

If you are 18 now and this took place a year and a half ago, I would think unless you had parental consent stating you could get married or were emancipated(some states still needing parental consent and consent of a judge) that it would be invalid, cause most states do not recognize a *contract* so to speak, dealing with minors.

#7 05-03-2003, 09:13 PM

it wasn't exactly that long ago, and I'm almost 19. it happened about a week after my 18th birthday.

Grace_Adler · #8 05-04-2003, 04:56 PM

Go to the Register of Deeds in the county you were "married" in and see if they have a copy of this certificate. If they do, it must have been legal and binding.

#9 05-04-2003, 11:18 PM

ok, thank you, that helps very much.

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE · #10 05-04-2003, 11:26 PM

My response:

Try this link - - Copy and paste this link into your browser without the [URL] on each side:

[url]http://www.vitalrec.com/ia.html[/url]

Let us know if you find anything.

IAAL

CMSC · #11 05-05-2003, 08:21 AM

Just so you know, you don't have to be married inside to be considered married!LOL Who did you give those papers to? And was a marraige license ever purchased?

#12 05-05-2003, 03:38 PM

the guy I "married" has a copy, and the minister has a copy. I went to that site and they don't even have my records on file. could the minister have taken the papers in and got us legally married, or would we have had to be there?

nextwife · #13 05-05-2003, 04:48 PM

If it is not of record, on file, in the Vital Records section of the county in which this took place, it is likely not considered a legal marriage in that county. It has been a long time, correct?

I AM curious WHAT exactly the point to this charade was intended to be?

#14 05-06-2003, 12:47 AM

we were just pretending, we thought it would be fun, when the guy said he was a minister we didn't really belive him, then later on we found out he was...

I AM ALWAYS LIABLE · #15 05-06-2003, 01:27 AM

My response:

Since you're not sure of anything, and you're obviously walking around in a fog wondering what to do, simply get a divorce. That's right. File a Petition for divorce - - and, when the Petition is granted, then you won't have to ever worry about Bigamy.

With this, and what has been said to you above, that's all the help we can give you.

Now you know why we, adults, don't allow children to play with fire. You're on your own, kiddo.

IAAL

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