quirozdaniel said:
I married my wife while she was still married(her marriage took place in Texas). I married her March 2000 in the state of Nevada, her divorce to her first marriage was finalized in October 2000. My question/s are:
1. Was the second marriage ever valid?
1a. Would we have to annul/divorce the second marriage and
remarry?
2. Is the second marriage valid now that she is divorced?
3. What are the legal ramifications of our actions?
4. What do we have to do to undo the wrong that we caused?
My response:
Well, I have bad news, and more bad news.
1. Your marriage is void (You're not married);
2. Your wife comitted a felony;
3. If you knew your wife was not divorced, you've also comitted a felony.
Nevada Revised Statutes:
NRS 125.290 Void marriages. All marriages which are prohibited by law because of:
1. . . .
2. Either of the parties having a former husband or wife then living, if solemnized within this state, are void without any decree of divorce or annulment or other legal proceedings. A marriage void under this section shall not bar prosecution for the crime of bigamy pursuant to NRS 201.160.
[18:33:1861; B § 211; BH § 487; C § 498; RL § 2354; NCL § 4066]-(NRS A 1959, 195; 1967, 531; 1973, 201)
NRS 201.160 Bigamy : Definition; penalty.
1. Bigamy consists in the having of two wives or two husbands at one time, knowing that the former husband or wife is still alive.
2. If a married person marries any other person while the former husband or wife is alive, the person so offending is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.
3. It is not necessary to prove either of the marriages by the register and certificate thereof, or other record evidence, but those marriages may be proved by such evidence as is admissible to prove a marriage in other cases, and when the second marriage has taken place without this state, cohabitation in this state after the second marriage constitutes the commission of the crime of bigamy.
4. This section does not extend:
(a) To a person whose husband or wife has been continually absent from that person for the space of 5 years before the second marriage, if he or she did not know the husband or wife to be living within that time.
(b) To a person who is, at the time of the second marriage, divorced by lawful authority from the bonds of the former marriage, or to a person where the former marriage has been by lawful authority declared void.
[1911 C&P § 191; RL § 6456; NCL § 10138]-(NRS A 1967, 475; 1979, 1428; 1995, 1197)
NRS 201.170 Marrying a married person. If a person, being unmarried, knowingly marries the husband or wife of another, that person is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.
[1911 C&P § 192; RL § 6457; NCL § 10139]-(NRS A 1967, 475; 1979, 1429; 1995, 1198)
IAAL