Nobody responded...bigamy....HELP! please?

[JeremyNMary]

Why won't anyone please give us their legal advice...help!Several years ago I got married (1987 in Pennsylvania)...However, after being separated from my wife for a couple years and unaware of her whereabouts as she was not working under a social security number, and I didn't know how to find her and unable to locate her; I moved back home to Illinois and met someone new and got her pregnant....since I was unable to locate wife #1, I unfortunately did a dumb thing and married wife #2 in December, 1990 BEFORE DIVORCING as I could not locate wife #1. Wife #2 was aware of Wife #1 and because we were young and didn't want to upset wife #2's family, we got married anyways...even though I was not yet divorced & she was aware I was still legally married.

Heres where the problem lies....I have been now separated from wife # 2 for approximately 4 years now and want to get a divorce and move on with my life. (NOT TO WIFE #3; at least not for a LONG TIME...haha) But, heres what we need to know. Is the second marriage automatically null and void? Or does a divorce need to be done or what? And, is there a way to find out if wife #1 ever got a divorce on her own since neither wife #1 and I knew where the other was...meaning a divorce due to missing for so many years? Point being, if wife #1 got a divorce (since we have been out of contact for 14 years now) then, would all I have to do is divorce wife #2? Or, is an acutal divorce not necessary from #2 since it was actually not legal to begin with? HELP!!!! I know, very confusing... Remember, wife # 1 marriage was in Pennsylvania, and wife #2 is in Illinois....so, different states, too.

What should I start with??? Can you recommend someone who would be best qualified-divorce attorney? I know I've asked alot of questions, but, I couldn't find anything on the board of this nature.

Thanks for your help,
Jeremy

 

[dee709]

Oh my God...

Thanks. And I thought my problems were bad. I know nothing about the laws in either of the two states in question but it would make sense to me that if #1 got a divorce you would know. You would have been served with papers and given a chance to contest. However, I am also confused as to how you and wife #2 were able to get legally married. When I got married I had to fill out a number of forms which asked questions specifically around being previously married. Did you lie? If you infact are still married to #1 then #2 would be an invald marriage This may be a criminal act and you better hope wife #2 doesn't find out. Best of luck.

 

[JeremyNMary]

Dee,

Thanks for your response....I was never given a form asking about previous marriages or anything. Maybe wife #2 filled out a form that I'm unaware of and just answered "no"...I'm not sure to be honest.

I didn't lie to wife #2 - you may not have caught it in my post. She KNEW and still wanted to get married in order to "save face" so to speak with her family. SHE WAS VERY AWARE that I was still married. She just wanted us to get married to make her family not freak out since she was pregnant - so thats where all the unsurety comes in. At the time we (me and wife #2) realized that "LEGALLY" we were not married. We were just doing it for the parents sake. (YES, IT WAS DUMB, but, we were young)

I'm ASSUMING by now that wife #1 tried to get a divorce by now on the grounds that we haven't seen each other or known of each others whereabouts in over 14 years. I tried to locate her and was unable to, so I'm hoping that maybe if wife #1 did get a divorce somehow that I can now just divorce wife #2.

See the dilemna now? I don't know where to start since I can't find wife #1....I'm hoping I could contact a clerks office in Pennsylvannia and see if a divorce is on file. Any suggestions?

Again Thanks... your the only person who even responded...many read the first post and never wrote.
Jeff

 

[dee709]

FYI

When you respond to someones posting, a message gets sent to their email notifing them. I hope things work out for t he both of you.

 

[dee709]

although not lotally related, check out the posting by ev146 on 1/27 and the reponse by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE. there may be some info youcan use. You may try to repost and direct the posting to him/her specifically. good luck.