QUESTION

Am I legally married to my second wife? Second marriage in the Philippines prior to annulment decree in Nevada

Asked on Aug 30th, 2014 on Divorce - Nevada
More details to this question:
I'm a Philippines Citizen, I got married to my girlfriend at the time who is a US Citizen in Nevada in 2009. The relationship didnt work out because i felt very frustrated being a husband who has to wait at home for his wife to come from work. I felt so emasculated. i could not bear to wait for the time before i can legally work in the US. So i decided to go back to the Philippines. The long distance relationship did not work either and eventually, the relationship fell apart. I was later on notified by my wife that she will file for an annulment to which i agreed. By then, i had a new girlfriend in the Philippines whom i wanted to marry, and I did and we had 1 child. After a year of marriage to my second wife, i was later on notified that the annulment has not been finalized. My situation now is, i am in the Philippines, with my second wife, but the marriage was done prior to the final declaration of the annulment in the US. (although i am now annulled to my first wife).
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1 ANSWER

Family Law Attorney serving Las Vegas, NV at Willick Law Group
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Short version, no, you are not lawfully married to your putative second wife.  See McClintock v. McClintock, 122 Nev. 842, 138 P.3d 513 (2006): The parties met while each was still married to another.  The man obtained a divorce, and the woman filed a joint petition for divorce on September 2, 1993, and married the man the next day, but the district court did not sign the divorce decree until September 23.  For the next ten years, the parties lived as husband and wife, thinking they were lawfully married.In 2002, the woman filed for divorce, and the man discovered the timing facts, and counter-claimed for annulment.  The wife moved in her prior divorce action for a nunc pro tunc order declaring her divorced from the earlier husband on the date she had filed the joint petition; the man intervened to oppose it, but the district court granted the motion.On appeal, the Nevada Supreme Court held that a nunc pro tunc order can only reflect that which was actually done such that "the change will make the record speak the truth as to what was actually determined or done or intended to be determined or done by the court," and so could not be used to alter a divorce decree to a date before the matter was actually adjudicated.  The Court held the marriage void, and remanded for further proceedings. ............................... Your situation is a disaster waiting to happen.  You can re-marry your current "spouse" immediately, if you are SURE the annulment from wife #1 has now been granted.  if not, finalize that matter first.
Answered on Aug 30th, 2014 at 4:58 PM

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