How can I get a paper that says I am divorced to my ex husband?
Asked on May 09th, 2013 on Divorce - South Carolina
More details to this question:
I married my ex husband in 2009. In 2010 he re-married. I have been asking him for divorce papers for a very long time, never got any though. I re-married in 2012 to a military man. But we can't get our proper paperwork done because in the system I am still under my ex husband. It shows divorce papers but are incomplete without a judge signature. It's the first I am hearing of this. And my husband can't get his pay because of this. An I don't know what to do, I have done everything I could do an afford. My ex has been married going on 3 years now I don't know where he is, but I know where he got married. I have no way of contacting him. All I want is the paper that says I'm divorced from this man, so I can live my life comfortably . Can you help me and tell me what I could possibly do. I don't want anything but that paper.
If the dissolution papers have not been approved by the Judge, you and the former husband are still married to each other. You need to contact the court handling the dissolution ASAP. You probably need an experienced attorney.
Who gets married without proof they are divorced? Your story sounds like a complete load of crap. Most people in this situation are smart enough to say 'i honestly thought i was divorced' - you openly admit you got re-married without any idea or proof that you were divorced. What an all time dumb thing to do! Odds are you are not divorced from your first husband. You openly admit that '/in the system I am still under my ex husband. It shows divorce papers but are incomplete without a judge signature/'. To anyone with two brain cells to rub together, that screams, hey, I am probably not divorced. Moreover, merely asking for the divorce papers and not getting them would have clued most people in. So for you to say, '/It's the first I am hearing of this/.' has got to be just complete BS, no one is that oblivious - you either had to have at least suspected there was a possible problem or you are just too dumb to live! Anywho, if you were not divorced that means - you are now _not married_ to your second husband and you may be guilty of the crime of felony of bigamy. Further, it appears you got re-married so that '/my husband can get his pay and I can live my life comfortably/' - which to a prosecutor could mean you got remarried for fraudulent reasons and a prosecutor is not likely to believe your ridiculous story that you didn't know you weren't divorced and that you '/have done everything I could do/'. You need a lawyer and you need one right now. You need to have the research done to determine if you are divorced. If not, you are going to want to have an annulment of your second marriage - it will be void already anyway but you should consider an annulment just so there is paperwork. You then need to formally get divorced from your first husband a fairly simple process. Then if your second husband still wants to marry you, you can then get legally married and enjoy your new found meal ticket.
It sounds as though you may not be divorced. If you are, then the chancery court clerk in the county where you were allegedly divorced should be able to assist you in obtaining a certified copy of your divorce decree. If a judge never signed the decree, then you are not divorced and neither is your ex. Get this answered immediately, because if you aren't divorced, you can't be remarried. If you are not divorced, consult an attorney immediately.
Contact the court in which the divorce was filed. That office can tell you whether a final order of divorce was signed. If so, that office can send you a copy of the order. If there was no divorce order signed, the case was probably dismissed and you will need to start over with a new divorce case. If the original case has not been dismissed, you can ask that a final order granting the divorce be entered. I suggest you hire a lawyer or maybe the JAG folks can assist you.
I would need to know more information as to why the Judge did not sign the divorce papers. You should contact the Family Court Clerk in the County where you began the divorce proceedings and have them make sure that the divorce was never finalized. If no Order of Divorce was ever entered in your case, then you are still married to your first husband. You may need to initiate divorce proceedings against your first husband.
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