I recently got married again, but now find that my 1st wife didn’t get the divorce, she went back overseas so could not contact her
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I recently got married again, but now find that my 1st wife didn’t get the divorce, she went back overseas so could not contact her
My 1st wife and I were having a lot of problems for the last year we were together. She finally said she couldn’t deal with me any more and went back overseas. I found she had been contacting several online divorce sites but could not contact her to find out anything. Since then I met someone else. Things were going great for us and when we were in Louisville on impluse we recently went to the courthouse and got married. I just heard from my 1st wife today saying she’s not mad at me any more and she apparently didn’t get a divorce. How much trouble am I in and what do I need to do now?
Asked on May 8, 2009 under Family Law, Ohio
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
Your new marriage isn't valid, at all. You don't have the legal ability to marry anyone, if you're still married to someone else. You're guilty of bigamy; the way the Ohio statute is worded, you can't even legally live with someone else while you're married, although I doubt that that part of the law is enforced very often.
You're going to have to decide who you want to be with, especially if your wife -- and you only have the one who's now overseas! -- decides to come home. Either way, you're going to have at least one woman who might well be very angry at you, and with more or less good reason.
I would very strongly recommend that you see a lawyer, as soon as possible if not yesterday, to figure out the best way to deal with all of this. You can find a qualified attorney at our website, http://attorneypages.com
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