If I got married to my spouse while he was still legally married to someone else, was our marriage legit?
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If I got married to my spouse while he was still legally married to someone else, was our marriage legit?
I am trying to get a divorce from him and need to know if we are even legally married in Louisiana. He was going through a divorce at the time we got married but it was not finalized till about 4 months after we got married.
Asked on December 27, 2011 under Family Law, Louisiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
The short answer is, you cannot marry person 2 while still married to person 1, so if your spouse were still married at the time of your wedding, your marriage would not be legal.
The long answer is, you probably need an attorney's help to make sure this situation is untangled: you are on file with the county/state as having gotten married; you status has been indicated as married on (presumably) tax returns and property purchases; etc. Even if the marriage was not legally proper, because of all the paperwork and records, you need to make sure that you are properly now recorded as "not married" in all the right places--and you also may need to deal with other consequences, such as amending tax returns or adjusting property ownership.
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