Individuals usually enter their marriages with the intentions of staying in them for the rest of their lives. However, as Oneida County residents understand, problems can arise between spouses that force them to evaluate if they should stay united in their relationship. Some couples choose to end their marriage with divorce after discussing the benefits and drawbacks of maintaining their marriage, and making the decision together.
Though in some circumstances one marital partner may unilaterally seek a divorce, a recent news story takes this scenario to an extreme. A man and woman were allegedly married more than twenty years ago and for the subsequent two decades have lived together in a marital relationship. However, the purported wife in this story recently learned that her supposed husband was granted a divorce in a foreign country and that their union was allegedly terminated only months after it was created through marriage.
Though they stayed together for many years, the wife alleges that she never knew that their marriage had ended. The purported husband allegedly sought out the divorce
to protect his finances and the wife only learned of the divorce action when she reviewed a tax bill that did not include her as the named spouse of her partner.
The wife is fighting the action and has alleged that the divorce was not sound as it did not conform to the international legal proceedings required in the country that provided the husband with the divorce. As she pursues her claims, readers of this family law blog should take to heart the importance of knowing if and how legal actions occurring outside of the country can affect their marital rights. Family law attorneys may be able to offer some guidance to those with questions about domestic and international divorce legal issues.
Source: ksdk.com, “Man divorces wife in secret, but then stays with her for 20 years
,” Jan. 26, 2016