Bigamy

I live in SC
Problem/Question is I was involved with a married man who had intentions
of getting divorced from his wife. During the time that we were involved we lived together off & on but never bought any thing of significance together. Not thinking it through while on vacation the Las Vegas we got married. He simply stated that his divorce to his first wife was already final.
After all was said & done he is back living with his wife. What do I do? Considering his divorce was NOT final....it wasnt even started am I legally married to him or is our marriage automatically void?
What steps if any need to be taken?

I do believe you will still need to file for an annulment. I would consult an attorney to find out for sure. Hope this helps

You are not legally married to the man since he is, in fact, already married. The presence of a living spouse automatically makes any subsequent "marriage" invalid. In the case of bigamy (which is what you have described) a formal annulment is usually not required since the defect of bigamy renders the marriage invalid in the first place.

I won't even speculate why you would want to "marry" a man who is cheating on his wife and lying to create fake documents ( marriage certificate ). Your taciturn acceptance of his lying to obtain this document could make you culpable, too, since you knew he was married and you "went along" with his fraudulent statements and actions. Now, had you not known
he was married, and you married him and cohabitated for some time before finding out he was married, you would be considered the putative party, and could be entitled to legal compensation and he could, if proven he willfully lied to you, be held criminally accountable. But, per your own admittance, you knew he was married and you agreed to present this false information in a legal proceeding ( marriage ). And while prosecuting this type of offense rarely happens, you are, in the strictest sense of the word, legally culpable. My dear, NO man ( or woman, if it were the other way around) is worth that liability.

A personal word of advice, if I may? ANY and ALL married men ( or women, in all fairness) having an affair are "in the process of leaving his wife (her husband) ". Any man who tells you he is "going to leave his wife" for you simply NEVER does. And, if perchance you happen upon one in a million who actually does, what makes you think that he isn't off with someone ELSE telling them how he is going to be with them once he is free from you? You sound like an articulate, competent woman. I am sorry this has happened to you---I know it must be difficult. But, you certainly deserve better than this sad charade that mocks the beauty and honor of marriage commitment. When did you decide to settle for something so meager? Choose better for yourself than a man who is dishonoring his family, his wife, and in particular YOU by offering you no more than a pretend marriage, and lonely-ever-after waiting for him to make good on promises that are, sadly, not worth the breath he used to form them.

Raise your gaze a bit and make this new year one of change for yourself. Expect better of yourself and for yourself. Believe it is well within your grasp.

I wish you well.

SECTION 20-1-80 from the South Carolina Code of Laws states the following:

"Bigamous marriage shall be void; (with) exceptions.

All marriages contracted while either of the parties has a former wife or husband living shall be void. But this section shall not extend to a person whose husband or wife shall be absent for the space of five years, the one not knowing the other to be living during that time, not to any person who shall be divorced or whose first marriage shall be declared void by the sentence of a competent court."

It's very much in your best interests to contact a competent (and unbiased) divorce attorney in your area to make certain this marriage is legally voided through the courts. This will not only distance you from any potential joint legal issues, but will also free you to legally marry again in the future.

Good luck.

As I stated already, (and since I do, in fact, LIVE in South Carolina) "The presence of a living spouse automatically makes any subsequent "marriage" invalid.....the defect of bigamy renders the marriage invalid in the first place." Invalid MEANS VOID.

I thought I was pretty clear about that. *shrugs*

Grace,

I do believe she still needs to obtain an annulment. Only a competent court can find her marriage void. I was in a bigamous marriage, and had to obtain an annulment in order to remarry. I was advised by several attorneys that it didn't matter in which state you were married, an annulment still needed to be obtained from a competent court.

Debbi

On what are you basing your opinion? Your past experience in another state is interesting, but I am not sure it is relevant since you are in a different state.

My specialization is in criminal law, not family law, but I still disagree. South Carolina law is pretty clear--and the statute says nothing about an annulment being necessary. But, as a matter of law, this issue really is very simple.

A marriage where one party already has a living spouse is from its inception, is a void (non-existent) marriage. This being the case, it isn't required that any legal action be taken to end it. However, obviously, it is a good idea to make sure, but she isn't REQUIRED to do so. This type of marriage is void from the date it occurred---as opposed to marriages that are voidable---
(NOT void). A void marriage is simply nonexistent since the grounds to make it VOID existed before the marriage took place. This is different from a marriage that is voidable---the grounds for making it void were not present at the time the marriage took place. An example of a voidable marriage ( not void ) would be if two people got drunk and got married. If the marriage is legal from every other standpoint ( Not married to someone else, not related family members, parties of legal and mental age, etc) then the marriage IS a valid marriage, but is voidable ( not void). An example of a VOID ( not voidable ) marriage is if someone wanted to marry their sibling. They could "marry" as many times as they want, but the marriage is VOID. NON-EXISTENT since conditions existed at the time of the "marriage" ( related siblings) to render it VOID. Do you see the difference?

This marriage, as a matter of law, is VOID, not voidable. The grounds that make it VOID were in existence BEFORE the ceremony EVER took place. This means that an annulment isn't REQUIRED, but wouldn't be a bad idea to "tidy up" this situation that could reflect poorly on the actors at a later date, including criminal liability for giving this false information in a legal proceeding.

Grace,

I am basing it on the opinion of several family law attorneys that I spoke to. The law here is the same as the one in South Carolina. The marriage is void, but only a competent court can judge it as such.

Debbi

To settle the doubts and questions for yourself, again I suggest you contact a qualified attorney in your area. Unless you have years of practical working experience in the legal profession, you run the risk of possibly jeopardizing your future without even realizing it by assuming anything on your own.

Just a thought here: What will you do if the man you married goes out and takes out a large loan with your name and information on the application? Your signature could be forged without your knowledge and you'd be held jointly responsible for something you're not even aware of. (It happens much more often than you think.) I would think that your financial future, your credit history .. to mention only a few .. are worth the effort of seeking out qualified legal counsel.

To say nothing of your peace of mind. You've assumed once he was legally single and were proven wrong. Are you willing to assume the same of yourself now?

You read this question, and called several family law attorneys to ASK? Or you just happened to have recently discussed this very issue with several family law attorneys? Surely you jest.

The LAW says any bigamist marriage is VOID. This is not a subjective standard.

Please provide me with even one case law scenario where someone was REQUIRED by law to ANNUL a VOID marriage in the state of South Carolina. You made the statement---and I, for one, would be deeply appreciative if you could substantiate it. I am avidly interested in learning from you.

If you find one, I'll dance naked on Westside Law's legal briefs.

The law has already defined bigamy as grounds for a VOID marriage. This means it NEVER existed to annul in the first place. A VOIDABLE marriage is one that CAN be annulled since it was a legal transaction in the first place. A void marriage DOESN'T EXIST. Why would the law require you to go through legal proceedings to address something that doesn't exist? Obviously, if you wish to, you can, but the law doesn't REQUIRE this to be done.

Example: I can put a tiara on my head and waltz through down town declaring myself the queen of my England. I can proclaim it all I want, and even sign documents declaring it to be so. This in no way legitimizes my absurd claim since what I am hypothetically claiming is a legal impossibility. My signing my name to a thousand papers does not any more make me the queen of England than my signing a paper makes me MARRIED to someone who is already married. I wouldn't have to run an ad in the paper informing the public at large that I was, in fact, NOT really the queen of England ( for future reference, of course). What I think I am and what I sign is totally irrelevant. Do you see how absurd that is? A married party "marrying" another is NOT a marriage, regardless of how many pages were signed. Period.