Married in Pakistan, never registered marriage in any state

[alishaan]

Jurisdiction

Florida

I have a technical question for the Expert Divorce Law Attornies. I got married in Pakistan about 16 years back, and the marriage never got registered in any of the 50 States, and no marriage certificate issued. Wife files a divorce (where both parties live and have property in joint names as husband and wife). She claims that I am still married to her in Florida until the dissolution of marriage is finalized. On the other hand, my stand is that I have already divorced her in the country where the marriage took place (Pakistan), and got remarried with another girl from Pakistan, who is now here in the US legally. The US Immigration saw my divorce papers and marriage papers from the first marriage and also the marriage certificate in Pakistan for the new marriage. After that my new wife was issued proper permanent residency and allowed to come and live in the US with me. My question is that how the Court would interpret my first marriage and whether the divorce I gave to my first wife is valid in the eye of Florida Law. Please advise.

 

[army judge]

I have a technical question for the Expert Divorce Law Attornies. I got married in Pakistan about 16 years back, and the marriage never got registered in any of the 50 States, and no marriage certificate issued. Wife files a divorce (where both parties live and have property in joint names as husband and wife). She claims that I am still married to her in Florida until the dissolution of marriage is finalized. On the other hand, my stand is that I have already divorced her in the country where the marriage took place (Pakistan), and got remarried with another girl from Pakistan, who is now here in the US legally. The US Immigration saw my divorce papers and marriage papers from the first marriage and also the marriage certificate in Pakistan for the new marriage. After that my new wife was issued proper permanent residency and allowed to come and live in the US with me. My question is that how the Court would interpret my first marriage and whether the divorce I gave to my first wife is valid in the eye of Florida Law. Please advise.

There's no way for you to receive an answer to your complex legal situation via the Internet.

If the matter is important to you, you need to arrange a visit with a FL licensed attorney who can better explain your remedies and rights.

If USCIS admitted your spouse to the US, that act suggests your reasoning is sound.

On the other hand, USCIS does make mistakes.

Your lawyer can assist you in obtaining a copy of the divorce you received in Pakistan.
However, under US law maybe you weren't lawfully married in Pakistan.

If that is true, you wouldn't need a divorce.

You won't know, and no one can properly advise you without determining Pakistani law on marriage and divorce, obtaining certified copes of your marriage and divorce documents, properly translated into English and affixed with the applicable apostille certifications.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The US is supposed to recognize marriage and divorce law from other countries as a general rule. Anyone can file a case in court. They are supposed to swear under the penalty of perjury that what they are complaining about is true. If what you say is true and she knows it is true then she will probably have a problem in court... as will you. This is because if you were actually divorced then owning property as husband and wife (as opposed to mere joint ownership) is a fraudulent misrepresentation and a violation of law. I will guess that doing so has beneficial tax benefits. Her filing for divorce might be trying to leverage the above fact. The only way that this scenario is mistaken is if (a) you bought the property with her while you were married and living in Pakistan - which seems unlikely to me although it could be accurate. Regardless, you absolutely need to retain an attorney in order to handle this. In the event you are correct (and your "stand" is the truth and consistently lawful), she could end up owing you money trying to perpetrate a fraud. Being totally honest here, I can't say for sure what is going on and, as @army judge states, the only way to sort out this complex immigration / marriage / divorce issue is to retain an attorney. Good luck.

 

[alishaan]

Thanks for your response. Actually, we bought the property in our joint name while living in the US, and yes it was basically for tax benefits. As I said, the marriage never got registered here in the US and the divorce was also given in the country where the marriage took place. It was after the divorce that I remarried, and the US Immigration looked at everything and after their satisfaction, they issued permanent residency to my new spouce. I understand it's a tricky situation and needed some guidance. Thanks again,

The US is supposed to recognize marriage and divorce law from other countries as a general rule. Anyone can file a case in court. They are supposed to swear under the penalty of perjury that what they are complaining about is true. If what you say is true and she knows it is true then she will probably have a problem in court... as will you. This is because if you were actually divorced then owning property as husband and wife (as opposed to mere joint ownership) is a fraudulent misrepresentation and a violation of law. I will guess that doing so has beneficial tax benefits. Her filing for divorce might be trying to leverage the above fact. The only way that this scenario is mistaken is if (a) you bought the property with her while you were married and living in Pakistan - which seems unlikely to me although it could be accurate. Regardless, you absolutely need to retain an attorney in order to handle this. In the event you are correct (and your "stand" is the truth and consistently lawful), she could end up owing you money trying to perpetrate a fraud. Being totally honest here, I can't say for sure what is going on and, as @army judge states, the only way to sort out this complex immigration / marriage / divorce issue is to retain an attorney. Good luck.