Should I start a new divorce petition?

cnorris1

New Member
My question involves a divorce petition filed in the state of: Indiana

My husband I were married in Mexico, and he is the biological father of my child who was born before we were married. I filed the petition as divorce with children with an agreement on all issues in the state of Indiana (since I am a US citizen currently residing here for the past 3 years and well 18 years before my stint in Mexico). I have come to the understanding that my daughter may not technically be considered a part of our marriage since she was born before we were legally married, and that I may have filed the incorrect divorce petition. Anyhow, my divorce decree was denied (by a judge in Indiana where the divorce was filed) and I received a card in the mail stating:

Service must be perfected or waived. Paternity must be established. Father's minimum wage must be included on the form.

I recently checked my case status online, yesterday, and apparently the certified mail receipt only arrived to the court yesterday. Which I take to mean that the service was not technically recorded until yesterday.

I am not interested in establishing paternity since we were not married at the time my daughter was born. (She was born in Sept. 2011 we were married May 2012) He has not seen her or communicated with her in 3 years (since we moved to the US). Let alone sent her any kind of support.

Should I start a new divorce petition as "divorce without children with an agreement on all issues"? Do I need to contest the judge's decision? Or how should I go about rectifying this situation?

Thank you so very much for any sort of help you can provide.
 
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If you are trying to dissolve a foreign granted divorce with a spouse in another country you REALLY need an attorney to guide you.
 
I greatly appreciate your quick response, and apologize for the confusion. I am just so mixed up on where to go from here, and want to make sure things get done the right way this time as I was already misguided by a legal service once. :(

The divorce was started by me here in Indiana since I am a citizen of US and have resided here for the past 3 years. The decree was denied by a judge here in the state of Indiana. So the divorce itself did not come from Mexico.
 
I greatly appreciate your quick response, and apologize for the confusion. I am just so mixed up on where to go from here, and want to make sure things get done the right way this time as I was already misguided by a legal service once. :(

The divorce was started by me here in Indiana since I am a citizen of US and have resided here for the past 3 years. The decree was denied by a judge here in the state of Indiana. So the divorce itself did not come from Mexico.

If you were married in Mexico, no US court can dissolve such a marriage until it has been first recognized. In your case, the Mexican marriage must first be considered legal by Indiana, before an Indiana court can dissolve it.

In essence, as long as your alleged marriage isn't legal in the US, you don't need to dissolve it. You aren't legally married, YET.

You need to visit a couple Indiana divorce lawyers, carrying your proof of your marriage documents with you.
You can then ask a few questions, get an assessment of your legal situation. All of that can generally be done during a first visit at no charge to you.

Lastly, getting married in Mexico is much more than a ceremony. There are things you must do, depending upon the Mexican state in which you married AFTER the marriage ceremony to legitimize the marriage. If you failed to do those things, your marriage may have not been legal in Mexico, either.

If you registered the foreign marriage license correctly, it started with a translation, followed by an apostille.

http://marriage.about.com/cs/marriagelicenses/a/marriageabroad.htm

Here are some examples of Mexican marriage laws:

http://www.mexicolaw.com/Marriage in Mexico.htm

http://www.mexperience.com/mexico-weddings/getting-married-in-mexico.php

http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/canada_eng/index.php/marriage-in-mexico

http://www.durango.gob.mx/es/tramites_servicios/56

http://intranet.e-hidalgo.gob.mx/regedofam/

http://archivo.nl.gob.mx/?P=sgg_d_reg_civil_camp_cajeros
 
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Thank you so much for this advice! It is very helpful to me!

We were married in Mexico state, and I had to get special permission from the embassy to marry. Then we went to the civil registry and had our "Ceremony" there. I was told that this made the marriage legal there.
 
Thank you so much for this advice! It is very helpful to me!

We were married in Mexico state, and I had to get special permission from the embassy to marry. Then we went to the civil registry and had our "Ceremony" there. I was told that this made the marriage legal there.

Which Mexican State?
That's where you start.
The registration process after the ceremony is different for the various Mexican states.
In Mexico, only civil marriages are legal.
They, however, aren't legal until the registration process has been completed properly.

Then you need to get that foreign marriage translated into English, and an apostille prepared and affixed, then it can be registered at a county clerk's office.

My advise, find out if Indiana considers you LEGALLY married.
I doubt that you are LEGALLY married in the US.
My guess, as you are no longer in Mexico, that ceremony has no validity in the US.
 
Which Mexican State?
That's where you start.
The registration process after the ceremony is different for the various Mexican states.
In Mexico, only civil marriages are legal.
They, however, aren't legal until the registration process has been completed properly.

Then you need to get that foreign marriage translated into English, and an apostille prepared and affixed, then it can be registered at a county clerk's office.

My advise, find out if Indiana considers you LEGALLY married.
I doubt that you are LEGALLY married in the US.
My guess, as you are no longer in Mexico, that ceremony has no validity in the US.

I would just like to thank you for your patience, and helpful answers to my questions. You have absolutely no idea how much it is appreciated!

We were married in the city of Naucalpan in the Estado de Mexico. The permit that I obtained to marry a national was issued from the embassy located in the DF. After the civil cermony I was issued a marriage certificate with our signatures and fingerprints on it signed by the judge who married us. I did nothing with that certificate after the initial ceremony as I was unaware that anything needed to be done to legalize it. We separated that December.

My main concerns about this are since I did file for divorce here and it was declined what do I need to do to make sure that I am not somehow in contempt? Also, if I were to remarry at some point would I need to go ahead and pursue a legal divorce in order to get remarried here?
 
I would just like to thank you for your patience, and helpful answers to my questions. You have absolutely no idea how much it is appreciated!

We were married in the city of Naucalpan in the Estado de Mexico. The permit that I obtained to marry a national was issued from the embassy located in the DF. After the civil cermony I was issued a marriage certificate with our signatures and fingerprints on it signed by the judge who married us. I did nothing with that certificate after the initial ceremony as I was unaware that anything needed to be done to legalize it. We separated that December.

My main concerns about this are since I did file for divorce here and it was declined what do I need to do to make sure that I am not somehow in contempt? Also, if I were to remarry at some point would I need to go ahead and pursue a legal divorce in order to get remarried here?


You need to allocate a couple of hours to visit with a couple of attorneys in your county.
Take all of your documents, tell yoru story, and the attorney will comment.
The initial consultation is normally free of charge, but if you like what you hear, ask for a written attorney opinion.
That will cost about $400 to $500 here in Texas, but be sure you ask the attorney you have selected.

I'm guessing you aren't considered legally married here for a couple of reasons previously mentioned.

Now YOU need to verify my GUESS for your protection.
 
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