Deceased relative secretly married - how do I find out?

[Chubbyspud]

This is part genealogy and part legal I think.

My uncle has recently died. We knew him well, he and my dad were very close. We knew him as a lifelong bachelor who never married. We barely even know of any girlfriends or partners (although we know there was one but she was married to someone else at the time so we’re pretty sure that she wouldn’t be linked to the mystery that’s unfolded)

Since his death we have discovered that on some of his paperwork he had referenced that he was once married and was now widower. We also know that he verbally told the financial advisor this but didn’t want to discuss it any further. He had no signs of dementia or any mental health concerns, he didn’t use drink or drugs or anything that could cloud his thoughts. He was an extremely organised and cautious man who kept his affairs in order so this has thrown us completely.

Can anyone tell advise me if there’s a way to find out if this was the case? All I have are his details, I don’t know anything about the spouse.

I should also add, he died in a very unexpected way so didn’t get the opportunity to share anything with us at the end. There is part of me that feels if he didn’t want to share this in life then we should respect that, however I think for some legal reasons we might need to know when settling the estate. Any advice on this would also be very helpful if anyone knows.

If he is in UK try freebmd.

Thank you I’ll have a look. Yes we are UK .

I have a subscription to the main genealogy sites and would be happy to look any marriage up for you. Feel free to message details.

@chubbyspud are you in England & Wales or Scotland? If you’re in Scotland try Scotland’s people, otherwise then go with LIZS’s freebmd suggestion

Did FreeBMD bring up anything? Sometimes it's worth trying GRO too.

I should also add, he died in a very unexpected way so didn’t get the opportunity to share anything with us at the end. There is part of me that feels if he didn’t want to share this in life then we should respect that, however I think for some legal reasons we might need to know when settling the estate

Does the solicitor think you’ll need to know?

Presumably unless he’s left her anything there’s no need to go digging. Unless she’s still alive and they are still married, she wouldn’t inherit anything.

If he had a financial advisor then surely if they were still financially linked in any way they would know?

I’d leave it alone and respect his wishes until such time you are required to find out. Are you executor of his will?

If you have his name and an approx time that he was married you can search free bmd.
I have a subscription to a genealogy site so happy to do some digging if you want to pm me.

freebmd is an index (of GRO) of marriages from 1837 - through 1998 for marriages, therefore if the marriage took place after this date you will not find it on this webpage.

you can search the general register office index on other websites - but often for a charge - though your local library may have free access.