Divorce without a marriage certificate - married abroad

[thinkingmakesitso]

The marriage took place in NYC in 2006. Bloody certificate was lost a couple of months ago, just before I decided to start divorce proceedings, and seems to be gone for good. .

Solicitor has been looking into getting a replacement but today has advised me I may want to take it up myself as it will cost so much in legal fees. Apparently it has to be paid for with a cheque from a bank that has a sister bank in America and she has no idea if any do. Google has not revealed anything to me - do I now need to phone every bank and ask about this? Even if I find one, if I don't have an account with them can it be done?

I can't believe this - I have no time to be ringing round banks, probably fruitlessly. I just want a divorce. Does anyone have any advice please?

Well, if that's what you have to do then either do it or pay your solicitor to do it.

Or fly to NY and try to sort it out in person.

HSBC have branches in the USA, surely that would mean you could use them?

Choughed is right though, it may end up cheaper in the end to fly there and do it in person.

Where does STBEx stand on the divorce? Would he split the costs?

Gosh - I couldn't possibly fly there! The solicitor mentioned the fee being something like $40 - it is finding a suitable bank that is the issue. Does anyone know what they charge for this kind of thing? Surely not the cost of flying to NYC and staying there during school holiday time??

Can't you order a copy online using a credit card? I bet you can...

Find someone with hsbc premier account and see if they can get it with no fees or reduced fees. We had free banking with them when we lived in ny but that was years ago.

Good luck.

According to this thread on money saving expert you can buy US$ money orders (like a postal order) from high st banks. I think that's the simplest way. I think it is unlikely that a city government office would accept a normal cheque from an HSBC Sterling account.

This page gives information about getting marriage records from the NYC city clerk's office. There is a form to send in for a copy. But there is also some confusing stuff about extra authentication in order for the certificate to be valid overseas, which needs to be done in person. You might want to check with your solicitor whether that is necessary for a divorce. If so you might need a friend in NYC.

You may want to consider contacting the British Consulate in NYC. I used to be involved with getting foreign documents (I'm in the US, worked for a Govt agency) and we used to work through the American Consulate in certain countries. Some of the consulates actually had staff that would obtain the certificates for us.

Might this work?

www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/vitalchek.htm

I ordered a copy of my marriage certificate on-line via Vitalchek. I used my credit card (actually debit card iirc) and paid a bit extra to get it quickly.

Call your solicitor and ask them for an estimate of fees. Then decide what to do. It sounds like a day or two of focused research and activity will solve the problem. Only you can decide what's more valuable, your time or your money.

According to Google it's $30 to order a replacement cert. I live in the US and could write a US check for you if you wanted (assuming they would take it if it was from someone other than you).

That's really kind of you - I am going to look into it all as I have realised my bank account is part of HSBC. Hopefully there is a way that doesn't depend on knowing someone in the USA!

Hey.... I know it's been a while since this post but was just wondering if you managed to get the marriage certificate from nyc. I'm in the same exact position....did the civil marriage in nyc and don't have the original. Now trying to get a divorce. Any info would be really appreciated!.