OK!! Any clever lawyer-type people about??

[adozenroses]

This seems to be a complicated question to get answered, so I will ask the very wonderful mners out there for advice

Dh and I got married in USA several years ago. Turns out we are not legally married in this country. SO my question is this, if we decided to get divorced - how do we go about this happening as we are not registered in this country as being married.

The reason I ask is I am very concerned that our marriage is not registered, and heaven forbid anything happen to either of us, we would not be legally married and things will get complicated.

I spoke to a registrar in the area I live about the legality of our marriage and she said it isn't legal in this country but thought it wouldn't really be a problem if anything went wrong. That's when I asked about divorcing(not that we are!!) and she said that to divorce, we have to divorce in the country we are resident in - but she wasn't completely sure about how this would work for us.

So, can anyone give me advice on this situation. How does it work if we are technically not married in this country. I assumed if we are not registered her, then we cannot divorce here. Is this right???

Sorry, I have waffled a bit - I hope it makes sense!!!

Hi,

Who has said you are not legally married, just this registrar?.

I was also married in the US some years ago and our marriage is legally binding even though it is not registered here. We certainly did not have to register it upon our return to the UK so our marriage is not in the office of the Births, Marriages and Deaths archives based in London. That said though, it is still a recognised legal union.

I would seek further legal advice to put your mind at rest, this registrar I feel has given you duff information based on little to no knowledge.

You may find this useful as well:-

Overseas marriages are legal in the UK, provided they comply with the marriage laws of the country you have got married in. However, overseas marriage cannot be ?registered? here in the UK. An exception to this is where one of the couple is a serving member of, or is attached to, the British Armed Forces at the time of the marriage. This should be discussed with the Forces prior to the marriage-taking place.

If, however, this is not the case, provided one or both of you is a British citizen, and your wedding has taken place in one of the countries from which the General Register Office (GRO) can accept formal notifications, (these are referred to as ?Article 7 marriages?. Please view the list of countries from which overseas certificates can be accepted), a ?record? can be created for your overseas marriage by depositing the marriage certificate along (with translations if applicable) in the GRO.

This record can be created at anytime after your marriage ceremony. In order to have your marriage certificate deposited you will need to specifically contact the GRO in the UK, and the British Embassy in the country you were married, as this is not an automatic process, and state that you wish to deposit your marriage certificate with the GRO.

You will need to provide the British Embassy, in the country where you got married, with a certified copy of your marriage certificate, which will have been duly authenticated by the local authority. They will then translate the certificate, possibly subject to a fee. The British Consular General will then forward the certificate, along with an accompanying note, to the GRO in the UK, again subject to a fee.

Once the documents have been received by the GRO you will be notified. The documents are then held with the GRO and from then onwards a copy of your marriage certificate can be requested, should the need arise.

as far as i am aware, a USA wedding is a legal wedding. Otherwise, people wouldn't go to Vegas to get married from this country, would they?

i believe the registrar is talking out of their bottom

www.weddingchaos.co.uk/wedding-abroad/wedding-abroad-legal.asp

This is a useful website to read as well re weddings abroad and legality of same.

Please put your mind at rest!.

btw the General Registrar Office (GRO) can accept notification from the USA

Marvelous!!! Such great advice. I should have just asked on MN in the beginning. Thanks so much Attila. You have really helped me with this problem.

I agree, detentiongrrl. the registrar is talking out of her botty

I love mumsnet!!