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50 Years And No Longer Holding III

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Published: 22Sep2009
Word count: 541
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One of my favorite cases was one where the wedding took place 2 months before I was born. We won't dwell on when that happened to be. It might make me blush, and at least one of us would rather I didn't. However, it was a respectable number of years ago, and the couple would have been celebrating their golden anniversary if all had gone as planned. It didn't. On the bright side, this wouldn't be much of a story if it had.

I run an add in the paper for uncontested divorces. Our state has a "no fault" provision, and I think that people who aren't fighting, or have nothing to fight about deserve a break on their attorney's fees. It is disagreements about child custody, debts and property that require an attorney's time, and if those issues aren't present, the divorce procedure is pretty simple. This service has been popular. Many times, people don't bother to end their legal ties because of the expense. My offer gives them a way to cut their bonds without breaking the bank. Of course, I won't deny that I benefit as well because my service is a good way to attract couples who otherwise might have remained in wedded status, if not bliss until death, even though the parting had occured long ago.

In this case, my client had married 2 months before I was born, and hadn't seen his first wife since I was a month old. My client figured that his first wife had seen to their divorce shortly after she left him, and hadn't given her a lot of thought since then. One day, for some reason, he decided to look into his marital status. He had called the courthouse in St. Louis and was informed that, while there was a record of their marriage, there was nothing regarding a divorce. He decided he better remedy this oversight. His first wife may have had their ties severed in another jurisdiction, but certain of my client's family were not willing to rely on that possibility.

So, why, after all of these years did he come to an attorney? What or who prompted him to officially end his connection to a lady he hadn't even seen for several decades? The answer won't surprise you. His companion of 40 years was not pleased when she found out his wedding vows with her were probably bigomous. She wanted proof of his divorce before she planned another wedding with him. This time, all 5 of their children would be invited to attend.

There are a lot of jokes with punchlines like "and I bet your father was a bachelor", or "Thanks for the donation. Bring your parents to services this Sunday, and I'll be happy to marry them." In this day and age, out of wedlock births are more accepted than they used to be. My clients wife didn't care about that. She was of a generation that demanded proof from the state that her children were most likely related to the man with whom she shared quarters. She wanted a marrige license that wasn't duplicated under another woman's name in places unknown. After some heated conversation, my client did too if he knew what was good for him.

Lucille Uttermohlen is a family law attorney with 27 years experience. If you have questions about paternity, divorce or related issues, visit her at http://www.couple-or-not.com . You can also email Lucille with your legal questions at Lucille@utter-law.com.

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