Hercules, CA asked in Divorce for California

Q: Am I still legally married?

I filed for divorce in the state of California in 2005. We had one appearance. As time went on my spouse moved to the state of Arkansas. In 2010 he sent me a copy of a final divorce decree (through an email attachment) saying we were divorced. I never signed any paperwork and the case status of the divorce filings in California still say Active. We live life as if we are divorced and he has since re-married.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Andy Chen
Andy Chen
Answered
  • Modesto, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: It depends on what the Arkansas divorce decree says. You should repost this in the Arkansas forum as whether the Arkansas decree is valid will depend on whether you are or are not required to sign off to a divorce under Arkansas law.

If the Arkansas decree is not valid, then you're still married. If it is valid, then you may still be married if the CA case was still open at the time. If it was, the AR court technically should not have taken the case, but it did not knowing a case existed in CA. If the CA case was closed when the AR case was filed, the AR should take precedence.

This is the complication and confusion when cases are filed in two different states on the same issue.

I highly doubt your CA case is still open. California courts routinely dismiss cases after 5 years of nothing happening.

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