Q: If my husband is married in mexico to his first babys mom, then lied about it. What do i do now?

A: I recommend contacting a family lawyer near you to get advice. Here are some basics so you can communicate with that lawyer as to what you are seeking.

The marriage is prohibited by Colorado law because it is bigamous (meaning, one spouse is still legally married to someone else). Colorado does not have an official court action called "annulment of marriage." However, you can ask a judge for a “declaration of invalidity,” which is very similar to annulment. If the judge grants your request, it will mean that your marriage was never valid.

Colorado law also specifically provides that children born of a prohibited relationship are legitimate. Similarly, Colorado has many different “presumptions of paternity” (strong legal assumptions that a man is the biological father), and one or more are likely to cover your children’s situation. It is very difficult to overturn a presumption of paternity, and most result in a court making a final determination that the “presumed” father is the biological father.

Most state courts don’t have statutory authority to award alimony or divide property or debts as part of an annulment case. The logic behind this is that there cannot be a marital estate if there wasn't a valid marriage.

But Colorado is different and has a much more generous statute. Colorado’s law specifically provides that the same child custody and support, property division, and alimony laws that apply to divorce cases also apply to invalidity cases. This means one or both spouses might have to pay alimony or child support, that each will be awarded property and assigned debt, and that each will have custodial and visitation rights.

Source including cut-and-pasted text: http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/annulment/annulment-basics/colorado

A: Everything that Brian said is correct about invalidity. In Colorado, all filings to terminate a marriage are treated the same and apply the same rules. Functionally, the special types of divorces (invalidity and annulment) are identical to normal divorces except that slightly different paperwork is filed and the final judgment is slightly different. The rules about alimony, child support, visitation, and property divisions are identical. The filings are listed as a DR (domestic relations) case and to an outside observer invalidity and annulments look exactly like a normal divorce in the courtroom.

Due to this near identical overlap, the special types of divorce are relatively infrequent occurrences in Colorado. This is for two reasons. One, invalidity/annulments look and are formally listed like a normal divorce. Two, both special types require an extra showing of material--which requires additional time and resources. For example, to prove invalidity, you will need to produce the original marriage certificate from Mexico. In short, invalidity and annulments are more for a party's psychological needed than for a legal purpose. There is nothing wrong with this, but you should be aware that there are no special rules beyond the ability to say that you were never married in common parlance (but for most official records the special types must still be listed like a normal divorce).

For more details contact a family law attorney. Additionally, be aware that invalidity and annulment claims require more technical files, so you probably will need the assistance of a lawyer with the filings.