Funny Story

[freethed]

When i was about 21, back in my hay days. Drunk on young love I married a foreign non-citizen girl on a whim. no church or ceremony. Just got the papers and signed them. Soon afterwards her parents sent her back to china. It's been 10 years, i'm 31 now. Needless to say I've been putting it off it for a long time.

I'm planning on buying a home in 6 months. So i think i need to take care of this. I don't even remember how to spell her name. Or any pertinent information related to the wedding. We honestly didn't even spend that much time together. I was 21 and went to extremes for this girl just to get some.

I spoke to her over MSN chat maybe 6 months after she left. She told me about her life now in China where she was from.

What do i do? What happens if i purchase a home? Am I even still married to her?

[Berner_Faith]

If you got the papers, yes you are still married to her, unless you filed for divorce or had the marriage overturned, which is doesn't sound like you did. Obviously you know where you got married and where you filed the papers, you will have to get a copy of those papers and file for divorce I would assume... this could be interesting...

[standing on the sidelines]

I wonder if he has a case to have it annulled?

[arabian]

I wouldn't recommend annulment as it can be an expensive process and you have to show 'diminished capacity' (drunk?) or fraud (immigration).

[Mike62]

freethed: Wow! When I saw the title "funny story" I was expecting a joke.

If I was in your shoes, I'd talk to a lawyer especially before purchasing a home. Your "spouse" might be entitled to 50%!

[Janibel]

Bottom line - until you're divorced, you're still married. Anything you own is potentially half hers.

[Beachnana]

Hopefully you have no children!

Do you have any idea where she lives now? Can you contact her?

[freethed]

I kind of remember where it was. I read that you need both names to get the papers. Like i said before, i barely remember how to spell her name. it was a complicated Chinese name. I called her by her fake english name.

[freethed]

Well.. after she left i started thinking that maybe it was some sort of immigration thing. But she disappeared long before we could have done any of the immigration paper work.

[freethed]

How much do you think a lawyer will cost me? Any recommendation on a lawyer? i live in the downtown core of Toronto. How quickly can I sort this out? Will i be able to annul/divorce before the summer?

[FightingForFamily]

The typical divorce takes at least 2 years and 5 years is not unusual. I wouldn't bet on anything happening by the summer.

Did you ever live together? There are no kids?

You said you have paperwork... it must have a name for her on it. That's a start.

In order to divorce her you will need to prove a court that you made every possible effort to locate her and include her in the divorce process before the process can continue without her being present.

Book a consultation with a family law lawyer in your area. You will normally get a free 30 minute consultation. Ask your questions there.

[FightingForFamily]

Lawyers cost between $250 and $400 per hour here in Ottawa. Typically you will provide a $5000 retainer to them to begin work on your case. If you need to appear in court or go to a trial, they usually ask for another $5000-10000 up front.

Of the divorces I have detailed knowledge of, the legal costs were around $15000 per person over a 2-4 year period. None of these went to trial, although some did have 1-2 case conferences at the court house.

A simple, uncontested, jointly filed divorce can be completed for less than $2000. You can do it yourself without a lawyer if you can manage the paperwork and only pay the filing fees for less than $1000.

Marriage is serious business and divorce is a multiple billion dollar industry here in Canada. Welcome to the industry.

Hint: Don't get married again.

[rockscan]

If she was foreign, I wonder if you should speak to foreign affairs? They might be able to help track her down? Especially if she came back to Canada and/or settled here? If anything it might help with the search when you need to serve her?

[Links17]

Since you became married, I don't see why you won't have to give her half your stuff.

One night with you for 200,000$

[FightingForFamily]

Since you became married, I don't see why you won't have to give her half your stuff.

One night with you for 200,000$

I'd hit it for $200,000 and I'm not even gay.