HOW CAN I FIND OUT IF I AM LEGALLY DIVORCED?

QUESTION: Without contacting my ex, how do I find out if I am legally divorced? Is there a way to look up public records? We haven't spoken in over 5 years and I was told they tried to find me to file papers, yet I never heard anything. =============================================== MY RESPONSE: Had there been a divorce, and had you been locatable by your "ex" or his attorney or investigator, you most likely would have been served with divorce papers. Only if you couldn't be located after diligent efforts, could your "ex" have served you by publication. The easiest way to find out would be to contact your (hopefully) ex and ask, and if he/she says that he/she divorced you, ask for the Court and the case number, and look up the case on the Court's website, and if it says that a Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage was filed and entered, go to the Court and purchase a copy of the Judgment. It would be far more difficult and expensive to search for the needle in a haystack that you would be doing to search all of the Court records each of the Superior Courts in your county and each county in which your "ex" has resided since separation - and you might not find anything because your "ex" would not have gotten a divorce. If your "ex"advises you that he/she didn't divorce you, you should try to work out an agreement with your "ex" to get a divorce, get your "ex's" address and contact information, and file and proceed with a divorce case. You are in the highest tax bracket, Married filing Separately, until you are divorced. If you can't reach your "ex", assume that there was no divorce, and file and proceed with a divorce case. You would best retain an experienced Family Law Attorney to represent you in your divorce. ============================================== This educational blog is brought to you by DONALD F. CONVISER, an effective and aggressive Los Angeles Family Law Attorney and Divorce Lawyer serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years,owner of Warner Center Law Offices, with offices in Woodland Hills and Century City. Call 888.632.4447 or 818.880.8990 for a free confidential consultation with a Certified Family Law Specialist to discuss your divorce or family law issues. | www.conviser.net | www.conviserfamilylaw.com |