[WSBAPT] Here's a New One

[Andrekita Silva]

  Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
____________________________________________  
 
                                                 
                                                  November 9, 2021
 
Amy,
 
I don’t think that the failure to get a license makes the marriage  
void.  If they ratified the marriage, I think they are married.
 
I have divorced client’s from time to time over the years when there  
was a defect in the marriage  (like OP hadn’t divorced first spouse).   
As I recall, if the marriage is ratified, the spouse who knew of the  
defect at the time of marriage couldn’t use that to the detriment of  
the innocent spouse’s disadvantage. 
[ like, you have no right to my riches because we weren’t actually  
married.]  I believe I tried that issue before Judge Faith Ireland  
before she went up to the Supremes. 
 
A year or so ago, I had a client in a similar situation, she and H had  
a big wedding ceremony with family and friends in attendance.  They  
applied for a license but the officiant, who was a relative, never  
filed certificate (or what ever is signed by the parties). So, not  
officially married. A year or so later they separated.
 
H filed a paternity action (he didn’t want to pay maintenance) and we  
filed a divorce action. We had their paternity action dismissed.
 
In the probate context, unless Mom is saying son was incompetent to  
marry, the marriage was only voidable. But not sure Mom has standing  
to invalidate the marriage.
 
This is still the question about the character of the property since  
it was acquired before marriage. The question would be whether they  
were in a CIR when acquired.
 
Anyway, I think really modest research would clarify things pretty  
easily.  Again, this is only if no one is saying the marriage was  
fraudulent- undue influence, H incompetent, etc.  
 
 
andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com
 

Quoting Amy Goertz <amyjgoertz at icloud.com>:

> Good afternoon,    
>   I have an interesting situation on my hands.
>    
>   A potential client (PC) called today with the following  
> challenging scenario:
>    
>   PC (30 years old) was in a relationship since 2018 with a man (28  
> years old) who had been paralyzed in an accident in 2015. He  
> received a settlement from the accident, which was in a bank account  
> on which his stepmother was a co-signer to help him pay bills.
>    
>   During their relationship, PC was his primary caretaker, and they  
> purchased vehicles and a house. All titled in his name and likely  
> using his settlement monies.
>    
>   They planned to be married on his grandparents’ anniversary -  
> August 28, 2021. They had a ceremony with a licensed officiant but  
> they did not realize they were supposed to get a marriage license  
> ahead of time so no official paperwork was filed. They decided to go  
> to Idaho on October 11 (her birthday) to get hitched for real, but  
> would continue to consider August 28 as their anniversary.
>    
>   He died of unknown causes on October 5; she woke up to him  
> unresponsive and could not revive him. 
>    
>   Stepmother has swooped in, says she is the “executor” of the  
> estate (there are no estate planning documents to PC's knowledge)  
> and has taken titles to all of the vehicles and withdrawn the funds  
> from the bank account. She says she is “holding them” for PC.
>    
>   I would be interested to know how you would approach this situation.
>    
>   Thanks in advance for your insights.
>
>
> /Amy/
>         
>        /Amy J. Goertz, J.D./
>        /Goertz & Lambrecht PLLC/
>                amyjgoertz at icloud.com
>          
>         1.888.926.2607 phone
> 1.877.684.1627 fax
>  
>         Address for correspondence:
>         2829 S. Grand Blvd., Suite 303
> Spokane, WA 99203 
>          
>         Additional office locations:
>         510 Bell Street
> Edmonds, WA 98020
>          
>         Goertz & Lambrecht PLLC
>         www.goertzlambrecht.com[1]
>
>         
>         
>
>  



Links:
------
[1] http://www.goertzlambrecht.com/

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