I got married and I went to the Orange County Courthouse to get my marriage licence so I can get a divorce and they searched and could not find any records. Since they can not find any records am I considered married or can I marry my fiancé?

If you got married, then you are legally married. I suspect that you have a name wrong, the spelling wrong or the county wrong. If the records office really did lose it, never filed it, or just couldn't find it the day you were there, that doesn't make you unmarried. For starters, your ex may have copies of the actual papers.

This is not to say that some people don't commit bigamy or polygamy and get away with it, simply because they know they can (usually in different states) - that is, until something happens that draws attention to it, in a divorce or crime or inheritance or any number of legal situations.

Were you married in front of witnesses? Did a clergyman sign the license? All of these can assert that you were married, absent paperwork. So yes, you have to go through the process of getting a divorce.

Let's define terms:

Marriage license: the document you must have before you can get married.

Marriage certificate: signed by the minister and the witnesses, it is usually filed with a vital statistics office after the marriage.

If the minister (or other official) who performed the marriage neglected to file the certificate, OP is still married, and thus must be divorced before he/she can marry someone else. If the certificate cannot be located, it is possible that the fact of the marriage can be proven by testimony.

Yes, you are still married,

The marriage is and will be considered valid, unless you prove, (again in court) that for some reason it is not valid. The court losing or misfiling the license is not proof.

Again as asked.

1. was a marriage license received?

2. who did the wedding? A pastor or a judge ?

3. while not common, sometimes, a pastor forgets to mail the license back. ( pastor has to take the copy of marriage license you get, sign it, and mail it back to court.

4. a little more common, ( although not real common) the pastor makes a mistake and mails it to the wrong county. In which case, they should forward it, but you can guess what happens sometimes

5. license gets lost in mail, delivered to wrong address and more.

When I was pastor, I always hand delivered mine, but I do not know any other pastor that does this.


Again, you go forward with the divorce, you know date and time of wedding, so you file,

... Again, you go forward with the divorce, you know date and time of wedding, so you file,

Actually the date and place.

I am puzzled why OP thought it necessary to attach the marriage certificate to the divorce petition. Did the form petition actually require that?

Which Orange County?

Orange County, California (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_California), near Los Angeles
Orange County, Florida (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_Florida), containing Orlando
Orange County, Indiana (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_Indiana)
Orange County, New York (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_New_York)
Orange County, North Carolina (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_North_Carolina)
Orange County, Texas (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_Texas)
Orange County, Vermont (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_Vermont)
Orange County, Virginia (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/wiki/Orange_County,_Virginia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_county