[tendergestures]

I had a church wedding in California 13 years ago. Now I want a divorce. However, my husband informed me that we were never legally married because the marriage was never recorded with the county or state recorder's office.

I checked with the county recorder and there is not record of our marriage in California. We hired a PI who found nothing. We sought legal advice but got conflicting opinions on whether a divorce process is necessary.

Now I want to remarry, but I do not want any polygamy charges.

Is it necessary to get a divorce even though our marriage is not recognised in California?

[GV70]

I do not know how is in California but...
To be valid, a marriage ceremony must be performed by any of the individuals specified in Section 11 of the New York State Domestic Relations Law. These include:

The mayor of a city or village;

The city clerk or one of the deputy clerks of a city of more than one million inhabitants;

A marriage officer appointed by the town or village board or the city common council;

A justice or judge of the following courts: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, or Western Districts of New York, the NYS Court of Appeals, the Appellate Division of the NYS Supreme Court, the NYS Supreme Court, the Court of Claims, the Family Court, a Surrogates' Court, the Civil and Criminal Courts of New York City (including Housing Judges of the Civil Court) and other courts of record;

A village, town or county justice;

A member of the clergy or minister who has been officially ordained and granted authority to perform marriage ceremonies from a governing church body in accordance with the rules and regulations of the church body;

A member of the clergy or minister who is not authorized by a governing church body but who has been authorized by a spiritual group to preside over their spiritual affairs;

Other officiants as specified by Section 11 of the Domestic Relations Law.

It is for NY.