[asia1114]

My husband and I filed for and were granted a divorce 12 years ago, however ,we never did separate.We have been together all along, 28 years. Are we still considered married?

[shygrneyzs]

What state do you live in? Is it a state that recognizes common law marriages? Are the two of you passing yourselves off as husband and wife? When you files your taxes, are you filing as a married couple?

You are divorced. Legallly, right? You have the divorce papers and the court's seal on the papers and the Judge's signature? Then you are divorced.

Check your state law on common law though. Fact Sheet On Common Law Marriage

[shygrneyzs]

From your other post, you say you live in New York. New York does not recognize common law marriages. I would say you are divorced. But if you are really in doubt, call your attorney that handled the divorce.

Just for curiousity - why the question on this? Did someone tell you that you are still married?

[Fr_Chuck]

You are divorced just "shacking up" except in those cases where a few states sill allow it, but even those that do, there are often other requirements normally that have to be done.

So you were legally divorced, and you have not gone back and got married again, so you are divorced, just "living in sin" with them.

So basically you have little rights if one or the other die, unless you are listed in a will.

[asia1114]

I take offense to the term "living in sin"... just because the marriage was dissolved legally, Do you think God thinks I'm" living in sin "? I was married in a church 28 years ago.

[acicomp]

While it may seem harsh, and the can of worms is open, I would have to agree with Fr_Chuck. You were divorced and then for whatever reason, probably good ones, decided to stay together. Biblically, yes it is a sin to live together and not be married. When I say live, I mean live in all ways. Are you acting as husband and wife? Biblically, onl husband and wife are to enjoy the physical pleasures of each other. Since you are divorced, you would have forfeited that right. Now, back to reality. Aftrer all this time, you would still be divorced since New York has no common law rights. My suggestion would be to get remarried. Enjoy your second honeymoon. I hope this "help" hasn't offended you. Regardless of the dicorce, I would still have to commend you for staying together all these years. From a legal stance, it would be better to remarry. If one of you were to have an accident and die, the other would never be able to claim benefits such as life insurance. The insurance company keeps investigators busy with issues such as this.

[froggy7]

While it may seem harsh, and the can of worms is open, I would have to agree with Fr_Chuck. You were divorced and and then for whatever reason, probably good ones, decided to stay together. Biblically, yes it is a sin to live together and not be married. When I say live, I mean live in all ways. Are you acting as husband and wife? Biblically, onl husband and wife are to enjoy the physical pleasures of each other. Since you are divorced, you would have forfeited that right.

Technically, if they are Roman Catholics, at least, a divorce and an annullment are different items. Marriage is a sacrament between the two people getting married and God. If that sacrament is entered into properly, the fact that you get legally divorced does not "unmarry" you in the eyes of the Church, which is why they won't officiate at marriages of divorced people. Conversely, an anullment will acknowledge that the sacrament wasn't properly administered, so you aren't married in the eyes of the Church and God. But the state will still consider you legally married unless you get a legal divorce. So this is actually a very interesting case from a religious ruling viewpoint, since it may well be that they are not living in sin at all, even though they are legally divorced.

But legally, yes, you are divorced. I'm not entirely sure what you would have to do to get remarried, although most likely you would only need to have the civil ceremony. If you want to know about the religious side, I'd suggest talking to your local pastor/priest, etc.

[Fr_Chuck]

Of course the "living in sin" was a joke, but you are not married, and living in sin is an old term for people living together not married,

You are divorced so it does not matter if this is the person you used to be married to, or if it is someone new you picked up at the market from a legal aspect, you are just not married.

Heavens, you must really be upset about just "living" together, so why not get married again? And why did you ever get a divorce to start with.
I marry a lot of older couple, ( not a legal marriage to the state) because they can't loose any benefits, but we marry them in the church so they can live together as a christain union.

But if you are not married, you are not married. You will not have rights to the others social security retirement if they die, you can not automatically get anything if they die, it will go to other relations unless you have a will.

So by not being married, you are opening up a lot of legal issues.
** thus one of the main reason same sex couples want married rights

I am sorry if you were offended, but 1 of course to the church you are, but it was just a joke, come on lighten up a bit.