How can I found out if I'm divorced?
September 23, 2008 7:29 PM   Subscribe

How can I found out if I'm divorced?

I left my ex many years ago, never bothered with a divorce, and now I've met someone I'd like to marry. I have no way of contacting my ex, though I think she still lives in CA. I presently live in another country. I have reason to believe that my ex divorced me in absentia, though I don't know exactly when, in which county, or even if she really did. I have tried online records searches, free and paid, to no avail.

Help?
posted by anonymous to Law & Government (6 answers total)
 
The county she lived in at the time you think she might have done this is probably who you'd have to contact. Or pay a lawyer to do it for you.

Worst case, file for divorce against her. She'll either respond that she has already, or you'll get the ball rolling.
posted by gjc at 7:40 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


pay one of the search services to track down the ex
posted by Ironmouth at 7:54 PM on September 23, 2008


You need to figure out what county in CA your ex was in at the time you think she did this, and then you need to look up their county clerk or county recorder, and then you need to find out how to search their records.

Failing the necessary info-- which boils down to what county she was in when you think she did this, and maybe a target timeframe-- you need to hire someone to find her and discover whether or not she has divorced you, preferably a lawyer. A private investigator might also work, but start with the lawyer angle.

I am not a lawyer, FWIW.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 7:56 PM on September 23, 2008


It's probably easier to find her, (or her parents, siblings etc.) and ask her. People are easy to find.
posted by lee at 7:59 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


I am a lawyer. I think the easiest way to do this would be to do a public records search. If you don't turn anything up through an online records search, your research would largely be based on guesswork and conjecture. She could have gotten a divorce anywhere she had lived since you were separated, and even some places where she hadn't lived. She could have gotten a divorce in Mexico for all you know.

If you don't find it through the online records search, or through contacting the court clerks of the counties where you think she has lived, you may just want to file for divorce yourself.
posted by jayder at 8:21 PM on September 23, 2008


You either have tax records, or can get copies. You can get her SSN, which will make it a lot easier to check her credit report or otherwise check marital status.
posted by theora55 at 9:15 PM on September 23, 2008


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