Found an issue on this page? Let us know and we will look into it as soon as possible.
If you get married in another state with the same person do you have to get a divorce in both states or just one state?
Anonymous7 views4 answers
My boyfriend married in Hawaii and then he got married again to the same person in San Francisco Ca. He eventually got a divorce about two years ago in one of the states, San Mateo, California. Is his marriage in Hawaii automatically voided as a divorce because he got one divorce in California. Hawaii is a different state and was not sure if he was supposed to divorce in both states or just divorce in the one state California.
You only have to file for divorce in the state where you OR your spouse is living. If you marry in Hawaii, but file for divorce in California, and a California court grants the divorce, the divorce will be recognized in all 50 states.
Richard Forrest Gould-SaltmanFamily Law AttorneyLos Angeles, CA ·
Unless there was something WRONG with marriage that took place in Hawaii (like boyfriend was still married to someone else at that time, and the divorce was finalized before the CA marriage, or something wasn't done properly in terms of processing the license and certificate in Hw.) marriage #1 is the only one that counts. He wasn't any "more married" by the San Francisco second marriage; it had no legal effect at all. The divorce dissolved the only effective marriage.
I agree with the first answer entirely. Only one divorce is needed since there's only one marriage between the two, regardless of how many times they've had a ceremony. Otherwise, those that had a second or more ceremonies over the term of their marriage would have to go to all those places where they were re-married to get divorces. Only one is needed in the state in which they resided.
