Complicated Problem - Too Many Different Answers!

My partner is Venezuelan and was married to another Venezuelan 17 years ago. They seperated 12 years ago and then he met an Australian when he was working in St Thomas.

He tried to get a divorce in Venesuela but all records of births, death and marriages have been destroyed due to the political unrest and due to this he was unable to get his divorce.

He did marry in St Thomas 5 years ago. Subsequently they seperated 2.5 years ago when she left him and went back to Australia. He has been resident in Florida since the seperation.

The problem is we do not know what to do in order to go about getting the divorce due to the fact that she has never been in contact with him since leaving and he does not know where in Australia she is. Also, is the 2nd marriage valid due to the fact that technically it was bigamy due to the first marriage not being dissolved? But what can you do when the courts in Venezuela will not help you? I also know that his ex-wife in Venezuela has also re-married.

Where do we go from here and how do we sort this out? I have spoken to some lawyers who keep giving me mixed responses about what I should do.

You can file in court and have the entire situation ratified and confirmed and the current status ordered by the court. This is not uncommon.

Email WLD if you need help.


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