I also know people who have done this but your right, it is illegal. In order for the divorce to be valid and legal, you must be separated for one year and one day. If you lie about the date of separation, you and your ex will be guilty of perjury. If she get remarried she will be guilty of bigamy.
I know that it is done, but in order to have a clear conscience, I suggest that you wait it out. Imagine being 5 years down the road and wanting to remarry. Your ex turns up willing to take the hit on the perjury charges just to cause you problems. Now, not only do you have to answer for the perjury, but you also have to file for divorce and wait the 30-45 days it could take to have that granted.
It’s not a good idea. If she wants to remarry then I suggest sometime in late May or June 2009…
In the event your ex files for divorce you will have the opportunity to answer the Complaint. The Complaint is the legal document that initiates the divorce proceeding. In your Answer to the complaint you will need to deny her allegation that you have been separated for 12 months. If you do nothing and the divorce goes through you could run into problems at some point in the future as the divorce judgment will be based on a falsity and a perjured statement.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com for details
Erin Clarey
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
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Don’t do it. Although no one can technically prove it, why put yourself on the line like this? Make sure the proper amount of time has passed and have a witness to back you up. Probably, nothing would happen, but you just never know.
Ok, we have been in front of the judge about the seperation agreement and he ruled on that. That was done in April 08 My stbx got nothing from me as I barely make minimum wage and she the same. She is now wanting to do a do-it-yourself kit and claim that we have been seperated for more than a year and file in a new county in which she lives now. She wants to claim we have been seperated for over 12 months in order to file for absolute divorce with nothing at being contested on either side. She wants to remarry and thats the reason she wants to speed it up. I dont really care either way. Any advice on what I should do? I would think this may not even be legal but I know people that have claimed they were seperated for more than 12 months when they were not and were able to get an absolute divorce. Any advice would be appreciated.