Are we even legally married?

Being married to two people at the same time is called bigamy. It is illegal and you could have him charged with a crime. Either way, he loses. If you ARE found to be legally married, you are entitled to make a claim for alimony, equitable distribution etc during the divorce proceedings. Plus child support of course.

If you are found to NOT be married due to his being married to someone else at the time of your marriage, then he can be charged with bigamy AND you have a very good chance of winning a civil suit against him for fraud and misrepresentation.

My situation is pretty difficult, at least for me. My spouse (to whom I am separated), has told me that he has spoken to an attorney in NC who has confirmed this theory that we were never legally married. I had to ask here, because he has always kind thrown this at me in arguments when he wanted to go out and “be single”. He was common law married in the state of Colorado to his GF of 10 years or so. He joined the army in 2000 where we met. In 2001, the army informed him that he needed to file a divorce before I could be added as a medical beneficiary (I was expecting our first child).I found out at this time that he reported to the army that he had a spouse common law. I now have reason to believe that he was living with her up until we moved in together. He filed for a divorce. In August 2001 he went to court in Colorado. On Sept. 5 2001 we were married at the local courthouse in North Carolina. About a week and a half later we received"official" divorce papers in the mail dated and stamped that Sept 11 2001. My question is, are we really married? I really really need someone’s help. He says we’re not, which means that we need to proceed with a divorce. If we are not, then what is next? What do I do legally as far as my name change and everything?