Bigamy?

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

If she lied on the divorce complaint, the effect would be that the divorce is void. Meaning she is still legally married to you, and is committing bigamy in her marriage to her second husband. It would also mean that she does not have any legal rights or protections in that marriage.

I cannot tell you if this is what has occurred, without reviewing the divorce complaint and judgment. There were certain procedures she had to follow to prove she tried to serve you, she cannot just tell the court she didn’t know where you were.

If she is committing bigamy, she could certainly face criminal charges for her actions.

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.

2

I’ll try to make it short.
Got married in PA to a NC lady, then we moved to France and I still live there. Divorce was filed in France in 1996. A temporary 1997 order from French Court allowed wife to relocate to NC with children, final order pending and finalized in 2001.
Meanwhile, I learned much later that, in between, notwithstanding this pending divorce procedure, my wife filed in NC for divorce and claimed claimed not to know about my whereabouts (this is easily proven false since our son came back regularly to France every summer).
She was apparently granted divorce since she remarried in NC in 1999 (2 years before the end of the pending and never interrupted nor void divorce procedure in France which allowed her to relocate with the children).
It seems like perjury and bigamy. I have very complicated and long overdue matters to settle wih her once and for all.
My questions and concern: since she apparently commited perjury and, worse, bigamy, when I file (for several problems, including non respect of visitation rights) these offences will unavoidably come out in front of US Courts.
(1) Can you confirm that these are real offences?I would not want her to risk jail (for the sake of my children, I would not her their mother to go to jail).
I had reserched that in NC, bigamy is punished by "not more than ten years nor less than four months (Revisal,