John C. Mayoue practices in family law matters, specializing in complex and difficult cases.



JohnMayoue.Com




Ohio no-fault divorce faces challenge

Sheen-Richards divorce is getting testier



February 2006






Google Reader
del.icio.us Family Law File - John C. Mayoue
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe with Bloglines
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

myFeedster
Add to My AOL
Subscribe in Rojo

 


Thursday, February 02, 2006

"Secret divorce" doesn't count - but how about the pre-nup?

You can't get a "secret divorce" in Florida - at least that's what one Florida judge says.

Sally A. Erickson, 61, sued her ex-husband, Renzie Davidson, 62, in
state circuit court in December, alleging he had defrauded her by secretly
getting a divorce.

According to her suit, Davidson filed for divorce in 2001, then
told her he had dropped the case and wanted to be her husband forever.Court
records, though, show that Davidson went back to court and had the divorce
finalized Feb. 19, 2003. Erickson never appeared and filed no paperwork in the
case.

The court ruled last week that the couple had, in fact, never been divorced, since Ms. Erickson never knew about it. So the couple is, once again, legaly wed. Which calls into question the couple's very unusual pre-nup:

Signed the day they were married, July 3, 2001, it laid down several rules by
which they would live: She would cook breakfast at least four mornings a week;
he would give her neck rubs at least four times a week; if she used the "F
word," she would have to do an hour of yardwork.
The couple now live in separate cities - so is the pre-nup still in force?