Previous wedding/divorce issues

I have just looked at our local areas requirements and they have said this, think it will be standard across the board though:

You will need to provide evidence of your name, age, nationality and condition. The most commonly accepted documents are:

• Name, age and nationality – current passport. If you do not have a current passport your birth certificate, if you were born before 31st December 1982. If you were born after 1st January 1983 you will need to provide your full birth certificate (which shows parents' details) and evidence of your parents' nationalities also.
• Condition (this is required when you have been previously married or formed a legally recognised civil partnership either in this country or abroad) – evidence of how the marriage/civil partnership ended, for example, Decree Absolute of Divorce or death certificate of former husband/wife/civil partner. A Decree Nisi of Divorce is not acceptable. Photocopies or faxes are not acceptable. If the document is in another language, we will need a translation into English.

You will also be asked to provide evidence of your current address, for example your driving licence, or a utility bill or bank statement (dated within the last 6 months)

What name do you use now? Maiden name?

I'm a little unsure about how these things work as I'm currently changing back to my maiden name before I get married again next year so haven't got this far down the line yet

I thought you couldn't get a copy of your decree absolute, that's what I was told when I got divorced earlier in the year, they said this is your only copy and you can't get another one! :/

I assume that if you have your passport, driving licence etc in your current name though you shouldn't have a problem?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're gonna need your decree absolute. Here is where to start getting a copy:

https://www.gov.uk/copy-decree-absolute-final-order

I had to get a copy of my decree absolute as Tesco Bank shredded my original! Think it cost me £25 (although I made Tesco pay). I can't remember the year my divorce was finalised either, I think I just put as much detail in the form as I could remember.

If you have previously been married you have to provide evidence that the previous marriage has ended and that you are free to marry so they know they are not performing a bigamist marriage. My OH was told he could not give notice without it so had to get another copy of the divorce papers (he had to pay but he was able to get a copy). You might also need a copy of the change of name - not sure on that one.

The forms you complete ask you if you have been previously married so obviously you would have to lie if you were not producing the previous divorce papers - which presumably is how bigamists manage it. If you lie on the forms I am not sure that you would then be legally married if it was ever questioned.

I have no idea if the registrars perform basic checks but as much as you want to erase your past in todays computer age it won't be difficult for officials to find your past. What if something crops up and the registrar refuses to marry you and it is out of time to reapply before your wedding day? If anything on the original notice is incorrect then you have to re-give notice and wait the appropriate time - it's not just a question of amending the original notice. Personally I wouldn't want that uncertainty hanging over me.

When we gave notice of marriage we both had to provide our original Decree Absolutes, and even though I had changed my name back to my maiden name on all my ID they still wanted to see the original Deed Poll changing from first married name back to maiden name (not sure what would have happened if I hadn't have done it by Deed Poll though).

I'm going to have to tell my partner that we can't get married as I have no idea on dates or years of divorce.

shame cos because of my past, she can't get married and this is her first time. :-(

As long as you know where you were living at the time of divorce, you should be able to go to the local court and get a copy of the Decree Absolute?

I think that's a bit over dramatic! You will be able to get married, you just need to do a bit of extra leg work to find the paperwork. If you really want to get married again then surely you will do whatever it takes? I think you should ring your local registry office and explain the situation and they will be able to help.

https://www.gov.uk/copy-decree-absolute-final-order

You don't even have to know which Court to ask apparently, if not sure you can write to the main one and they can track it for you ?

The gov.co.uk website says searches are done up to 10 years ago, I was divorced over that.

i am determined to sort this out, change of name deeds are next.

ive thrown my divorce papers out as did not want to be reminded of my past and not thinking about remarrying.

i think as long as their checks come up with you were officially married and divorced then that should be enough.

i don't even know which court it went through as it was done without me getting involved other than too sign forms and post back.

the solicitors only keep paperwork for so long too, so that ideas out the window.

Erm...no. The only way you can get married without your divorce papers is to lie on the official document and say you are single. The marriage register will then show your status prior to the marriage as single not divorced. So it won't matter if their checks show you are divorced, what will matter is that you lied on the form.

The registrars forms are legal documents covered by the Perjury Act 1911 so lying is technically a criminal offence. Whether anyone does anything about it is another thing. Whether anyone finds out you lied given how long you have been divorced may also be slim. But if they do your marriage may be void not because you weren't free to marry but because you lied.

Given that very helpful hitchers have given you easy ways of tracing your divorce papers yet you would rather lie on the form than find them makes me think either you are trolling or aren't actually divorced.

I'll be honest and say it surprises me that someone can't remember the year they got divorced. I understand it being a painful memory but still. I remember the exact date I broke off my engagement with my ex! Is that just me?...

I never knew this! I was told by the court not to lose my decree absolute as I couldn't get another one which panicked me a bit! This info is helpful, thanks

and you can't remember where you posted the forms back to?!

Yer, thanks For the responses guys, I'm actually telling the truth and trying to put things right.

i actually work in a court of which your more than welcome to check, but rather than seek advice within as I like to keep my personal affairs away from work, had thought to ask here.

also as I do work in a court, I have to do things correctly because of my job.

Cinnamon009, if you read my post above yours, you'll see that I am trying to make amends.

im not a troll and I am divorced but many thanks for your 'kind' comment.

Well if you know roughly when you got divorced (i.e you know it was more than 10 years ago) and know where you lived at the time, why not call the Central Family Court, explain your situation and ask their advice before paying the £45 search fee? It will be on record somewhere.

I'm hoping I can round it down to say **** sometime.

ive been in touch with the solicitors that took care of my name change around the same time who kindly tell me that anything over 10 years is destroyed as not seen as wanted again once the 10 year deadline hits, so now hoping I can magic up a change of name deed somewhere or other.

a massive headache lol

Just to add my two pence, when my ex divorced me he did all the legwork and I just had to sign and send off the papers. It wasn't that big a deal for me so, tbh I don't remember the year unless I look at the documents. We'd been separated for a good few years though and I think he wanted to re-marry so there was no emotion tied to it really.

Anyway, not much point to this other than I can relate to the OP not knowing exactly when the divorce went through, or what court it was done in. If I didn't have my document I think I'd struggle to get a copy now too.

I do remember having a panic that I didn't have the documents anymore and was going to go down the search route via the link posted earlier. It seemed to me that I would have been able to get a copy eventually, I think you just had to pay more money for a wider search.