Need to prove marriage before divorce
My husband and I were married in Sweden 30 years ago. We are now trying to get divorced but the court wouldn’t take my papers because I only have a copy of the marriage certificate. I don’t know how to get it certified. Is this really necessary? We are in agreement on everything. I just can’t seem to convince the court to take my papers and schedule the hearing.
The court is funny like that — they need proof you were married before accepting your papers to divorce you.
However you can start the process by filing a Motion to File Marriage Certificate Late with your other papers. Do this if timing is important in terms of getting divorced. In some counties, the wait for a hearing date on a joint petition for divorce can be as long as three to four months. In others, you can get divorced the day you file. Your motion should ask the court to allow you to file your marriage certificate late because you were married out of the country and don’t yet have a certified copy of your marriage certificate. Have your husband sign his asset to the motion. The court clerk will then accept your papers.
But, you do still need to satisfy the filing requirement before the hearing on your divorce. Sweden does not keep marriage certificates going back that far so getting a certified copy from some sort of registry of authority is likely going to be impossible. You have two options. First, you should take the document you do have to the Swedish embassy and see if there is a way for them to certify it or, as they do in Europe, Apostille it. Every country is different so they may or may not be able to help. If they can do it, great — once it is done, you then need to get a certified translation of the marriage certificate.
If the embassy cannot certify your document, your alternative is to file a motion asking the court to affirm your marriage in order to divorce you. Your motion should state when and where you were married, that Sweden does not retain marriage certificates dating back that far and attach a copy of the record you do have (again with a certified translation of the document). Ask the court to affirm the marriage for the purposes of then using the affirmation order as proof of the marriage.
Again, you should have your husband assent to the motion and both of you should sign it under the pains and penalties of perjury.
Either way, be sure to bring the papers to the court the day of your divorce hearing — do not assume dropping it in the mail to the court will end in your divorce — papers often don’t make their way from the mail to the file before hearings.
Wendy O. Hickey has since 1994 been involved in and since 2003 been a trial lawyer who concentrates her practice on national and international family law. Any legal advice in this column is general in nature, and does not establish a lawyer-client relationship. Send questions to dearwendy@bostonherald.com.