What if you had filed for divorce years ago and assumed your divorce was finalized and had not thought about it for years? And let’s say you were about to get remarried or were already re-married. Now let’s say you realized…. You were not divorced!
Sound like a nightmare? I’m sure it is. Sound impossible? I can assure you it is not.
Every few weeks we will get a call from someone who recently found out their divorce they filed as many as 20 years ago was never finished. The way people are finding out their divorce was not finalized varies. Some people are working on getting re-married and their church asks for their divorce decree. Some people are changing some legal paperwork which requires a divorce decree and they don’t have it.
In any case, it is a shock to learn that your divorce was never finalized. I don’t want to focus on the issues surrounding completing an old divorce case, rather I wanted to discuss how to prevent this from happening.
Let’s clear up something real quick. I am sure you have heard someone say they have “filed for divorce”. When you file for divorce, that is just the first step in getting your divorce completed. Many people misunderstand the divorce process and assume their divorce case is finalized, when it actually isn’t.
So when is a divorce final? Your divorce is final when a judgment is entered in your case. A judgment means you have submitted your final agreements to the court and the Judge has signed the judgment, therefore making it the order.
Until you receive your final divorce papers back from court, signed by the Judge indicating that you have gone back to a single person, you are not divorced.
If you want to check, you can go to the Court’s website and search using your case number. At the very top you will want to see where it says “Judgment Entered” or something similar. If it says “Pending” your case is not complete.
Tim Blankenship is a Legal Document Assistant (LDA) specializing in California divorce. For more information about our services, please visit www.Divorce661.comor contact us for a free phone consultation at 661-281-0266.