Friday, April 14, 2006

void marriages

interesting and exciting ways to end your marriage

Okay, so here I am again, recollecting my promise last time that I would update this blog more often! Obviously I did not perform. This is a lot of pressure! LOL. It really is a lot of work to keep one of these things active. I had no idea it would be so hard. The longer you procrastinate, the harder it gets. Anyhow, here we go, what everyone has been waiting for…..DIVORCE (and other cool ways to end it all)….followed closely in popularity by termination of parental rights.


Void Marriages

The first and somewhat uninteresting way to end your marriage is the “void” marriage. A void marriage means that the marriage never existed in the first place, even if you thought you were married. You could have been “married” for 10 years, but if the marriage is void, guess what, you have been single for 10 years! Dang, the fun you could have had!

A void marriage could arise in two likely scenarios, marrying your brother or sister (gross) or other members of your family who are too closely related (and I said this wasn’t interesting). I believe I talked about this earlier, many, many months ago. The second scenario is when you get hitched but you ain’t undone the old hitch, or explained less southern, you get married when you are still married to someone else. I know I have talked about this one earlier.

I can hear all three of you out there reading this shouting the same thing at your computer…. “Chris, Chris, please tell us who we can and can’t marry in our family cause we want to get married!” Even though it is gross if you marry anyone in your family, the State of Texas says you can’t marry the following people:

  1. An ancestor or descendant, by blood or marriage. (Writer’s note: Ancestors? That sounds like some who is dead! Wow, now that opens up a whole new can of worms! Kidding, I think it means moms, dads, grandma, grandpa, and of course your own kids, or their kids, etc…)

  2. A brother or sister, of the whole or half blood, or by adoption. (Do I need to explain half bloods? Okay, half blood is when one of your parents creates a beautiful new child with another person besides your mommy or daddy. A step child on the other hand has no blood relation; they are the son or daughter from a prior marriage of your new mommy or daddy. I guess we can marry our step sisters and brothers…oh goodie.)

  3. A parent’s brother or sister, of the whole or half blood. (Obviously aunts and uncles, and we understand the half blood thing, right?)

  4. A son or daughter of a brother or sister of the whole or half blood or by adoption. (Nieces and nephews).

So there you go. Everyone else is fair game. So that hot cousin you see every year at the family reunion…fair game! Kidding….as I stated earlier, and I’ll state again…gross! Even step sisters/brothers…gross!

With regard to the prior existing marriage issue, I ALREADY DISCUSSED IT BELOW! GEEZ!

What about the children of these horrific void marriages you ask? Well, we know who the mommy is, and the daddies (used to be called Husband until this nasty void marriage issue arose) well, they are still the presumed father of the kiddos and thereby have all the rights, duties, powers, and obligations of a parent. No paternity tests needed!

Now I hear you mumbling something like….”uh oh, I think I may have done gone out and got myself a void marriage, what do I do?” Well, in short you file a petition to declare the marriage void (NOT AN ANNULMENT….which will be discussed next). The better answer is, log onto my website (to the side over there), shoot me an email, and retain my services! If you don’t like me, hire someone else, but I definitely advise that you hire a lawyer so that your property interests and children are protected.


The information contained in this blog is provided for informational (and sometimes entertainment) purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. I can guarantee you that I am not covering every facet of the family code, and there may be hidden gems in the Family Code that could make or break your case based upon your specific fact situation. No recipients of content from this blog, retained client or otherwise, should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any content included in this blog without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice. ALL CASES ARE DIFFERENT BECAUSE OF THE FACTS PARTICULAR TO YOUR CASE; THEREFORE YOU NEED A LAWYER TO DISCUSS THOSE SPECIFIC FACTS. I expressly disclaim all liability in respect to actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the content of this blog. Talk to a lawyer first, preferably me, it is that simple!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh gross Chris. No wonder so many people have been asking about you lately. FYI, on the cousin thing, it was more than three people asking me, and none of them were Texan. 2 were from Britain.

Maybe they just don't have alot to choose from.

Chris Schmiedeke said...

Hey, no argument from me....i have said repeatedly...GROSS!

I cannot be responsible for creating a sick group of followers!

:)

Anonymous said...

I have a feeling more sick ones are coming your way....sorry :-) traffic's traffic and you are pretty damn funny, now that I read this.

grin. I admit to my sick followers.

Just had to see what all the fuss was about. Obviously I was not blessed with the hot cousins involved in these scenarios. LOL.

Anonymous said...

Hi from Houston. I am confused. You can't marry an adopted sibling, but you CAN marry a step sibling?

My cousin was talking about this being brought up on your log and I had to see it. (I am also an attorney- tax, though.)

Chris Schmiedeke said...

Yes that appears to be the case.

I am sorry that you are confused, but before you call your step sister and propose, make sure we are on the same page as to the difference between a "step" sister and a "half" sister. A half sister is precluded!

Regardless of what the law books say, the book of Chris says ALL sisters are off limits. But, as they say...to each his own!

Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Robert..if you are going to propose, i don't go for cousins....sorry...or tax lawyers...or anyone with my maiden last name....

Unless you pay me of course...make the check out to Chris.

And quit being gross. That's my thing.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm having to deal with one of those "gross" situations. Step-siblings in my family are getting married. Yeah, I'll explain this one to my 10 year old! They're about to break the "happy" news to our... his... her... parents... somebody's parents. You figure it out! Egads. Laws elsewhere in the States? My eighteen year old asked.

Anonymous said...

hmmm..traffic is traffic.

Anonymous said...

I apologize for the "in your face" content about my family's newest twist on "anything goes." The story is accurate, and I am looking for information to respond to my eighteen year old. Anything? This site was one of the very, very few with any info on it.

Chris Schmiedeke said...

Anonymous, I am not following your question. What are you asking? Are you asking if I know about laws in other states regarding this type of marriage? If you are, the answer is no. However, if they are "step" siblings and not half blood, I would be willing to bet a lot of money that it is legal.

You have to remember that the a major purpose of the laws against family members marrying is the problem with the children that could be conceived and possible birth defects and retardation. Step siblings do not share the same blood, dna, etc...

Anonymous said...

Ok, thank you. Yes, that was my question; "Is there a law anywhere in the states that regulates marriage between step-sibling? Is it legal for step-siblings to marry?" You answered my question to the best of your ability. I can't find a law anywhere in the country that says it's illegal, so my money's with you. It seems to me to be an ethical Pandora's box, but ethics relate to another blog entirely. Interestingly, laws speak to society's ethics. But we'll keep ethics out of this. Thank you for the answer.

Chris Schmiedeke said...

Anonymous, I would doubt that there are laws against step marriages, but I could be wrong. If there are any, I am not aware of it.

Anonymous said...

Chris, what happens in the case where a couple realise their marriage is void, they don't have kids and they don't also own any property, and they left the marriage immediately they realised the marriage was void, do they still need to go to court to declaration the marriage void. what happened was one of the parties thougth his devorce was final when it actually was'st

saved said...

if you have a void marriage do you still have to wait the mandatory 60 days after filing.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I m here in Houston; got married while my first married was not LEGALLY terminated. Now i got the first one terminated through court;and i guess this means my 2nd marriage is valid now. What abt the period between 2nd marriage and termination of 1st marriage? Can it be constituted as an offence or something like this?

Hummingbird said...

Chris, omg...this is the best entertainment I've had in a long time...I never knew law could be so humorous! Thanks for the laughs!