A putative marriage is a marriage that appears to be valid and is entered into in good faith on the part of at least one of the partners, but is legally invalid due to a technical impediment.
The most common impediment to a marriage is an earlier, un-dissolved marriage.
In some cases, neither of the spouses was aware that the marriage was invalid. However, this can be fixed. He or she can remove the legal problem that is making the marriage invalid or can take steps to end the marriage. Each case is different and steps should be taken depending on the circumstances.
What happens if one party finds out that the other has been deceitful from the beginning? The court is willing to protect the putative spouse. However, if the party finds out he or she is in a putative marriage and takes no action, they will not be protected by any law. Staying in this type of marriage constitutes fraud.
For a marriage to be considered putative, the marriage must include the following:
- At least one of the spouses must be putative – entered the marriage in good faith – believing it was legal
- If both parties entered into the marriage knowing it wasn’t legal, they both are at fault and have committed fraud – the marriage isn’t considered to be putative
- The marriage was officiated by an individual who isn’t licensed
The California legislature amended the putative marriage law almost twenty years ago to allow putative spouses to divided property acquired during the putative marriage. Because a putative marriage is not considered valid under California law, the property is considered ‘quasi-marital property’. This means that one-half of the property belongs to the putative spouse and the other half belongs to the legal community.
Have you discovered that you are in a putative marriage? If you need help figuring out what to do, what your options are, contact attorney Montes for answers.
