New Braunfels, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

You should get a California attorney to help you find out if you were divorced.  If you remarried while still married, you are committing bigamy.  Most of the time no one prosecutes.  But your current "husband" could raise it in your divorce, because your claim to community property is dependent on your being married.  You cannot be married to two people at the same time so your second marriage would not be valid. It would become valid upon your divorce to the first husband (if you are not already divorced from him). This is for general educational purposes only.

You will need to file for divorce in the county where you reside or the county where he resides.  In the divorce suit you will request that husband pay you spousal maintenance.  Has he supported you financially during the separation?  If so, then you may want to ask for that to continue after the divorce for a limited period of time. If he has not supported you, then you may have a difficult time proving that you need money from him in order to survive.  Spousal maintenance is meant to assist a former spouse meeting his or her minimum reasonable needs (such as for shelter, food, transportation).  The court limits the duration of the payments to the shortest time possible to allow the spouse to get on his or her feet after the divorce.  If you are "on your feet already," then the court is not likely to award spousal maintenance.  The court will also require that you have used due diligence in attempting to earn enought to support yourself.  If you are going to receive property in the divorce that may be liquidated to use to support yourself, then your odds of getting court awarded spousal maintenance decrease. Parties may agree to contract for alimony in a divorce decree.  If your husband agrees to pay alimony then that should be set forth in the decree. In a twenty-five year marriage the longest term for post-divorce spousal maintenance is seven years after the divorce. The maximum amount is the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20% of the spouse's average monthly gross income.   There are exceptions to the general rules for family violence situations and for disabled spouses. 

Annulment is available only in very limited circumstances.  Since you have a child together, you will need to file for divorce instead. Annulment is available only when one of the following is true: 1. The husband or wife are under age 18; 2 The person requesting annulment was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the marriage and when he or she sobered up he or she did not live with the spouse; 3.  Either party was permanently impotent and the other party didn't know that  at the time of the marriage and then, once learning of the impotency, the parties did not live together; 4. The other spouse used fraud or duress or force to induce the spouse to enter into marriage and then the parties did not live together after the duress ended or they learned of the fraud; 5.  Concealed divorce ( a prior marriage ended within thirty days prior to this marriage), but must sue for annulment within one year of the marriage; OR 6. Marriage occurred less than 72 hours after the license was issued if you sue for annulment within thirty days of the marriage. The laws for annulment in Texas are found in Sections 6.102  - 6.110 of the Texas Family Code.