Not actually married?

[sarcophagus]

When DH and I were married, we were married by a justice of the peace in a “christian” ceremony (the JoP gave us the option of non-religious or religious ceremony since he was a christian). Anyway…we’re planning on having a more formal ceremony but found out that I had signed the license under the wrong lastname (being adopted twice, I have quite a few lastnames but I have one legal lastname but I didn’t sign the document under that name…) My mom said that I’m not legally married and so we would have to do the entire process over again…is that true? I’m in Ontario BTW. My parents did this as well because my Dad’s name was Henry but he went by Dave and he signed his certificate/license as Dave and apparently their marriage wasn’t valid due to that…

I’m fairly frustrated by this, and am trying to avoid the embarrasment of calling the government to figure this out…Just want some opinions.

(we will not be (re-) marrying in a catholic ceremony because DH is not catholic and I am not a confirmed, baptised catholic).

Thanks for the help, sorry if it’s confusing…

 

[puzzleannie]

just for clarification, a Catholic is bound by Catholic laws on marriage, so a Catholic must be married in the Church in order for the marriage to be valid. It is not necessary, although strongly recommended to be confirmed first. It is also quite possible to marry a non-Catholic in the Church by obtaining the proper dispensation. If a couple is already married, they may have the marriage blessed by the Church-convalidated-and indeed if the Catholic partner has not been confirmed, they must convalidate before he or she can be confirmed.

as far as the civil marriage laws, I would enquire of the clerk of courts of the county (if US) or comparable official in another country or jurisdiction who governs civil marraige laws as far as making the marriage legal civilly to see if you need to take any steps, In this country you have to show a birth certificate, or documentation of legal name change in cases of adoption etc. in order to obtain a marriage license in the first place.

A legal civil marriage is not valid in the Church for Catholics. If you are Catholic, simply talk to your priest about what steps to take for convalidation. A Catholic married to a non-Catholic who will not cooperate in the convalidation also has a remedy, which the priest can discuss with you.

 

[JohnnyK]

puzzleannie:

. A Catholic married to a non-Catholic who will not cooperate in the convalidation also has a remedy, which the priest can discuss with you.

I just successfully went through this–it’s called a Radical Sanation–I sign the paper this Saturday. if you need to go this route & have any questions, PM me.