Gabriel Villa allegedly did a very risky thing . allot to aNew York Post article , the Manhattan lawyer and travel agentive role secretlydivorcedhis wife only months after their 1994 marriage to protect his money . By " orphic divorce " , we stand for that he filed for divorcement without severalise his married woman , Cristina Carta Villa . Yup , they proceed to live as married man and wife for 20 year , even having a Word together .
uncalled-for to say , Carta Villa is a trivial upset . The 59 - class - old is suing her " husband , " now 90 and in poor health , to get the divorce nullified and to maintain ownership of the couple ’s multimillion - dollar Midtown condo . But will she gain ground , or are " secret divorces " somehow effectual ?
Not in the United States , saysLina Guillen , a California family lawyer and editor atNolo , a source for liberal legal information and publisher of do - it - yourself sound guides .
" In the U.S. , there is something called a nonremittal divorce , " Guillen explains , " which can be granted with just one spouse appear in tribunal , but these are n’t really ' secret divorces . ' " The difference is that the spouse asking for divorce must prove that he or she notified the other married person by serve divorce papers , or else release the divorcement filing in the newspaper publisher as a style of notification if the other spouse could n’t be found .
But here ’s the kicker : Villa did n’t file for divorce in the United States . His papers were ratify in the Dominican Republic , a Caribbean island nation that ’s notorious for its quickie divorce , known in colored local parlance asdivorcios al vapor .
Mexico used to be thehot place for quicky divorcement . In the States , divorce minutes can sweep on for months and be thousands of dollars . From the forties to the 1960s , enterprising attorney and judges set up shop powerful across the Texas and California boundary line , offering 24 - hour divorcement at low prices . U.S. courts eventually stopped recognizing these divorces , and Mexico enact tougher residency requirements in the seventies . But that did n’t subdue the requirement for firm and cheap divorces . Today , the top destination for eager - to - be - exes is the Dominican Republic , a quick four - minute escape from NYC .
While a Dominican divorce is faster than in the U.S. , it ’s still not a " unavowed " divorce . At least when it ’s done aright . allot to theEmbassy of the Dominican Republicand additional information trail down by Nolo ’s Guillen , there are several strict requirement for U.S. citizens wishing to obtain adivorcioal vapor :
If U.S. citizen follow all of the necessary step , they can obtain a Dominican divorce in eight to 10 days . But will that divorcement be recognized by U.S. courts ? It bet where you hold out . Divorce law is commonwealth natural law , and each state has its own rules . In California , where Guillen practice , at least one of the dissociate spouses must be a house physician of the foreign land where the divorce is lodge , and that ’s true in the bulk of states .
" But New York follow the nonage formula , " tell Guillen . " Neither party require to rest in the foreign country or to have subsist there for any period of time . New York has a well - established policy of recognizing strange divorce judgments , and a spouse will have a really strong time attacking a foreign divorcement if the divorce was reciprocal , unless the spouse can show there was some kind of faker in obtaining the divorcement , or that the divorcement run against public insurance policy in New York . ”
fraudulence is the keyword in the Villa showcase . accord to Carter Villa , she never knowingly sign any separation agreement , unless her newlywed married man tricked her into doing so . Even if she unwittingly signed something , Carter Villa alleges that Villa was n’t physically present in the Dominican Republic for a hearing and the divorce was never release in a Dominican paper , making it invalid in both countries .
Without access to Carter Villa ’s Manhattan tourist court filing or the divorcement document from the Dominican Republic , it inconceivable to know the specifics of her case or whether Villa sidestep Dominican law to obtain his " mysterious " divorce . But the takeout for conniving spouses is clear . If you ’re that disturbed about protecting your assets , have your spousesign a prenup . It ’s the least scumbaggy thing you could do .
