People get married all over the world and then move to Florida. Sometimes, those people later decide to get divorced.
If someone was married in another country, does that person have to return to that country to get divorced? Can a Florida court divorce a couple if the marriage certificate is from India, Mexico, the Philippines, France, or any other foreign country?
You generally do not have to get divorced in the country where you got married. As long as Florida has jurisdiction and the marriage is valid or recognized under Florida law, Florida can dissolve a foreign marriage.
A foreign marriage does not need to be performed again in Florida. A foreign marriage certificate does not become meaningless because the spouses later move to Florida. As soon as Florida recognizes the marriage, the spouses can invoke the rights and obligations that come with a Florida divorce, including equitable distribution, alimony, parenting issues, child support, and attorney’s fees.
So, the first question is not where the wedding happened but rather whether Florida has the power to enter a divorce.
Can You Get Divorced In Florida If You Were Married In Another Country?
You are not forced to get divorced in the country where you got married. If one spouse has lived in Florida long enough, Florida can grant a dissolution of marriage: “[t]o obtain a dissolution of marriage, one of the parties to the marriage must reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition.” Fla. Stat. § 61.021.
Florida calls divorce a “dissolution of marriage.” It begins when one spouse files a petition for dissolution of marriage in the circuit court. As the Florida statute states, “[a] proceeding for dissolution of marriage…shall be commenced by filing in the circuit court a petition entitled ‘In re the marriage of ___, husband, and ___, wife.’” Fla. Stat. § 61.043(1).
So, if the Florida residency requirement is met, a spouse who was married in a foreign country can file for divorce in Florida. The marriage did not have to occur in Florida. The spouses do not both have to be Florida residents. The other spouse can even live in another state or another country.
However, the foreign marriage has to be a marriage Florida can recognize. In my experience, when both spouses agree that they were married, the case often proceeds like any other divorce. Yet, when one spouse denies the marriage or claims the foreign marriage was invalid, the court may have to first determine whether there is a valid marriage to dissolve.
Are Foreign Marriages Recognized In Florida?
Florida typically recognizes marriages that were valid in the place where the marriage occurred. If a marriage was valid in a foreign country, Florida will generally view the couple as legally married.
Florida courts apply this principle when determining whether to recognize marriages from outside Florida. In Anderson v. Anderson, Florida’s First District stated that “the validity of a marriage is to be determined by the law of the jurisdiction where the marriage was entered into.” 577 So. 2d 658, 660 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).
Anderson involved a marriage issue in Georgia, not a foreign country. Yet, the rule is the same concept: Florida does not decide whether a marriage is valid by pretending the ceremony happened in Florida. Florida looks to the law of the place where the marriage was created.
In practice, this means a couple does not need to get married again in Florida just because the original marriage happened abroad. There is no special Florida ceremony that must be performed to transform a foreign marriage into a Florida marriage. So long as the marriage was legal where it happened and does not violate Florida public policy, it can be recognized under Florida law.
This does not mean that Florida is required to recognize every marriage from every place in the world. Even when a marriage is valid where it was performed, a Florida court does not have to recognize the marriage if recognition would violate public policy.
As Anderson noted, “a court need not recognize as valid a marriage which is valid in the jurisdiction where consummated where recognition would affront the public policy of the forum state.” 577 So. 2d at 660 n.3.
In other words, the rule is straightforward, but it is not automatic. Florida often recognizes a foreign marriage if the marriage was valid where it happened; however, if recognizing that marriage would violate Florida law or public policy, then it will not recognize it.
The public policy exception is important. A marriage that involves close family members, bigamy, force, duress, fraud, or lack of capacity may be challenged even if a foreign record states that the parties were married.
Once the foreign marriage is recognized in Florida, the spouses are treated as spouses in a Florida divorce. The court then can address the same issues it would address in any other divorce.
Proving A Foreign Marriage In A Florida Divorce
In my experience, most Florida divorce cases do not involve a serious dispute over whether the parties were actually married. Typically, one spouse files a petition for dissolution of marriage, the other spouse admits the marriage, and the case moves forward.
A foreign marriage turns into a more complicated matter when one spouse denies that the marriage happened or claims the foreign marriage certificate is not valid. The best evidence of a foreign marriage is the foreign marriage certificate itself. If the certificate is official, certified, and issued by the proper authority in the country where the marriage occurred, that document is a great way to prove that the parties were married.
Florida evidence law still applies, though. Before evidence is admitted in court, Florida requires that the evidence be authenticated: “[a]uthentication or identification of evidence is required as a condition precedent to its admissibility.” Fla. Stat. § 90.901.
In most cases involving a foreign marriage certificate, authentication means showing that the document is what it claims to be, which is an official marriage record from the country where the marriage occurred.
Florida’s evidence code expressly addresses official foreign documents. An official foreign document, record, or entry may be self-authenticating when it is “[e]xecuted or attested to by a person in the person’s official capacity authorized by the laws of a foreign country to make the execution or attestation; and [a]ccompanied by a final certification.” Fla. Stat. § 90.902(3)(a-b).
Further, “[t]he final certification may be made by a secretary of an embassy or legation, consul general, consul, vice consul, or consular agent of the United States or a diplomatic or consular official of the foreign country assigned or accredited to the United States.” Fla. Stat. § 90.902(3).
In cases where “the parties receive reasonable opportunity to investigate the authenticity and accuracy of official foreign documents, the court may order that they be treated as presumptively authentic without final certification or permit them in evidence by an attested summary with or without final certification.” Fla. Stat. § 90.902(3).
Put simply, a foreign marriage certificate is not useless simply because it came from another country. Florida courts can consider foreign official records, but the spouse relying on the certificate must be prepared to show that the document is authentic, properly certified, connected to the relevant parties, and, if necessary, translated into English.
When the certificate is written in another language, the spouse should obtain a certified English translation. The original foreign-language document and the English translation should be kept together so the Florida court can see the actual record and also what the record says.
A foreign marriage certificate is particularly important if the other spouse denies the marriage. Without that certificate, the spouse trying to prove the marriage would need to rely on other evidence, like wedding photographs, family testimony, immigration records, religious records, birth certificates of children, or related documents demonstrating that the parties viewed themselves as married.
Do You Need An Apostille For A Foreign Marriage Certificate In Florida?
In the event that the foreign marriage certificate is in another language, the spouse relying on the certificate should obtain a certified English translation.
Florida courts operate in English. The court, the judge, the lawyers, and the clerk need to understand what the foreign marriage record actually says before relying on it.
Florida’s evidence code addresses interpreters and translators, stating that “[a]n interpreter shall take an oath that he or she will make a true interpretation of the questions asked and the answers given and that the interpreter will make a true translation into English of any writing which he or she is required by his or her duties to decipher or translate.” Fla. Stat. § 90.606(3).
So, the safest practice is to keep the original foreign-language certificate and the certified English translation together. The original document is there to prove the existence of the foreign record. The translation then allows the Florida court to understand the record.
An apostille is not a translation. A translation tells a court what the document says, whereas an apostille helps prove that the foreign public document is authentic.
An apostille is not always required to get divorced in Florida after a foreign marriage. If both spouses agree that they were married, no one may challenge the foreign marriage certificate. The case can proceed without a fight over authentication.
However, if a spouse denies the marriage or challenges the foreign certificate, authentication becomes a lot more important. Florida law may require a party to provide a better-certified version of the document, an apostille, consular certification, or other proof that the document is authentic.
Overall, the practical answer to this question is to get the best version of the document you possibly can. A certified copy of the foreign marriage certificate, a certified English translation, and any apostille or certification usually makes it harder for the other spouse to dispute the marriage later.
What If You Do Not Have A Foreign Marriage Certificate?
In my experience, foreign marriage certificates are the cleanest way to prove a foreign marriage. Yet, it is not the only possible way.
Life happens. People lose documents. Records get destroyed. That does not automatically mean the spouse cannot get divorced in Florida.
Florida recognizes that marriages are not always proven through the marriage certificate. Florida law provides a statute titled “Proof of marriage where no certificate available” for this very issue. Fla. Stat. § 741.10. This statute applies when a marriage was solemnized by a person authorized to solemnize marriages, yet the certificate was not made on the license, the marriage license was lost, or the certificate cannot be obtained due to death or another cause.
In those cases, “the marriage may be proved by affidavit before any officer authorized to administer oaths made by two competent witnesses who were present and saw the marriage ceremony performed.” Fla. Stat. § 741.10.
To be clear, this statute is written for Florida marriage records and not for foreign marriage records. The point is nonetheless helpful in a foreign marriage case: the absence of a marriage certificate does not automatically mean the absence of a marriage.
Florida courts also recognize a presumption in favor of the validity of a marriage once a ceremonial marriage and marital cohabitation are demonstrated. In Grace v. Grace, Florida’s First District stated that “all the presumptions necessary to make a marriage valid, including capacity to contract, attach on proof of a ceremonial marriage and co-habitation by the parties under the belief that they were lawfully married.” 162 So. 2d 314, 317 (Fla. 1st DCA 1964).
Grace did not involve a foreign marriage certificate, but the case is still useful; it shows Florida’s presumption in favor of the validity of a ceremonial marriage when the parties lived together and believed they were lawfully married.
When the foreign marriage certificate is unavailable, the spouse trying to prove the marriage will need other evidence. The stronger the evidence, the easier it is for a Florida court to determine that a marriage existed. A spouse who does not have the certificate but has photographs, witnesses, and years of conduct showing that the parties held themselves out as married will be in a better position.
In sum, where both spouses acknowledge that they were married, the missing certificate is likely not to become a major problem. However, where one spouse denies the marriage, the spouse trying to prove the marriage should obtain as much evidence as possible.
Immigration Status And Foreign Marriage Records In Florida Divorce
A person does not have to be a United States citizen to get divorced in Florida. The statute provides that “[t]o obtain a dissolution of marriage, one of the parties to the marriage must reside 6 months in the state before the filing of the petition.” Fla. Stat. § 61.021. It requires residence, not citizenship or immigration status.
Therefore, if one spouse has lived in Florida for at least six months before filing, Florida may be able to grant a dissolution of marriage even if one or both spouses are not United States citizens.
Immigration status can still matter when a spouse is trying to locate proof of a foreign marriage. When a foreign marriage certificate was submitted as part of a prior immigration filing, the spouse may be able to request immigration records from the United States government. USCIS allows individuals to request records through the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act, but a records request does not guarantee that a particular document will be found.
Even if no immigration record is available, the spouse might still be able to prove the foreign marriage using other sources. Many countries keep civil marriage records. A spouse may be able to obtain a copy of the marriage certificate in the country where the marriage occurred.
Additionally, a lawyer, relative, record retrieval service, or government portal in the foreign country may be able to help obtain the marriage record.
Foreign Divorce Decrees And Foreign Court Orders In Florida
Sometimes the issue is not only whether Florida recognizes a foreign marriage, but also whether it recognizes something a foreign court already did.
A spouse may claim that the parties were divorced in another country already. A spouse may have a foreign annulment, marital agreement, support order, or custody order. In those circumstances, the Florida court may have to decide whether the foreign order should be recognized or enforced. In Popper v. Popper, Florida’s Fifth District addressed a Florida action to establish and enforce a Mexican divorce decree and explained that “[s]uit on a foreign divorce decree to establish it as a domestic one, and then to enforce it with the full array of equitable remedies is a well-established practice in Florida.” 595 So. 2d 100, 103 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992).
This recognition of a foreign country’s judgment or order is usually a matter of comity. However, comity does not mean that Florida automatically accepts everything a foreign court did. In Gonzalez v. Rivero, Florida’s Third District declined to reopen issues that had been fully litigated in a Spanish court where both parties were represented by counsel, had full notice, and had an opportunity to be heard before a court of competent jurisdiction. 51 So. 3d 534, 535 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010). Citing Popper, the court noted that a foreign judgment must include the elements that would support it if obtained in Florida, including sufficient grounds, residency or domicile, and basic due process and notice. Id. at 535 n.1.
Florida further provides a statute that addresses foreign country law in family law cases: “Before enforcing a judgment or order of a court of a foreign country, a court must review the judgment or order to ensure that it complies with the rule of comity.” Fla. Stat. § 61.0401(3).
A foreign judgment or order is “not entitled to comity if the parties were not given adequate notice and the opportunity to be heard, the foreign court did not have jurisdiction, or the judgment or order of the foreign court offends the public policy of this state.” Fla. Stat. § 61.0401(3).
A foreign divorce decree can impact whether someone was free to marry again. If someone claims to have been divorced in another country before entering into the current marriage, the Florida court may need to decide whether that foreign divorce should be recognized.
In cases where the prior foreign divorce is recognized, the later marriage may be valid. Where the prior foreign divorce is not recognized, then the later marriage may be challenged because one spouse may have still been married to someone else at the time of the second marriage.
In short, foreign marriage cases are not always just about the marriage certificate. Sometimes they are also about foreign divorce decrees, foreign court orders, and foreign law. Florida courts can consider these materials, but the courts will not enforce them if they violate Florida’s standards for notice, jurisdiction, due process, or public policy.
Foreign Marriages That Are Invalid In Florida
Florida does not recognize all foreign marriages. As discussed above, Florida courts are not required to recognize a marriage from another jurisdiction if recognition would violate Florida public policy. Anderson, 577 So. 2d at 660 n.3.
Some marriages violate Florida law so clearly that they may be challenged, even if a foreign country treated the parties as married. For instance, Florida prohibits certain marriages between close relatives, stating that “[a] man may not marry any woman to whom he is related by lineal consanguinity, nor his sister, nor his aunt, nor his niece. A woman may not marry any man to whom he is related by lineal consanguinity, nor her brother, nor her uncle, nor her nephew.” Fla. Stat. § 741.21.
Florida also has age restrictions on who can get a Florida marriage license. A clerk or county court judge usually may not issue a marriage license to a person younger than 18, unless the person is at least 17, has written parental or guardian consent, and the older party is not more than two years older than the younger party. Fla. Stat. § 741.04.
Bigamy can also be a serious problem. Florida law provides, “[w]hoever, having a husband or wife living, marries another person” commits bigamy unless a statutory exception applies. Fla. Stat. § 826.01.
Further, a foreign marriage can be challenged if a spouse lacked capacity, was forced into the marriage, was induced by fraud, or entered the marriage under duress. In my practice, these issues are often fact intensive. The Florida court would likely need to hear testimony and expert testimony about foreign law, review records, and determine whether the marriage should be recognized.
If the marriage is void or voidable, the proper remedy is often annulment or another judicial determination of the parties’ status.
Florida courts can resolve disputes that involve allegedly invalid marriages rather than just ignoring them. In Burger v. Burger, the Florida Supreme Court addressed a putative marriage arising after invalid Mexican mail-order divorces and a Mexican proxy marriage; it explained that even where a supposed marriage is void from the beginning, “it is to the best interest of society that a judicial determination of the invalidity be obtained.” 166 So. 2d 433, 435 (Fla. 1964).
If one spouse claims the foreign marriage is invalid, the issue does not simply vanish. The court may need to decide whether the marriage is valid, void, voidable, or otherwise subject to judicial relief.
The Bottom Line
If you were married in another country and now live in Florida, you likely do not have to return to that country to get divorced. The marriage can be dissolved if Florida has jurisdiction and the marriage is valid or recognized under Florida law.
The foreign marriage certificate is often the best proof of the marriage. If the certificate is not in English, a certified English translation should be obtained. If the certificate is unavailable, the marriage can still be proven using other evidence, such as photographs, witnesses, immigration and religious records, or years of conduct that demonstrate that the parties held themselves out as married.
Foreign divorces and foreign court orders can also matter. A previous foreign divorce decree can impact whether someone was able to marry again. Florida courts may consider foreign judgments and foreign law, but courts are not required to enforce foreign orders that violate Florida standards for notice, jurisdiction, due process, or public policy.
If you were married in another country, are trying to prove a foreign marriage, need to recognize a foreign divorce decree, or are trying to determine whether Florida can dissolve your marriage, contact my Florida family law firm to speak with an experienced Florida divorce attorney.
Russell Knight has practiced family law for more than 19 years and has handled thousands of divorces and family law cases involving alimony, property division, child support, parenting issues, business interests, income disputes, and complex financial issues. As a divorce lawyer licensed in both Florida and Illinois, Russell regularly helps clients evaluate jurisdiction, foreign marriage records, foreign divorce decrees, marital status disputes, annulment issues, and complex family-law matters involving parties, property, or documents from outside the United States.
CASES, STATUTES, AND RESOURCES REFERENCED IN THE FOREIGN MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN FLORIDA ARTICLE
Fla. Stat. § 61.021 — Residence Requirements
Fla. Stat. § 61.043 — Commencement Of A Proceeding For Dissolution Of Marriage
Fla. Stat. § 61.0401 — Application Of The Law Of A Foreign Country In Family Law Cases
Fla. Stat. § 90.901 — Requirement Of Authentication Or Identification
Fla. Stat. § 90.902 — Self-Authentication; Official Foreign Documents
Fla. Stat. § 90.606 — Interpreters And Translators
Fla. Stat. § 741.10 — Proof Of Marriage Where No Certificate Available
Fla. Stat. § 741.04 — Issuance Of Marriage License; Persons Under 18
Fla. Stat. § 741.21 — Incestuous Marriages Prohibited
Anderson v. Anderson, 577 So. 2d 658 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
Grace v. Grace, 162 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 1st DCA 1964)
Popper v. Popper, 595 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
Gonzalez v. Rivero, 51 So. 3d 534 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)
Burger v. Burger, 166 So. 2d 433 (Fla. 1964)
USCIS — Request Records Through The Freedom Of Information Act Or Privacy Act
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT FOREIGN MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN FLORIDA
Can I get divorced in Florida if I was married in another country? Yes, you usually do not need to return to the country where you were married to get divorced. If one spouse has lived in Florida for at least six months before filing, Florida can often grant a dissolution of marriage.
Does Florida recognize foreign marriages? Florida usually recognizes a marriage that was valid where it was performed. However, Florida does not have to recognize a foreign marriage if recognition would violate Florida law or public policy.
How do I prove a foreign marriage in a Florida divorce? The best proof is going to be a certified foreign marriage certificate. If the certificate is not in English, you should get a certified English translation. If the certificate is disputed, you might need authentication, an apostille, certification, or some other kind of evidence demonstrating that the document is genuine.
What if I do not have my foreign marriage certificate? If you are missing a certificate, that does not automatically mean the marriage cannot be proven. You can use other evidence, including wedding pictures, witnesses, family documents, religious records, immigration records, or years of conduct showing that the parties held themselves out as married.
What foreign marriages may be invalid in Florida? A foreign marriage can be challenged if it violates Florida public policy. This can include marriages involving close family members, underage marriage, bigamy, force, duress, fraud, or lack of capacity.
