Divorce Certificate from Zim

[Belladonna]

I know this may seem really weird, but I am trying to find out if I am divorced or still married. My husband/ex-husband is still in Zim, but I cannot risk him finding out where I am, so cannot contact him directly. I have been told that he has remarried so am presuming that we are divorced. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could find out and if the divorce is through, get a copy of the divorce certificate?

[Skizziks Willit]

Do you know who his solicitor is/was?

[Belladonna]

Don't even know if we are divorced or not!!

[chiannejolene]

You should know whether you are married or not if you were or weren't served with divorce papers for signing

[Doro]

Ask a good friend of yours to snoop around and find out some more details. Surely there is a registar there somewhere where they hold records death, marriage, divorce & birth records??? If you haven't signed any divorce papers then he can't be divorced!!!!

[Tricky Nicky]

Generally speaking, you have to be served with a divorce petition. However, if your husband does not know where you are - there are ways around that i.e. putting an advert in newspapers where he thinks it may come to your attention or making an application to dispense with service of the divorce petition if he can prove he has made good attempts to find out where you are etc but has been unable to do so. So, it is possible it could have been done without your knowledge - yeah, I agree with Doro, get somebody to do some detective work - or perhaps somebody could make enquiries with the court in Zim where the divorces are finalised to see if they can get a copy of your decree absolute from the court!

However, if you are not divorced and your hubby is indeed married again - then that marriage is illegal and will therefore not be recognised !!!!! LOL.

[Skizziks Willit]

Don't even know if we are divorced or not!!

I realise that but I have taken your original post to mean that you know divorce proceedings were going ahead but had lost track of them and weren't sure if they were finalised - hence me asking about the solicitor becaus eyou'd have needed one of those to begin with.

If, however, you mean that one day you decided to live apart and now you aren't sure if you're divorced then... ummm, no, you're not divorced! You'd have needed some input to get a divorce!

Edit to say, Tricky Nicky probably knows more than I, but we're all guessing here as we don't know the circumstances!

[petals]

:smiley6: All I know is that if you, or anyone has plans to trace anything via the court records in Harare, all I can say, from very bitter experience, is; I hope you have unending patience and infinite time at your disposal, because you are going to need oceans of both!!!!! :whistling::smiley5::whistling:

[yarrumsg]

the registery office would hold those details but yea good luck...

[gertrude]

Bella, I'll ask around a bit, but as I'm not totally legal, I won't be able to do much.

I'm told that the registrations office is running a little better now, but that is hearsay. If you PM me the details, there are a few people I know that might be able to smooth the waters. No guarantee though

[Belladonna]

As Nicky said, it is possible to get a divorce without the other party being aware. And since I am not in Zim, if he had put anything in the papers there is no way I would have known. I ran one day and for very good reasons, have done everything in my power since then to ensure he cannot find me. I was tempted to file for divorce myself at one stage and was advised by a lawyer in Zim about the process of putting notices in the papers, etc. I didn't proceed because of the obvious risk of him finding out where I am.

Gertrude, I will pm you what details I have. Any help would be gratefully accepted and I would happily pay any costs. But please remember, he cannot find out where I am!!!

[boards]

Bella confirm you are living in Itapallune
(http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/21/Itapallune.html)

[Belladonna]

Bella confirm you are living in Itapallune
(http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/21/Itapallune.html)

Damn!!! How did you figure that out?? Now I am going to have to move again .... :smiley2:

[Tricky Nicky]

LOL - shame Bella, and you just got settled.

You can withhold your address from divorce petitions and start the proceedings in a different court to the area where you live - but he would know what country you were in then!

Oh, and by the way - you don't necessarily need a lawyer to get divorced - you can do it yourself - it can be a very simple process!

[igundwane]

http://www.divorce-online.co.uk/

From the DIY package @ £68.00 through to the deluxe Package £182.00

[Howard Neill]

Sadly, our daughter divorced her husband last year. They both went to the Divorce Court, in Cape Town. No Lawyers were present. It took a morning.

Each party said what they had to say. The Magistrate asked them some questions. The final divorce agreement was typed up and signed by both parties. That was it - over in a flash. Just too easy, maybe?

Oh, by the way, we got the children. :smiley3: It's a long story.

[gertrude]

But who got the friends, Howard?

[Howard Neill]

But who got the friends, Howard?

It looks like everyone got to keep their friends, including mutual ones. :smiley20:

.

[igundwane]

And the casual ones ? .... arnt those the ones that usually cause the divorce ?

[gertrude]

That's really cool, Howard. When I got divorced, the ex got all the friends, including those I had to work with every day. Got a bit uncomfortable is all I can say.

[Howard Neill]

Fortunately they live in different towns - Langebaan & Cape Town. The friends don't have to take sides.

[joemac]

On track please guys, we are trying to solve Belladonna's problem in this thread.

[Howard Neill]

Quite right, Joe. What's the next move?

[igundwane]

A nice cup of Bush Tea with Ma Ramotse, I am sure she will be able to help solve the problem :)

[gertrude]

Sorry, Joe and Bella.

I made some initial enquiries as to where one would go to find out this sort of thing. Apparently, one must speak to the Master of the High Court. This is, one hears, a place where time actually does go backward. However, I have a couple of other people I can ask before going down that route.

[Belladonna]

Thanks everyone. It looks like Exzim may have it in hand for me!! Keeping fingers crossed. xxx

[licorice]

Go Exzim, well done. Good luck Bella. x

[sally]

Good old Exzim, always there for others!!

[FerrariSucks]

I think if you have not been living together for more than 2 years then one person can get the divorse done, plus the fact they cant get hold of you could add to their case of filing alone