Divorce Lawyer: A Good Faith Wife in a Null Louisiana Marriage

In the state of Louisiana, there are a few basic requirements to being married to another person.  Generally, a marriage must be between a man and a woman who are not related by blood, and who do not have pre-existing marriages, and which is commenced in conjunction with a marriage ceremony free from coercion or distress on either party.  If these requirements are met, then a divorce lawyer may find the marriage to be valid.
If some of the above requirements are not met, then it might be said the marriage is “null.”  There are two types of nullity in Louisiana, absolutely null and relatively null.  For the purposes of today’s article we will be dealing with absolutely null marriages.
Let’s say Mork and Mindy are about to get married.  They are deeply in love, a share many common interests such as walking and movies.  They have a large and very beautiful ceremony in a church in New Orleans.  Over the course of the next year their marriage is great.  Mork gets a promotion at his job, and turns around and uses the money to buy a house in Baton Rouge.  He and Mindy stay there, still enraptured in marital bliss.
Then, one night the phone rings.  Mindy answers it and hears a woman’s voice who introduces herself as Anna.  Anna proceeds to tell Mindy that Mindy is not Mork’s real wife, Anna is.  Anna says that she and Mork were actually married fifteen years ago in Shreveport.  She goes on to say that she has the marriage certificate to prove it.
Mindy is absolutely flabbergasted.  She immediately goes to Mork and demands an explanation.  With a heavy heart, Mork explains that it is in fact true, that he was married to Anna before, and that he did not hire a divorce lawyer or do anything else to ensure that the marriage was over before marrying Mindy.
Mindy is so upset that she consults with a divorce lawyer right away.  She cannot believe that he would conceal such a huge secret from her.  In the course of the proceedings, Mork alleges that Mindy has no claim to the house which he purchased.  His reasoning is that they were not technically married at the time, because their marriage was absolutely null due to his previous marriage still being intact.
Mindy would be well-served if she or her divorce lawyer consulted with Louisiana Civil Code article 96.  This Code article deals with the effects of an absolutely null marriage.  Particularly relevant to Mindy’s case, article 96 explains that when a party to a marriage proceeds with the marriage in good faith, then they will have all the civil benefits conferred upon them as though the marriage was bona fide.  Here, Mork buys a house during the existence of the “marriage” with money that he was making at the time.  If Mindy is to reap the civil benefits of being married to Mork, than that house would arguably be one half hers, because the manner of its purchase would make it community property were the marriage an actual one.
Will Beaumont practices law in New Orleans.  The above is just information and not legal advice.