Divorce questions????

Question

ok so i have a guy friend who ive known for a lil while and he met this girl and married her after only knowing her for 2 months. after the marriage the girl changed completely she went kinda crazy if you ask me she started to hit on him and throw things and hang out with a bad crowd would bring all her guy friends over for parties after her husband left for work. my guy friend is only 19 and she was 20. she knows he wanted kids and never told him she couldnt have kids but yet her friend told him that she wouldnt be able to cuz of 3 serious car accidents she has been in and apparently it messed up her reproductive organs im not sure how. they are now seperated and he is trying to figure out the best way to go about gettin the marriage annuled or a divorce. but in july 2008 she had to be taken to hospital they done blood testing before her xrays and said her pregnancy test was negative now since she found out that he really does want a divorce she is claiming shes pregnant him and her and seperated and have been for over a month she has been staying and sleeping with another guy. is there any legal trouble she can get into by saying she is pregnant and not actually being pregnant? and how would he he go about getting this divorce or annulement? we live in the state of pennsylvania so any advice would be appreciated. we have pics of the abuse she had done to him and pics of her destroying the apartment when she found out he wanted divorce. there are also witnesses that were present when she hit him and threw a few things and hit him in his face. what can be done about this? she said she will not sign anything and make him wait for 2 years or more before she signs divorce papers. we are really confused on what to do and how to go about it but i really want to help him get away from her and move on and find someone different that will treat him like a human and not some animal like she done

Answer 1

He should have called the police when she assaulted him and had her arrested.

He needs to call his county court clerk and get online or other forms to file a restraining order.  He can also ask them for forms to file for annulment or divorce. He can file without her signature or permission. Usually the sheriff serves divorce/annulment papers.

I'd look online first - google the county and state court site and look for domestic actions or family law departments.

Answer 2

stay out of it.

Answer 3

It doesn't matter if she signs the papers or not. She will be given a certain amount of time to sign, and if she doesn't, he will still get the divorce. There are no kids involved. Sounds like he needs to just walk away from the nut job. And not worry about revenge.

Answer 4

Sorry, it's against the law to get a divorce.  Bush just passed it. Didn't you hear? Friend is S**t outta luck.

Answer 5

She didn’t change, he just didn’t know her to begin with, and that’s the problem with jumping into a marriage with someone you just met.

I don’t see grounds for an annulment.  His stupidity (the fact that he married a women he didn’t know) is not grounds.  PA does allow annulment on the grounds that one party was impotent and other party was unaware of it prior to the marriage. However, impotency and an inability to conceive (if in fact she is unable to conceive) are not necessarily the same thing.  Impotent generally means 'incapable of sexual intercourse' although it’s sometimes used in regard to MALES to indicate that they're incapable of reproduction (obviously if a man can’t have s*x he can’t reproduce).

He’s likely going to have to get a divorce.  If he files for a no-fault divorce and she’s not willing to consent to it, then PA has a required 2-year separation period before it can be granted (if she’s willing to consent to the divorce they don’t have to wait out the 2 years, but unless both consent, they do).  He would probably have fault grounds (ie ‘cruel treatment’) if he can prove that she hit him/threw things/destroyed property/has anger management issues/etc.  But he has to PROVE it, which is hard—pics alone likely aren’t going to get him far.  I don’t suppose he actually called the police, did he?

I suppose he could move to another state that does not have a separation period and once he’s established residency in the state (in most states, it takes six months) he can file for divorce there.  But he shouldn’t attempt to do that without researching the laws of the state thoroughly.  

I’d recommend that before he does anything, he talks to a PA attorney.

To answer your other question—no, she can’t get into trouble for saying that she’s pregnant if she’s not.  It’s not illegal to lie, unless you lie under oath or on a legal document in which you've 'sworn' that the information is true.  She may even be pregnant for all you know.  But if a doctor said she wasn’t pregnant last month and he hasn’t slept with her since, then clearly it’s not his biological child.  However, despite that, because they’re married, he’s the legal father, and he’d have to go to court to legally disestablish paternity.  Trust me, he doesn’t want the added hassle of that.

Again, he needs to talk to an attorney ASAP.

Answer 6

He needs to go speak to an attorney, explain the situation, and go from there. The lawyer will tell him what his options are and how to proceed with ending the marriage.

Answer 7

He just needs to get an attorney and file for divorce.  It doesn't sound like they have any assets to fight over...so nothing to sort out.  The only thing that could hold it up would be if she will not sign the papers.  Then I believe that it would take 2 years from filing date for it to be final.

As for the pregnancy thing she can say whatever she wants.  When it is really going to matter is at time of birth and whether she wants to try and put his name on the birth certificate and collect child support.  If it turned out to be his of course he would have responsible...he should also talk to an attorney about that matter as well.

Answer 8

In most states she won't have to sign anything.  he can still file for divorce based on abuse.  With witnesses, it should be easy.  Judge will grant the divorce on irreconcilable differences.

Answer 9

1) 6 month residency to get a divorce in PA (sounds like he has that covered)

2) He possibly COULD get an annulment in this case.  Voidable marriages include if one spouse is uncurably impotent prior to the marriage taking place (though I assume you have to prove that).

3) PA has both fault & no-fault divorces.  There usually isn't enough "reward" to go through the expensive divorce proceedings to prove fault, so most people opt for a no-fault divorce.

4) Info about No-Fault Divorce:

Pennsylvania No-Fault Grounds for Divorce

Under Pennsylvania's no-fault method, a divorce decree can be processed as soon as ninety days after the filing and service upon the other spouse of a divorce complaint if both spouses will consent to the entry of the decree. If one spouse fails to consent to the entry of the decree, a no fault decree can be entered if the marriage is irretrievably broken and the spouses have been separated for at least two years.

With regard to the date of separation, please be advised that there is no such thing as a legal separation in Pennsylvania. In fact, in some circumstances, spouses can be separated even if they continue to reside in the same household.

5) I'm sure you noticed under the no-fault option that if she wants to be an *** and not sign the paper work that it will take 2 years for the divorce to go through.  So while a no-fault would be easier, it can take time when one person is unwilling to go through with it.  In that case you might look into a "fault" type of divorce but you may need to get a lawyer for that one (it might hurry the process up).