Usually during a divorce, the petitioning party must serve notice of the proceedings to his or her spouse. If the petitioning party does not properly do so, a Florida divorce may be deemed invalid in the eyes of the court. One man not only failed to serve notice, but he also committed perjury during his fake divorce from his wife. Reportedly, the man had filed a divorce from his wife eight years before he died, but did not let her know he had done so.
The man is said to have divorced his wife because he wanted to prevent her from obtaining a $44,000 life insurance payout. Since the man concealed the fact that he filed a divorce, the woman reportedly did not find out until he recently died. The 77-year-old woman was still grieving her loss over her husband’s death when she learned what he had done. The couple had been married for 30 years until he died of natural causes in 2011.
The man’s 2002 divorce petition claimed that the wife had ‘abandoned’ him, yet they continued to live as husband and wife until his death. The man alleged that his wife had left him because of financial hardships. The divorce was considered uncontested since the wife was not able to respond to the petition because she did not even know he was divorcing her. The wife ended up litigating in court and succeeded in getting the divorce ruled as fraudulent, which allowed her to receive the life insurance payment.
Although the circumstances for this particular divorce are uncommon, the case does go to show that understanding the proper procedure regarding divorce procedures is crucial. Each state has its own procedures. Therefore, knowledge of Florida divorce court procedures may be a good idea for those that wish to dissolve their marriage in the correct manner.
