Remarriage to a Divorced US Citizen

[brightredscream]

I'm not sure if anyone here can answer this question, but my fiance is a divorced American, and for us to get remarried, we have to get a Canadian lawyer to submit a form to Thunder Bay explaining to them why his divorce should be recognized in Ontario.
Has anyone else had to do this before?  If so, was it a hard process and how long did it take?

Thanks!

[giggles1985]

Yes, I had to do the same thing for getting married in Newfoundland. I believe the lawyer was a buddy of my mother-in-law so it was a little easier for us but we basically just made an appointment with him and brought in the divorce certificate. He looked it over and drafted up a letter certifying that I'm able to marry again and that's it. The process of meeting with the lawyer took about an hour, I think, counting the time we sat in his waiting room.

The lawyer would typically charge an hour of his time, I think. Which is a few hundred depending on the lawyer. I think the one we called quoted us about $250? We ended up having it done by the friend so I don't think it cost anything in our case but yeah.

[brightredscream]

What was the waiting process like to get it approved so you could apply for a marriage license from the offices you had to send it off to?  From what I've read it has to be mailed off to Thunder Bay?

[scylla]

I had to do this as well (my American husband was previously married). The process went very smoothly for us. It took less than a week for the lawyer to turn around the paperwork and we paid less than $100 (at least I think it was less than $100). Any chance you're located in the Greater Toronto Area? If so, then I can recommend someone. And no, this lawyer isn't a friend. We literally found him on the web.

As giggles mentioned, you'll need the divorce certificate. If you have that paperwork already, the rest should be a breeze.

Also, when you submit everything to Thunder Bay, write your wedding date on either the top of the form or on a cover letter. We were late in getting our stuff together and were a bit stressed out that Thunder Bay processing would take too long. However apparently the staff there are great at responding to expedite requests and we had our paperwork back from Thunder Bay in less than two weeks.

[giggles1985]

We were able to get a marriage license from the City of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland where my husband lives. No waiting or mailing anything.

[brightredscream]

I had to do this as well (my American husband was previously married). The process went very smoothly for us. It took less than a week for the lawyer to turn around the paperwork and we paid less than $100 (at least I think it was less than $100). Any chance you're located in the Greater Toronto Area? If so, then I can recommend someone. And no, this lawyer isn't a friend. We literally found him on the web.

As giggles mentioned, you'll need the divorce certificate. If you have that paperwork already, the rest should be a breeze.

Also, when you submit everything to Thunder Bay, write your wedding date on either the top of the form or on a cover letter. We were late in getting our stuff together and were a bit stressed out that Thunder Bay processing would take too long. However apparently the staff there are great at responding to expedite requests and we had our paperwork back from Thunder Bay in less than two weeks.

I'm actually in the Hamilton area, so if you have a recommendation, I'd gladly take it

He sent me his divorce certificate, I'm just waiting on my divorce to be finalized.  But we've already filled out and signed everything so it's ready to go ASAP.  I'll make sure that we make mention of the expedite request

[scylla]

Giggles - Unfortunately the rules in Ontario are different and those of us here have no choice but to deal with mailing and waiting. Sounds like Newfoundland has a much better process going!

BrightRedScream - I don't know if you've seen the following link yet (you probably have). But in case you haven't, I found it very useful!

http://www.ontario.ca/en/life_events/married/012202?openNav=before_you_get_married

[scylla]

I will look for the lawyer's name/contact info and will post it as soon as I can! I'm also going to see if my husband can remember how much we paid.

[CanAmerica]

Hi, I was a divorced american remarrying a divorced canadian if I recall accurately it took about 3 months, the attorney has to write a letter stating why he feels the divorce is acceptable, i had not only my divorce but a newspaper announcement of my divorce thay do that in the US...make your divorce known to the public, and yes has to be sent to thunder bay once you get it back from them you have a limited time to get your marriage license so follow what they say.

[scylla]

Here's who we used:

Lawyer: CHad Rawn
4211 Sheppard Ave East
416-298-0600
http://www.rawnlaw.com/notary.htm

I honestly thought we paid less than $100. But I was clearly confused since the web site states their fee for this service is $250. (Sorry about that!!!) Guess that price is standard. Here are the details. http://www.rawnlaw.com/divorceopinion.htm
Note that this lawyer says they can provide the letter in two days. I think we dropped off our info on a Thursday and picked up the letter on a Tuesday after a long weekend. So that turn around time sounds accurate.

[brightredscream]

Scylla - I have seen that, thank you!  I was just trying to find out information about time lines/how difficult it is - since I couldn't find that info anywhere.  Thank you for your help!

CanAmerica - my fiance says that he hasn't heard of that newspaper announcement thing..he just has his decree of divorce/the certificate from the State of Florida that shows he's legally divorced.  So it took you 3 months, and Scylla 2 weeks?  That's quite a time difference!

[CanAmerica]

Yes well it depends on lawyer and how long it takes him to get the letter typed up, Im from Michigan maybe its just a stupid Michigan thing that they post divorces in the newspaper. The attorney laughed about it and said wow thats really not something about me Id want posted for the public to read...no kidding!

[brightredscream]

Scylla - Thank you for that!  I'm going to bookmark him, and keep the info handy.

CanAmerica - Every State seems to do it's own thing, so I'm guessing that is something exclusive to Michigan

[AllisonVSC]

Yes well it depends on lawyer and how long it takes him to get the letter typed up, Im from Michigan maybe its just a stupid Michigan thing that they post divorces in the newspaper. The attorney laughed about it and said wow thats really not something about me Id want posted for the public to read...no kidding!

They do that in South Carolina too. Anything that is a matter of public record, marriages and divorces are actually posted in the same list! Real estate property ownership changes and births listing mother (and father if he is declared on the birth certificate!) are also printed in the newspaper.

[scylla]

I don't think I provided my time lines very clearly. So here they are summarized:

1) Time required to collect supporting documentation - None (we had everything already)
2) Time required for lawyer to do his bit - 3 business days
3) Thunder Bay processing - two weeks***

***We specifically asked for expedite processing.