I was married to someone in New York but never got a divorce, and now I am married to another man in my home country. What should I do

Q:  When I was younger, I didn’t know that if you get married in New York, you can’t marry another man in your home country without a divorce. I got married when I moved to New York, but after having many issues with my husband, we separated. When I returned to my country, my ex-boyfriend and I got in touch, and I became pregnant. My family insisted that we get married because they don’t allow me to give birth without being married. So, I married him without divorcing my first husband. Could this cause problems? They want to put my children’s father on child support, but he lives in Africa. They are asking for both marriage certificates, but I divorced my first husband in 2018.

A: Generally before you re-marry, you need to terminate marriage #1 via divorce. Most countries prohibit bigamy – and thus marrying before you get divorced may subject you to criminal sanctions. Call a Bronx Family Law attorney for more info.