Immigration Corner | How can my mother find out if she’s divorced?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I am writing on behalf of my mother, who has technically been married to my “father” since 1988 but only spent one day in his presence since exchanging vows. He resides in Brooklyn, New York. We believe he has also remarried, but that is not the problem. The problem is that my mother has had to carry the burden of his name without any form of compensation or communication. She would like to check in the US if she was divorced and how that could be reflected in her Jamaican marriage status. If that has not been done, she is urgently in need of assistance to get divorced.

TS

Dear TS,

I do not know what the laws of Jamaica say about divorce and marital compensation or alimony, and in the United States matrimonial or family law varies from state to state. However, generally, a person is not entitled to alimony simply because they were married to someone.

Alimony is designed in America to equalise parties after a divorce, i.e., one party should not end up destitute after a divorce because the other party had all the income and was providing support during the union, and this stopped because of divorce. Alimony is based on one party’s need and the other’s ability to pay.

In some jurisdictions, the availability of alimony is also based on the length of the marriage and varies by lump sum, temporary, rehabilitative and/or permanent alimony. One does get compensated in America for “carrying” a person’s last name.

In your family’s case where it is clear that husband and wife did not live together after marriage and have been separated for 25 years, the likelihood of any jurisdiction in America awarding alimony is extremely slim.

To find out if she is divorced, your mother should contact the clerk of the court(s) of the jurisdiction(s) where your father is known to have lived since 1988 to determine if she is divorced. If she finds evidence of a divorce, she can request a certified copy of the final judgment of divorce. If she is unable to navigate this process, she can hire an attorney in America to assist. If she cannot find evidence of a divorce, she can hire an attorney in Jamaica to assist her in divorcing her husband in Jamaica whose whereabouts are unknown.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com