Canadian female divorcing Dominican man

You obviously need to consult a lawyer.

That said, the validity of the pre-nup MAY depend on where the marriage took place. If it took place in the DR, then it needed to be in Spanish (and possibly needed to be drafted by a Dominican lawyer). If it took place in Canada English may be okay.

How long have you been married? If the marriage took place in Canada and you've been married for a very short time, you might be able to claim fraud.

Once again, you need to consult a lawyer. If you need a Dominican lawyer I would use the moderator of this forum, Fabio Guzman.

Did you have him sign the English version directly without anyone (not you) explaining what it said? Any time any legal document is presented to someone in a foreign language (pre-nup, etc), my understanding it should be translated at a minimum. It is recommended (depending on how important it is) to be presented by a "certified" third party (ie lawyer).

You've done one stupid thing so far. Everyone makes mistakes, should learn, and move on. But you are in the midst of making your next stupid mistake. Rather than coming to this board for advice on how to protect your home and assets, common sense would have had you in a Canadian divorce attorney's office yesterday if not sooner. His action against you probaly will have to be in Canada as it would probably be very difficult to enforce a Dominican judgement in Canada where both of you are residents. Canada will recognize the Dominican marriage, but also should recognize the pre-nup if it was executed in Canada.

See a lawyer NOW!

Also talk to immigration as there seems to definitely have been fraud committed by your husband if his demeanor changed radically AFTER you obtained his entry to Canada.
You may also be able to get an anullment of the marriage since he already had a 'wife' and children unbeknownst to you when you married. (I doubt his Dominican wife and he are legally married tho' as that is rarely the case with a sankie pankie).

How can someone who speaks no Spanish marry someone who speaks no English? Since you didn't use you head then, use it now and seek expert legal advise immediately!

You might also write an essay of how your 'romance' developed and how you were scammed into marriage and post it in the sanki forum to warn others of just how these con artists operate.

From past experience I can tell you that if at all possible he WILL clean you out and you'll be left destitute while he and his Dominican wife and family live like kings on YOUR money! That's the name of the game in this country (the DR) and I've seen or heard it every year that I've been here for the last 16 years.

ahidalgo said:

A firend of mine told me I needed to check out this site. I wish I would have seen it before I married a Dominican man. I have seen some valuable advice I could have learned from. Since he moved to Canada my life has been hell and turned upsidedown. To cut to the chase before we married he agreed to sign a pre-nuptual agreement which was drawn in Canada. Now he says he is going to clean me out and that the pre-nuptual will do nothing because it was made in English. My house is long paid for and I have inheritance money and valuable RRSPs on the line. That is what the prenup was for. I think he is also planning to bring his wife and children that I did not know about here. It was proably planned all along. He does not speak great English so he can claim he did not know what he signed. Does anybody know if he is right? I have not seen a lawyer yet but I am trying to see if since it was signed in the DomRep before wedding there something in there laws can help me. Can anybody help me?????

Thankyou

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I dont know that law but IF he was already legally married to someone else in the Dominican Republic, then maybe your marriage is not vaild? Wouldnt THAT solve a lot of problems! I am not sure how you find that info out though.
Good luck!
Sunny

Talk to the lawyer in this forum (Mr. Guzman), but I would think a quicker alternative would be for you to divorce him in The DR. As I understand it (someone correct me if I'm wrong) you can go down by yourself and divorce him in a couple of days and he doesn't even have to know as all you're required to do by law is publish it in a Dominican newspaper.

Someone just reminded me of the same thing....
It's worth a quick trip if Mr.Guzman confirms this is so....
Won't cost much and you don't have to give him a thing!!

Expedite divorces require mutual consent and both parties signing. See http://www.dr1.com/divorce/

Dolores said:

Expedite divorces require mutual consent and both parties signing. See http://www.dr1.com/divorce/

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And is subject to division of assets.

So she should see a lawyer in Canada ASAP!

Be careful

The divorce laws in the DR are different than those in Canada so be careful what advice you follow.

A DR lawyer can explain to you the laws and property division rules there, but Dr. Guzman has already put that info on the DR1 board, and you can search for it. Generally, if everything you owned before and after the marriage would be divided except real property (real estate). This includes half the debt. This is a broad summary so get advice from someone qualified (not me).

In Canada, the laws depend on which province you live in. In some provinces, he would be entitled to half of everything you acquired since the marriage. This includes half the debt. If your house was paid for before the marriage, he might not be entitled to any of it if the agreement he signed stipulated that. However, he might be able to make a case for half of the change in value over the life of your marriage. If you cannot enforce the pre-nuptual agreement, then he has dower rights to the matrimonial home and he would be entitled to half. Again, consult a professional.

As to the validity of the marriage.... if he was legally married to another woman when he married you, your marriage is not valid. You can get an anulment on the grounds of fraud, and this should help your property settlement case. If you want to go so far, fraud is grounds for deportation since he entered Canada on fraudulently. That should stop him from taking his Dominican wife and children to Canada and possibly living in the same community as you since that is where he has contacts and is established.

As to the question of the validity of the agreement he signed. For it to be binding in Canada, he had to have independent legal advice. It sounds like he did, but since you don't have the guy's name, it could be hard to prove. For it to be binding in the DR, I think that it had to be registered in the DR at the time of the marriage. Dr. Guzman could advise on that issue. But since you have been living in Canada, you are probably best advised to pursue dissolution of your marriage there.

A divorce in the Dominican Republic won't solve the problem since the division of matrimonial assets is not part of the divorce proceedings in the DR, unless it's by mutual consent which is not the case here. The division of assets comes AFTER the divorce.

The first thing that needs to be addressed is how the prenuptial was signed, in what language and whether it was recorded at the Civil Registry together with the marriage.

Since you guys married in DR a Spanish translation should have been drafted. You live and learn. Dont be discouraged by what people tell you. Things will work if God allows it.

SEXYLATINA62 said:

Since you guys married in DR a Spanish translation should have been drafted. You live and learn. Dont be discouraged by what people tell you. Things will work if God allows it.

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You are posting on a 2 year old thread!!!!

Nice handle!

While this is an old thread, here's a Web site for Canadians who are organizing and lobbying on the issue of marriage fraud. There's some advice on what you can do.

Stop Marriage Fraud - FAQ's

wish we had an update!!

Canada Divorce

I am an attorney in the U.S. with experience in British based "commom law" systems which is the system in Canada.

In my experiece the only thing that this man could potentially claim is a percentage of your wealth and earnings accrued after you were married.

since you ouwned your house before the marriage, he has no claim againnt it and will likely get nothing there. As far as your inheritances - he has no claims to those either.

The only way he could get those things is if you granted those things in the prenup, ( althought it sounds as if you did not).

He has a very good argument for not understanding the prenup and for that reason it could get set aside but nevertheless - as for your really importatnt assets - the house and inheritance - you area likely protected.

You may have to pay some alimony or a lump sum settlement - based on ernings since the marriage and pension earned during that time - depending on the specifics of Canadian law.

Samanaman