can i get CA residency through marriage? (lease, lawyer)

[zerzu]

I was married for a year to someone who lives and works in CA. We married (and divorced) in CA, but the lease and all other paperwork was in his name (only he worked). We are not on good terms, so I cannot ask him to help, but I was wondering if, by the fact of having gotten married (and divorced) in CA, if I can claim residency in CA? (we are both US citizens)

Thanks!

[Ceece]

For what purpose? Do you actually LIVE in CA?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Residency = where you live.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by zerzu

I was married for a year to someone who lives and works in CA. We married (and divorced) in CA, but the lease and all other paperwork was in his name (only he worked). We are not on good terms, so I cannot ask him to help, but I was wondering if, by the fact of having gotten married (and divorced) in CA, if I can claim residency in CA? (we are both US citizens)

Thanks!

for what reason? I think you need to explain yourself...

Nita

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

You are a legal resident of the state after a year of living here. Not sure where this is leading but lets say you want to go to school in California. You would need to be in the state for one year to get the in state rate. You claim to have gotten married in California and lived with your former husband for a year. If during that year you were in the state then yes you are now a resident of the state. Doesn't matter if you were not on the lease. You did have a marriage license and you do have information on when the dissolution of your marriage took place. That is all the information that you need.

[zerzu]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

If during that year you were in the state then yes you are now a resident of the state. Doesn't matter if you were not on the lease. You did have a marriage license and you do have information on when the dissolution of your marriage took place. That is all the information that you need.

Thank you, that's what i needed to know.

I need the residency to complete the adoption of my (adoptive) son, who was born abroad. I have lived abroad for the 20 years prior to my marriage, hence I did not have residency elsewhere and need the residency to finish the adoption procedure. If the marriage & divorce information is sufficient to establish residency at this time (rather than wait an additional year) then that is great news.

Thanks again,

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by zerzu

Thank you, that's what i needed to know.

I need the residency to complete the adoption of my (adoptive) son, who was born abroad. I have lived abroad for the 20 years prior to my marriage, hence I did not have residency elsewhere and need the residency to finish the adoption procedure. If the marriage & divorce information is sufficient to establish residency at this time (rather than wait an additional year) then that is great news.

Thanks again,

I am not sure it will be that simple. You might still need something with a Ca address on it. Were your divorce papers served to you while you lived in Ca or did you actually live in CA? You must have something, a drivers license, a phone bill, something with your name on it. You could have gotten married in Ca and hubby still lived there when he filed for divorce, whatever. This does not prove you lived there. I would seek legal aid in this case and not depend on what we have to say, unless someone is a lawyer and can give you exact information.

One more question, why are you trying to establish residency in Ca and also in Texas?
Nita

[zerzu]

Originally Posted by nmnita

I am not sure it will be that simple. You might still need something with a Ca address on it. Were your divorce papers served to you while you lived in Ca or did you actually live in CA? You must have something, a drivers license, a phone bill, something with your name on it. You could have gotten married in Ca and hubby still lived there when he filed for divorce, whatever. This does not prove you lived there. I would seek legal aid in this case and not depend on what we have to say, unless someone is a lawyer and can give you exact information.

One more question, why are you trying to establish residency in Ca and also in Texas?
Nita

Nita, I appreciate your trying to help me clarify this and therefore I will answer your question (and hopefully ease your suspicion). As I stated, I am an American citizen who, like many, have lived abroad for 20 odd years. I was married to another American and went back and forth between CA and my foreign residence, and as I did not expect to divorce, I never thought about the residency problem. Things in the marriage did not work out, and *I* divorced my husband (I served him in CA). The problem is that for several years, and prior to my marriage, I have been the legal guardian of a child and would like to complete his adoption. I had always planned on doing this, with my husband, in CA. Now that we are divorced, I have to do it alone (I had the child before we married). I do not want to establish residency in CA AND Tx, but simply that, not having residency anywhere in the US (after being out of the country for so long), it was suggested to me that Tx was an "adoption friendly" state. I had also read that TX didn't have the residency requirement to file for adoption there, but that is not the case. My question on the CA and TX boards were simply because I was trying to figure out which would be simplest, given my complicated situation.
What I am trying to do is to legitimize the life of a 4 year old boy who has a mother - ME - so that he grows up with a sense of belonging. There is nothing illicit or suspicious about this, and I understand that it is not the most ordinary reason but certainly one I would imagine, most people would understand as being worthwhile.

I hope that things are clearer now.

[Lovehound]

I strongly advise you to seek advice from a lawyer, particularly one who has experience in adoptions. This sounds too important to base any strategy on advice you got on an Internet forum, although I suspect you're just trying to get ideas before you see your attorney. Good luck!

[Ceece]

What state are you actually living in right now and how long have you been there??? Residency is not a permenant thing, you don't get it once and keep it forever unless you continually live there. The marriage/divorce really have no bearing as far as I can tell. I agree with Nita, you need to clarify this with your lawyers.