I was just reading about the wedding of Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. On May 28th, he went down to the Dominican Republic and filed for divorce. The article mentioned its a country that you can receive a divorce without the other spouse being present or consent.

Is this true? Before my husband left in March, I found a travel brochure on the Dominican Republic in his gym bag, probably given to him by the OW. Her divorce becomes final this month or early next. Probably will start pressuring him to get a divorce.

Is there anyway I can protect myself? How valid are D.R. divorces?

Maybe I should get a lawyer. They are expensive and they are not marriage counselors, they are not in the business to help you to save your marriage.

I just found this info on a Dominican Divorce website.

Q: Can a person obtain a divorce without the consent of their spouse?

A: Yes, One can obtain a divorce in Haiti without the consent of your spouse (Unilateral Divorce).
In order to do this, you must travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and then fly by private plane to Haiti to appear in court.

Q: What does unilateral mean?

A: Unilateral means one-sided. You do not have to have your spouse's consent. An attempt to notify your spouse will be made by the Haitian court. A notice will be sent through the office of Foreign Relations to the Haitian Consulate nearest to the spouse's last known address. That consulate will mail a notice of the hearing date to the last known address. If the spouse does not respond within 30 days of the date that you appear in court, the divorce will be granted by default.

I guess if he does decided to divorce me this way, which would be dirty, I guess I would have to fly down to Haiti, not the safest place to be right now. I also found out on the site that the divorce is valid in the U.S.

This information scares me, how can you save your marriage when they can fly off to a foreign country and obtain a divorce?

I just hope our fourteen years together, has meant more to him than going to get a quickie divorce on some island. He always talked about having respect for me, but he has disrespect me in the worse way by having an A and I pray that the OW true colors are revealed quickly.

Here I am in the middle of the night, because I couldn't sleep and now I have more to worried about.

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but it doesn't help that I found that travel brochure in his bag and I know how malipulating the OW is.

Ugh! nasty!
A woman who knows things like sneaky divorces are always cowards. This one is so devious. Ugh!

I hope he finds out how evil she is before he decides to do anything.

You need that lawyer to protect yourself.

God be with you.

When i was a WS i also read up on Dominican divorces. I read a lot of sites. Things are not as uncomplicated as it seems. I dont know about Haitian divorces but in the Dom Rep divorces are available with one spouse present after just an overnight stay in the country. What I did find out is that these divorces are not valid in every state, nor are they valid until they are registered by the court, which could be several weeks after the judge makes his decree. It seems there are rather a lot of people who may think they are divorced and remarried but arent!

Wow actually that's good information to have.... as I have a dominican passport <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" /> Anyways, i didn't know I could do that!

Well, good info for me, bad for you that's trying to save yours. I am trying to save mine, but when I am fed up... I need to know I can go down there.. file my papers.. and I know WH won't sign it or won't show up... so I can just clean my life... (no more him) Most of my stress would be gone. heheh yeah its one of those days for me in the roller coaster.. btw, ask your husband if he wants a divorce, that way.. there is not sneaky crap... you do not need anymore surprises m'dear.

The OW is nasty and malipulating. She wants people to believe is good Christian woman. I was on to her from day one, but everyone seem to like her including my in-laws, so I thought it was only me. I have learn now to trust my instincts.

My in-laws now know what kind of person she is. She has been caught in too many lies she has told them.

My WH told me he will never marry again, but he has never mention a word about divorce to me.

I know the OW is trying to get pregnant and she is only after my in-laws money.

My WH was good man with good values. She has completely turn him around. So I know deep in my heart that she is behind the idea of a Dominican Divorce.

My WH doesn't have any money. I hope D.R. divorce is expensive, but I doubt it. Everything is pretty cheap down there.

The U.S. should outlaw these types of divorces. It is so disheartening that you can get an overnight divorce in a foreign country. I just have to find out how valid theses divorces are in New Jersey.

I just need time for him to find out what shes is truly like and time to repair my marriage.

As far as I understand its is possible to get a unilateral divorce but u could contest this in a court. Only where both partners agree to the divorce would it be valid (because the only people who could contest it could be one of the spouses). In my case my husband was willing to sign the papers so it wasnt an issue.

You can get a dominican divorce for around $1000 plus teh travel to get there etc.

As I said...he can only validly go down this road with your consent.

An attempt to notify your spouse will be made by the Haitian court. A notice will be sent through the office of Foreign Relations to the Haitian Consulate nearest to the spouse's last known address. That consulate will mail a notice of the hearing date to the last known address.
If you have not moved since your spouse left, you better get something in the mail.
The court will keep a record of where it was sent and if it is not the correct address, the case would probably be thrown out, especially if you have received anything else from your spouse in the mail after that date.

He hasn't done it yet. It probably be done after her D becomes final.

I don't trust her. My H was a good Christian man. Deep down I don't think he wants to ends our marriage like this, if at all.

The OW is a planner. She has been planning to get in our lives for several years. Even when my WH and I were working things out, she was emailing about New Jersey Divorces and D.R. Divorces.

She wants the D, I'm not sure about my WH. She is in control. My WH has a brain, I hope soon he uses it to get out of the fog he is in. We had an appointment for MC, which we never did go to see, because she convince him not to and to leave me. She played the guilt trip on him, making him feel responsible for the breakdown of her marriage.

Even if this happens, and I contest. I don't have an address for him, just a P.O. Box. Would his address appear on the summons?

I pray this doesn't happen, but a friend of mine saw him buying suntan lotion. Who Knows? I guess I should worry about this when it happens, I just want to protect myself and my marriage.

This should end your worries:

Dominican fast divorces, known under the legislation as “special,” are painless and hassle free. They are available to foreigners and Dominicans married to foreigners, as well as Dominican citizens not resident in the DR and take only one day.

For the divorce to be legal, at least one of the spouses needs to come down to the Dominican Republic to appear before the Court. There is no such thing as a “mail-order” divorce in which neither spouse has to appear in court. “Unilateral” divorces are also invalid since both spouses must agree to the divorce.