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Petition for Foreign Divorce Decree, requires California family code?

anonymous
Anonymous This person has chosen to hide his/her identity.

I've filed a petition for foreign divorce decree last February 2014. I submitted photocopies of required documents and I was able to certify it as well. I've gone through all the process of publication, appearance etc. and now ang hinihingi sa akin ng court ay certified copy of California family code, which I don't know kung paano ko makukuha.

Wala na yung ex ko at pinadalhan na nya ako ng divorce papers. My attorney doesn't even know how to certify yung California family code and because of this sabi nya may possibility na ma-dismiss ang petition ko?

Napaka-unfair naman po, lahat ng effort ko to make this right ay bale wala dahil lang sa documents na napakahirap i-secure.

Dito po ako sa Pinas and has limited connections sa U.S. I tried them pero hindi rin nila alam kung papano. In the first place, yung it is a public information na downloadable nga online so why does it have to be certified? The fact na I secured a certified divorce documents means na such law exist, di po ba? Sana po matulungan nyo ako...Hindi po ako maka move on sa past ko hangga't hindi natatanggal yung apelyido ng ex husband ko sa pangalan ko...




07, Sep 2016, 09:19 AM (PH time)
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Adelaimar C Arias-Jose
Atty. Bimbi is a Legal expert in the Philippines
Kasi po, ganito iyon:

1. The Philippine Courts have to be satisfied that California Law allows divorce.
2. The Philippine Courts cannot just believe that your divorce is valid in California and therefore valid here in the Philippines.
3. You can go to the Thomas Jefferson Library (hindi ko lang sigurado kung ito'y operational pa -- I was in college in the 1980s when I last went there). Sila ang maaaring maka-kuha ng copy ng California Family Code.
4. Tapos, sa US Embassy, mayroon din silang authentication service. They have the service that allows laws of any of the 50 US States can be verified. Lalo na ang California Family Code -- it is such a huge set of laws.
5. You can also contact the Librarian of the Congress of the State of California (if you have relatives in the US, they can do this for you. If not, you will have to do it via the Internet). The Librarian will give you an authenticated copy (as in, mayroong seal at, ito ang dadalhin mo sa US Embassy sa Pilipinas for authentication). Or, the Librarian can send the authenticated scanned copies of the California Family Code directly to the US Embassy's authentication service. Tapos, lalagyan nila ng authentication seal.


kasi po, ang husgado, kailangan ng evidence. This is the only way by which you can prove that California Law exists and that the California Law allows a citizen of California to divorce his or her spouse and that the same law allows the citizen of California to remarry. Ito po ang pinaka-mahalaga. kasi, if the foreigner (the citizen of California) is allowed to remarry, you will be allowed to remarry in the Philippines as well.

Ito pong lahat ay hindi based on direct experience, ha? kasi, hindi pa ako nakaka-handle ng divorce mula sa California na pinapa-register dito sa Pilipinas para maipa-walang bisa ang mga marriage certificate na naka-file sa NSO (na ngayon ay PSA na).

This is how I would do it. This is how it is usually done.

Try this website:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/

Good luck to you. Ask the court for time because this is what you will need, you will need a lot of time to process this.

About the author

Adelaimar C Arias-Jose

I am a graduate of the UP College of Law. Member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines since 1995. I am currently involved in private practice in criminal, civil and labor law.
Profession: Lawyer
Adelaimar C. Arias-Jose
Office Address: #34 St. Michael Street
Philippines , Manila , Makati
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