Canadian female divorcing Dominican man

[ahidalgo]

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

[rellosk]

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.

www.drlawyer.com
info@drlawyer.com

[ahidalgo]

I feel very ill after reading your response. Ill for my own stupidness. I thought I was being so smart. We were married in the DomRep three years ago. One year of false bliss when he was still in the DomRep and two years of hell in Canada. So I think he has waited the test of time but maybe I could talk to Immigration. Thank you for your advise. I will go to that website now.

Thankyou very much for your response.

[spike00lee]

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).

[ahidalgo]

He brought a lawyer with him when he signed it. For all I know and from what I know now it could have been his brother. I dont even have a business card. They talked in Spanish and pointed to the form but I dont speak Spanish so I dont have a clue what was said.

[HOWMAR]

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.

[MommC]

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.

[Sunny44]

Originally Posted by ahidalgo

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

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

[suarezn]

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.

[MommC]

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!!