Back in May 2004 My fiancé and I attained a Clark county "marriage
license" from the court house.
Six months later we were married in Las Vegas in Front of 100 people. 
A month before the wedding I asked my fiancé to sign a pre-nuptial.
She wouldn't. We proceeded with getting married anyways.
From the start we had problems, culminating with me currently wanting
to leave the marriage.
During my research on marrying in Las Vegas and living in California I
was speaking with the Clark County Courthouse and they could not find
me on file or registered as being married. It is confirmed that my
Marriage was never "recorded" and I suspect it was because the
Reverend never sent in the Marriage Certificate. I am still confirming
this.  As a result, according to the state of Nevada, they do not have
me on file as being married. Again, I confirmed this when I spoke with
them. I read a previous Google Questions string that had a situation
in Georgia that is quite similar to mine. See next paragraph for a
snippet of more detail from that Google Questions.
He mentioned in his situation that "The clerk there pulled up my name
in her computer and then said that even though the license was not
recorded and we went through a marriage ceremony we were still legally
married. My broad question is "IS THIS TRUE IN MY AFOREMENTIONED
SITUATION IF I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA? IRREGARDLESS, DOES THIS STILL MEAN
SHE IS MY WIFE AND ENTITLED TO HALF? The previous string also
mentioned that "The clerk also said that we would need to have the
marriage license recorded and then get the divorce, and that she would
make a notation in the computer that I had been in to check on it.
AGAIN My question is very similar to the previous string on this
subject but relative to Nevada and California: Since the marriage
license was never recorded, are we still legally married?  We have no
children, two community properties, and mortgages in both of our names
for north of 1.2M dollars.  Any insight anyone can offer relative to
this topic would be genuinely appreciated. I just need to know as we
move forward are we legally married or not.  It effects everything.

Dear jshapiro44-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

First, let?s begin here. You don?t need the assistance of the Clark
County Clerk to confirm if your marriage was filed or not. It?s all in
an online database and its public record. See if you are listed here.
If you?re not, the marriage was never filed:

CLARK COUNTY NEVADA RECORDER 
MARRIAGE INQUIRY SYSTEM
http://www.co.clark.nv.us/RECORDER/mar_srch.htm
http://sandgate.co.clark.nv.us/recMarriage/marrName.htm

There seems to be no NEVADA precedence for rendering an intended
marriage void based on the oversight (clerical error or otherwise) of
not filing the certificate with the clerk, or exceeding the maximum
expiry of the application. My guess is that with the amount of
potential wealth involved here, a Nevada court would have to determine
if CHAPTER 125 - DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE of the Nevada State statutes
is even applicable, or if the marriage itself is simply void and no
dissolution is required.

NRS 125.070  states: ?Judge to determine questions of law and fact. 
The judge of the court shall determine all questions of law and fact
arising in any divorce proceeding under the provisions of this
chapter.?
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-125.html#NRS125Sec070

In other words, any specific circumstances that aren?t specifically
outlined by state statute are to be decided by a Judge. This happens
to be one of them. It would be up to a Judge to determine if the two
of you were ever legally married, since you both consented to the
marriage and had the reasonable expectation that the license would be
properly filed and recorded by the clerk, or if indeed your intended
marriage is void because the required filing has not taken place.

Judges often look outside their jurisdictions when a local precedent
cannot be found. There is caselaw in the Arkansas Supreme Court that
could be construed as a viable legal precedent; to wit Dickie Ray
FRYAR v. Anna Ruth ROBERTS (01-186 ___ S.W.3d ___November 1, 2001) in
which these two opinions were handed down:

ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT
http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/2001b/20011101/01-186.html

?Marriage -- statute calling for return of marriage license to clerk
-- legislature's intent clear. -- The Arkansas Code section at issue,
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-11-218 (Repl. 1998), does not provide that failure
to return the marriage license renders a marriage void; rather, the
remedy provided in the statute for noncompliance is that the bond
required by Ark. Code Ann. § 9-11-210 when applying for a license
"shall remain in full force and effect"; section 9-11-210 expresses
the legislature's intent that a bond be issued to ensure thatparties
applying for a marriage license have a lawful right to such and will
faithfully carry into effect and comply with the provisions of the
act.?

?Marriage -- proof that license was procured & couple was married by
minister can establish legal marriage -- return of license is only
evidence that marriage has been performed. -- Proof that a marriage
license was procured and a couple was married by a minister can
establish a legal marriage; return of the license is only evidence
that a marriage has been performed and does not itself constitute the
marriage.?

I am no lawyer and we cannot provide legal advice in this forum, but
it seems to me that there may just a loophole ? and that is the
validity of an EXPIRED application for a marriage license.

You see, what I have learned is that a Nevada application for marriage
is only good for one year from the time it is obtained. This quote
comes DIRECTLY from Nevada Document Recording and Retrieval Services:

?The marriage license is good for one year and is valid as soon as you
walk away from the counter.?
NEVADA DOCUMENT RECORDING AND RETRIEVAL SERVICES
http://www.drrsvcs.com/nevada-marriage-records.php

Presumably, since it is only good for one year from the time you walk
away from the court, it is NO LONGER VALID if you step up to the court
and attempt to file it one year later. The bottom line here is that if
you were not legally married BEFORE you filed the belated certificate,
following this confused clerk?s advice and trying to file an invalid
license one year later won?t make you married either. That?s just dumb
on it?s face, isn?t it?

So, it appears, to me at least, that it MAY not be an issue of WHETHER
it was ever filed or not, but whether it would be valid if it were
filed TODAY. See what I mean? In other words, would you need a new
(and currently valid) application if you tried to file it today? Would
the clerk say ?Sure, hand it to me and I?ll file it for you? or would
the Clerk say, ?Sorry, this is invalid??

Here?s another possible loophole that may not require you to wait the
full year, even though you clearly have. Again, I am not a lawyer and
we cannot provide legal advice by policy, but I can read and write
English. In plain English the Frances Deane, Recorder for the State of
Nevada, speaking for the state in her official capacity published this
statement on the official government website:

?After your wedding ceremony has been performed, the marriage official
has 10 calendar days to send the marriage certificate to the
Recorder?s Office to be recorded.?
http://www.co.clark.nv.us/recorder/mar_proc.htm

Now the statement doesn?t say, ?has 10 calendar days, or else??, so we
don?t know what the legal ramifications are. Once again, a court would
probably have to intervene and decide, especially if your ?wife?
raised enough objections to it.

I suspect that if your ?wife? were to contest such a claim on your
part that a court would have to determine if you are married or not.
Enter in the desperate need for a lawyer should that happen. There
again, it depends on whether or not the Judge will recognize
out-of-state legal precedent (as they often do) or whether the Judge
will decide that the marriage is void. I BELIEVE he or she will
probably say you are legally married, but that?s merely speculation on
my part. No one can predict with much accuracy what any court or any
Judge will do on a given case. Anyone who tells you that they can is
blowing smoke up your dress.

NEVADA MARRIAGE LAWS
http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/nevada/index.shtml

I sent an email to Michael J. Willden, Director of the Nevada
Department of Human Resources. (This is the Nevada Division of Vital
Records that issues certified copies of Birth, Death, Marriage, and
Divorce certificates, for events that occurred within the state of
Nevada.). As you might imagine, I got no response. You may have better
luck than I did.

Michael J. Willden
Director
505 East King Street, Room 600
Carson City, NV 89701-3708
(775) 684-4000
http://www.hr.state.nv.us/

 
To speculate further, I think if the two of you are in agreement that
you were never legally and officially married then you?ll face no
problems, since there is no record to suggest otherwise and no one
will ever challenge your mutual claim. On the other hand, if one of
you believes you ARE legally married and wishes to contest that fact
should the other one dispute it, it will probably all boil down to
whether or you INTENDED to be married and carried on in good faith as
if you were legally married.

I know what you had hoped to receive was a straight YES or NO answer,
but at the risk of disappointing you, as you can see there are many
more faces to this dragon than first meets the eye. Ultimately a legal
opinion will be required (and will be the smartest approach, for your
sake) to settle the matter unless there is mutual consent to embrace
one view or the other.

I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

Clark county

Nevada

Las Vegas

Marriage

Certificate

License

Requirements

Statutes

Law

Filing

Thank you so much for the level of detail. I am completely impressed! 
Well worth the capital. sincerely

>> "Judges often look outside their jurisdictions when a local
precedent cannot be found." <<

Courts have a number of tools they use to interpret laws or statutes.
However, courts will not apply another state's statutes, when trying
to interpret their own state's laws. When references to the actions of
the courts of other states occur, they are usually to demonstrate that
other states agree with the local court's interpretation, or as part
of an illustration of how various approaches to a legal issue have
been treated in other states, and not as a basis for the court's
actual legal ruling.

>> "No one can predict with much accuracy what any court or any Judge
will do on a given case. Anyone who tells you that they can is blowing
smoke up your dress." <<

Courts are, in fact, quite predictable in the manner in which they
follow the law. There are always exceptions - those unusual situations
where the law is uncertain, or where a judge makes an unexpected or
incorrect decision - but a reasonably competent lawyer can predict the
outcome of most legal issues with a high degree of certainty.

>> "To speculate further, I think if the two of you are in agreement
that you were never legally and officially married then you?ll face no
problems, since there is no record to suggest otherwise and no one
will ever challenge your mutual claim." <<

That's a dangerous assumption. For example, in the event of the death
of one of the spouses, there is a chance that the other spouse may
attempt to lay claim to part or all of the estate, and to disqualify
any subsequent marriage as bigamous. Or, if the other spouse is no
longer competent, that spouse's children may attempt to do so.
Typically, the presumption of the validity of a marriage is treated as
one of the strongest in the eyes of the law - so if somebody can
demonstrate that the only defect in a marriage results from the
failure of a third party, acting completely outside of the knowledge
and control of the spouses, to perform a ministerial act, it is quite
likely that a court would find the marriage to be valid.