Hi, I hope you can help me. I fell in love with a girl online through a friend of mine. I live in The Netherlands, and she lived in NY. We had an internet romance & I was truly smitten. I am a 58-year-old Widower from the UK and thought I had finally met my “Soul Mate.” I went to NY for a weekend to meet her in person. She said she loved me and wanted to make a life with me in Holland. On December 26, I flew to NY and bought her ticket to return here with me. While in NY, we married at the Town Hall. After coming here, she decided she didn’t “like” me anymore and wanted to reunite with her ex-partner. Her ticket had already been paid for in my original packet on December 26. On January 28, not even a month after we married, she returned to NY. I never heard from her again. I am collecting Widow Benefits from the UK and was about to report my marriage to them, thus losing these benefits when she left me. I have two teenage sons and find it impossible to take care of them if I lose my benefits AND a wife at the same time. Can you please help me? An annulment is the only way I won’t lose out financially. Thank you in advance.
In NY, to get an annulment, you must have specific grounds and be able to provide testimony from a witness to substantiate your claim.
Fraud is one of the acceptable grounds, but you will have to substantiate that even before you got married she never really intended to remain married and had some ulterior motive for going through the ceremony or she lied about wanting to have children when she did not, etc.
Perhaps you can file for an annulment in Holland, where the requirements may be easier to meet.
If not, you can file for divorce in NY.
Do not leave the matter go on without resolution. Take care of it now correctly with an experienced matrimonial attorney so you can get on with your life
without having it come back to haunt you later.
Leonard Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions