Man Divorces Wife Shortly After Marriage, Does Not Tell Her For 20 Years

An unusual case has emerged from New York where an elderly lawyer married a much younger woman and divorced her months later but kept it a secret for 20 years. The man hired lawyers in the Dominican Republic to pursue the divorce citing incompatibility but never appeared in the country or had any other ties with the island nation. He took this route to “protect his assets” but continued to live with the woman, while holding himself out as married, and even had a son with her. The primary conflict is over the sale of a Manhattan condo which is valued at $1.4 million and was there supposed marital home for over a decade after splitting time living between NYC and France. No word yet on when the court will rule if the foreign divorce is valid.

See Khaleda Rahman, Woman, 59, sues her husband, 90, of 20 years after he secretly divorced her months after their wedding ‘to protect his assets’, The Daily Mail, January 24, 2016.