Question: I need to speak with an attorney right now. I'm not totally sure, but I think I'm married, but I hope not. I took a trip with my boyfriend to Las Vegas about two weeks ago. We wanted to do some gambling, see some shows, get some nice dinners and hang out by the pool. We are friends, but it's really not serious and I sure didn't want to marry him. We met at the University of Georgia and we just like spending time together.
One night in Vegas we had too much to drink. I mean I haven't been that buzzed since college. And my boyfriend was just as drunk, maybe even more. We spent time drinking margaritas and we each had about six, so everything is pretty blurry and I can't really say what happened.
But I do know that we went to one of those tourist wedding chapels where we got married to some Elvis Presley impersonator who had a stutter. But I didn't think we were really getting married. I thought those places are jokes, you know just for tourists.
Now, though, I'm worried that we actually really got married. My boyfriend thinks we're married and was talking about filing our taxes jointly and living together. He even asked me to do his laundry. He wants me to put him on my insurance at work so he can keep playing in his jam band and hanging out in strip clubs in Atlanta.
At first, I thought he was joking, but I think he's serious. Please help because I don't want to be married to this guy. Maybe I need to speak with a local divorce attorney.
I need to know if you get really drunk and go to one of those tacky chapels in Las Vegas if you are really married.
R.B. in Woodstock, GA
Answer: We will have to learn just a little more about what happened, but it sounds as though you may have gotten legally married in Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas does not necessarily stay in Vegas.
We have had a couple of cases that sound quite similar to yours. People visit Las Vegas, get drunk, and wind up at a chapel. Some people think that the chapel is unable to perform legal marriages under the laws of the state of Nevada. This is usually an incorrect assumption.
If you don't want to be married, you need to get a divorce. Marriage in any state is fully recognized by every other state. So although you were married in Las Vegas, Nevada, that marriage is perfectly valid here in Georgia.
Assuming your boyfriend feels the same way you do, you should be able to get an uncontested divorce here. A marriage of several weeks should not have many difficult issues to resolve.
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