Man forgot he was married
An Australian man was told his marriage was invalid - because he had married 30 years earlier during a drunken bender.
The 67-year-old remembered a “nice” blonde woman he met in Arizona during shore leave from his job as an oil rig cook but says he had no idea they married.
“He has no recollection of going through any form of ceremony of marriage with her, or of discussing marriage, or of anything referable to marriage,” said Justice Sally Brown, annulling the marriage.
The 67-year-old, who cannot be identified, told the Australian Daily Telegraph that “the sky fell in” when he was shown the Arizona marriage licence.
“I looked at the signature and thought it could have been mine or it could not have been,” he said.
In 1978, he would still have been married to his first wife. He had since divorced and married his Hawaiian girlfriend. It was when they applied to live in Hawaii that US immigration authorities broke the news.
He said his latest wife, who has become his girlfriend again because their marriage was declared invalid, was very understanding.
“We have been with each other on and off for over 20 years in Australia,” he said. "She’s a terrific, a top cook. She looks after me and I take care of her. I couldn’t find anything better.
“I’m an old-fashioned guy. I’m loving and I believe that for a marriage to work, it has to be a two-way street. She does the washing, I hang it out on the line.”
Now that he is officially single, he plans to make his current girlfriend his wife - again.
