In my brother's case he and his wife had to live apart, file some paperwork (I think) and maybe a few other things BEFORE they could even file for divorce.

The actual process of filling out and filing the paperwork and getting the divorce was fairly quick (considering he was living in another country).

I have what may be an anarchist bent, and would love to think that adults know when they're done.

Some states like it one way, and states like California don't require separation. You can choose where you live and where you marry. Such is the supposed benefit of the federalist system. After awhile all legislative policy starts looking like moralizing. And for myself I think on the macropolitical level it is preferable to encourage marriage, even though I don't think divorce laws do that.

You can choose where you live and where you marry.

If I marry in one state but live somewhere else, and then divorce in a third state, is there a consistent way to determine what law applies where?

(now I'm off reading Wikipedia on legal fiction--if only any of this information would be useful or retained)

Grrr. Who sends jobs to the communal printer requiring 8.5 by 12 paper, thereby blocking the whole print queue until they remember to go and fucking load their mutant paper?

Is it still defenestration if you smash someone's head through the copier glass?

If I marry in one state but live somewhere else, and then divorce in a third state, is there a consistent way to determine what law applies where?

Yes; so-called "choice-of-law" principles apply in general to any suit where the laws of different jurisdictions are relevant. AFAIK the laws of the state you are getting the divorce from apply (to the divorce). I would guess that in most states, they will only grant a divorce if you married there or if one or both parties are resident. I would direct you to this wikipedia page but I find it incomprehensible: [link]

Well, I cleared up a semantic issue early on in that page, but then I got dizzy. And it reminded me of a Wikipedia article of this morning (I do work, I swear it) with the woman who was trying to get all mention of Islam off her identity card so that she could marry her Christian love. Apparently Malaysia doesn't allow inter-marriages.

People are weird.

When my brother lived with his now-wife in TX, they discovered that state's crazy common law stuff. Texas is apparently fairly loose in its definitions. From what I understand, all it takes is that you live together and represent yourselves as married. After a couple years of that, I think you gotta get a divorce to end it.

I think you gotta get a divorce to end it.

A cousin of mine said she was married by those terms in, I think, Colorado.

Needless to say she didn't bother with a divorce when she kicked him out. Those are the sorts of people you don't want to make stuff too easy for.

Late replies:

Next time I have a delayed flight, I'm taking my pants off, too.

I kinda want to tag this.

Laura, feel free if you wanna.

Love the Grace and Noah pictures! They're so alert and feisty!

Happy birthdays to Dana and Ellie!

Do the Dresden books follow the plots of the series episodes?

Pretty much not, brenda. Mostly the series tells its own stories. (The exception was the original pilot episodes Storm Front which was pretty close to the plot of the book Storm Front, but it was jarringly different from the series as it finally came to be. Storm Front the book is worth the read even if you've seen the episode.)

Tennessee does not have common-law marriage. For which I am very grateful. It was hard enough to get rid of the Psycho without having to officially divorce him.