Consequences of Lying on an Application for a Marriage License

[chrisg504]

My question involves marriage law for the State of: West Virginia (most likely)

I have not proposed yet, but would like to marry the girl I've been dating. I'm divorced, and she knows this...but she is unaware how long I've actually been divorced. When we first started dating I lied and said I was already divorced (state of Hawaii). The truth is the process was started, but turned out not to be as quick as some would have you believe. One quick trip to the courthouse turned into 3 or 4 with several waiting periods in between when my ex kept returning incorrectly filled out paperwork via snail-mail.

So we were technically dating while I was still married for about 6 months. Divorce is now final.

This girl is somewhat old fashioned, and perhaps I should have disclosed the truth right from the start, but it's too late for that now. I have a feeling telling her now would destroy her and the relationship. It took some work to get her to date a previously married man to begin with. Maybe I'm a scumbag, but I seriously thought my divorce decree was in the mail when we started dating, so I never disclosed the full truth.

If we were to file for marriage, more than likely in her home-state of West Virginia, and I were to put an "incorrect" date of divorce, would it ever be found out? How often is that really investigated?
Other state-of-marriage possibilities: Hawaii (our current home), Las Vegas (we've talked about running there and doing it before), and possibly Louisiana (my hometown).

[aardvarc]

Would it ever be found out? How could we possibly know that? COULD it ever be found out? Yes. It's a public record, and anyone who wanted to check it out could do so.

You need to be aware that knowingly putting false information on documents like this constitutes the crime of fraud, so you're actually risking MORE than just pissing off your fiance - read the fine print on the marriage license paperwork - it'll include a warning against making a false statement or providing false information.

It's never too late for the truth.

I seriously thought my divorce decree was in the mail when we started dating

People make mistakes, so why not just explain that you didn't have intent to hide anything, the dates just took longer than anticipated? Are you ready to turn a mistake into an outright this a lie right at the start of your marriage?

[Foster_Foster]

You've a mighty high opinion of yourself to "have a feeling" that discovering this lie would "destroy her", no? Might destroy the relationship, but the notion that "it's too late for [the truth] now" is nonsense. That you may be afraid to tell her is fine, but ...

"It took some work to get her to date a previously married man to begin with."

That would set off a red flag with me, and something I might want to discuss with a family therapist who does pre-marital counseling.

We can't know whether it would ever be found out if you lied on the marriage license application. Chances are no, but how few people on the planet know when you were divorced that you can trust the info will never be revealed to her? How about your ex-wife?