Husband claims that he and his wife of 20 years weren’t married

The world of divorce tends to bring out the weird and the bizarre. Stories usually center around celebrity couples that are going through outlandish divorces that soak up the headlines. They may also center on every day people doing extraordinary things. You can file the following story somewhere between these two areas of divorce stories.

The son of one of the Minnesota Vikings part-owners, Michael Mandelbaum, is going through a divorce right now, triggered by his wife of 20 years. It would seem to be a pretty clear road from here: deal with the divorce in the best way possible for the spouse involved and their three children. However, Mandelbaum is making a claim that sounds audacious at first, but technically, could be correct: he says that he and his wife were never actually married.

The Mandelbaums held a Jewish wedding ceremony in New Jersey, and when they had the ceremony in 1993, it was held 16 days prior to the couple obtaining a marriage license. According to New Jersey law, a couple must obtain a marriage license before they are married. Michael Mandelbaum is hoping that this technicality invalidates his wife’s divorce filing.

Even though this may seem like a lousy response to a divorce filing, this is what divorce law — and really, much of law in general — is about. Technicalities are a huge part of the law. When something isn’t done the way the law says it should be done, then it can (and probably will) lead to consequences. In this case, it could lead to a dismissed divorce claim.

Source: Wall Street Journal, “Son of Minnesota Vikings Part-Owner Says He Wasn’t Legally Married to His Wife,” Yoni Bashan and Heather Haddon, Sept. 18, 2014