No matter how easy it seems to criticize anyone who would send hundreds of dollars off to obtain a three-day miracle divorce, Phillips' story is surprisingly common. They paid money for nothing, and they got nothing. Undiscovered, such divorces can make for some nasty surprises down the line. He remarried and subsequently died. Dominican law does allow Dominican citizens to be divorced by proxy.
Foreigners are another story.
But confusion over the proxy divorce laws allows shady practioners enough room to exploit people anxious to dissolve bad marriages. By Dominican law, at least one of the parties to the divorce must physically appear in Dominican court. The other party has to consent to the divorce, and must sign a special power of attorney allowing his or her lawyer to act as a proxy. If all those things happen, three-day divorces are entirely possible. They have a very formal set-up down there.