Opinion ID: 1058769
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Evidence of a Marriage

Text: The LLC argues that the circuit court erred in determining that Dorothy and Herman were still married at the time of Herman's death. The LLC contends that Herman had married a second time and that, therefore, a presumption arose that his prior marriage to Dorothy had ended in divorce. According to the LLC, Dorothy's evidence failed to overcome that presumption. We disagree with the LLC's arguments. The LLC incorrectly characterizes the substance of the presumption on which it relies. Under that second marriage presumption, when two marriages of the same person are proved, a rebuttable presumption arises that the second marriage is valid. Deryder v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 206 Va. 602, 607-08, 145 S.E.2d 177, 180-81 (1965); Parker v. American Lumber Corp., 190 Va. 181, 185-86, 56 S.E.2d 214, 216 (1949). Here, however, the LLC failed to present evidence proving that Herman had married a second time. Herman's recitation in the 1972 deed that his wife was Billie Sue did not prove that Billie Sue and Herman were legally married. Likewise, the fact that his death certificate listed his marital status as divorced provided no proof that Herman had been married a second time, or that he had obtained a divorce from Dorothy. Therefore, the facts before the circuit court did not give rise to a presumption of a valid second marriage. In the absence of such a presumption, the circuit court relied on Dorothy's testimony that she and Herman had not divorced, and that she had never received divorce papers from him. Based on this testimony, we conclude that the circuit court did not err in determining that Dorothy and Herman were married at the time of Herman's death.