New York man obtains secret divorce 8 years before his death

New York man obtains secret divorce 8 years before his death

Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges from East River Waterfront (Photo credit: SheepGuardingLlama)

To say that Vivian Dowers, 75, is shocked is an understatement.  She’s the wife who found out that her hubby, David Dowers, 65, a New York man, divorced her 8 years ago.  A secret divorce.

According to Vivian Dowers, She had a traditional and valid marriage in every sense of the word.

Her husband, David Dowers, had worked as a janitor for Columbia University and they were married for over 30 years.

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They did not live separately. There were no major problems.  They were married in every sense of the word. Or so she thought.

And then he died. Shortly thereafter the secret divorce he obtained came to light.

In February, 2011 David Dowers passed away.  The cause of death was from natural causes and his widow, Vivian, was grieving.

She started to go though his paperwork and documents and was speechless when she found paperwork – divorce papers – stating that way back in 2002 she had abandoned him.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her husband had obtained a secret divorce.

To obtain a divorce, there have to be efforts made to notify both parties involved and, it appears, that David took steps to to cover up the fact that he was really living with his wife.

David Dowers had gotten the “uncontested” split in 2002 by claiming his wife left him over their financial problems and said that his wife has been served with divorce papers.

Ultimately, Vivian Dowers won and the secret divorce he had obtained 8 years before his death was ruled fraudulent.

She received a life insurance payout and it has been reported that she likely will also receive his pension, over the objections of his children from a prior relationship.

Even though the matter has been resolved, Vivian Dowers obviously has suffered quite a bit of heartbreak; first though her husbands death and then finding out that her husband of 30+ years obtained a secret divorce.

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• New York woman reportedly learns husband divorced her eight years before his death
• Uncontested Divorce Papers
• Widow reportedly learns of divorce after man’s death

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