Texas Man On The Run After Divorcing Wife Without Her Knowledge

I think it's fair to say some people struggle when it comes to ending relationships. From tales of total ghosting after several dates, to being dumped by text after a long term relationship - it's just not everyone's forte to have that difficult conversation.

But one guy from Texas has trumped all that after he allegedly filed for and completed a divorce from his wife without her knowing.

Paul Nixon, 51, is currently being hunted by police and is being accused of aggravated forgery after it was discovered that the paperwork he submitted was fraudulent.

Harris County Constable Precinct 4

The paperwork was filed the day after Valentine's Day (ouch), with a judge signing the order in April. This meant that Nixon's marriage was legally dissolved.

But one person was completely left out of proceedings - Nixon's wife.

Three months later, the poor woman found out about the secret divorce, contacting police in May.

Mrs Nixon said her husband had filed for divorce, completing the entire thing, without her consent or even her knowledge. The court had already completed all the hearings and filed the final divorce decree.

Authorities set about investigating the situation. They eventually found that Nixon had forged his wife's signature and faked a notary's approval on the papers.

Having a document notarised is the same as swearing under oath in a court of law, it means that the facts contained in the document are true.

Harris County Constable Mark Herman told The New York Post: "We rarely see something like this.

"In this particular case, the gentleman decided to go through a divorce but the only problem is, he left his wife out of the process. And that's a violation of the law here in Texas.

"His wife was very surprised. She started finding things showing that he was spending money on jewellery, so she confronted him and he told her that they were actually divorced."

Harris County Constable Precinct 4

Police have since reinstated Nixon's marriage to his wife.

Herman continued: "They are still legally married. The fraudulent divorce papers have been retracted."

Nixon then went on the run after police announced that he was wanted for the crime.

He added: "We've got teams of officers out looking for him right now."

Nixon faces up to 10 years in prison if he's found and convicted. No new divorce proceedings have been filed.

Topics: US News

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@amelialadbible