Annulment and Validity of Marriage

Question 1

What are the three (3) ways to end a marriage?

Answer 1

(1) Annulment
[technically, this isn’t an “end” - it’s an erasure; it is as if the marriage never existed]
(2) Divorce
(3) Death

Question 2

What is a Void Marriage?

Answer 2

A marriage is void when it is good for no legal purpose. Its invalidity may be maintained in any proceedings, in any court, between any parties, whether during life or after the death of the supposed spouse, and whether the question arises directly or collaterally.
The circumstances of a Void Marriage are such that the marriage could NEVER have come into being, so it technically needs no judicial action to declare it void. However, it may be declared void by judicial action at the request of any interested individual at any time.

Question 3

What is a Voidable Marriage?

Answer 3

A marriage is voidable when it its constitution there is an imperfection which can be inquired into only during the lives of both of the spouses, in a proceeding to obtain a sentence declaring it null and void. Until the marriage is set aside, it is practically valid; when it is set aside, it is rendered void from the beginning.
In a voidable marriage, when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse is entitled to all legal rights and obligations created by a valid marriage, if there was no adjudication of the issue during the lifetimes of the two parties.

Question 4

What are four (4) grounds for annulment?

Answer 4

(1) Affinity & Consanguinity
(2) Lack of Cohabitation
(3) Duress
(4) Fraud

Question 5

Do cousins fall under the statute prohibiting marriages of affinity and consanguinity?

Answer 5

No. See § 20-1-10(B) and (C).
(B) No man shall marry his mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, stepmother, sister, grandfather’s wife, son’s wife, grandson’s wife, wife’s mother, wife’s grandmother, wife’s daughter, wife’s granddaughter, brother’s daughter, sister’s daughter, father’s sister, mother’s sister, or another man.

(C) No woman shall marry her father, grandfather, son, grandson, stepfather, brother, grandmother’s husband, daughter’s husband, granddaughter’s husband, husband’s father, husband’s grandfather, husband’s son, husband’s grandson, brother’s son, sister’s son, father’s brother, mother’s brother, or another woman.

Obviously, this statute will have to be updated now that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states.