ANNULMENT VERSUS
DIVORCE?
Summary of Terms and Issues
a. Bigamy- One of
the parties was already married to another person: If the bride
or groom was already married to someone else at the time the marriage ceremony was
performed, the nuptials are invalid and the marriage is void. This includes a situation where a divorce was
filed but never finalized. To be final,
a divorce decree must be signed by the Court.
(TIP: if you are engaged to be married to someone
who was previously married, you both ought to make sure the prior marriage was
legally dissolved. The best way to do
that is to personally review a court certified copy of the Decree of Divorce.)
b. Underage: If one of the
parties was under the age of 18 and did not obtain parental consent the
marriage is void. A minor under the age
of 16 cannot be legally married even with parental consent. (TIP: a
Court has discretion to deny an annulment even if one of the parties was
underage if the Court finds the annulment is not in the best interest of the
underage spouse or the minor children if the couple have offspring.)
c. Incest: If the bride
and groom met at a family reunion the marriage may be void! Blood relatives that are first cousins or
closer may not be legally married.
d. Failure to
Consummate: If the bride or groom is unable or refuses to
engage in sexual relations, the Court may enter a finding to annul the
marriage.
e. Fraud: A marriage may
be annulled if one party engaged in a purposeful deception which the other
spouse relied upon when agreeing to get married. (TIP:
it is no simple task to prove fraud in court.
If fraud can be proven, it must directly affect the marriage and be
severe enough that the deceived spouse would not have agreed to the marriage
had he or she known of the deception.)
f. Misrepresentation: Annulments can be granted if one spouse lies about a material fact that causes current harm to the other spouse. For
example, in one Utah case, the husband concealed a criminal record which
required him to pay fines and victim restitution but he informed his wife the
outgoing money was for a nonexistent child support obligation. The annulment was granted on those
facts.
2. WHAT IF THE PARTIES HAVE CHILDREN – An annulment can be granted even if the parties had
children so long as one of the legal grounds above applies. Any children born during the annulled
marriage are deemed legitimate and have the same rights as children from a
legally valid marriage. In these cases, even though the marriage is deemed to
have never existed the Court will still be able to decide custody and child
support issues for the benefit of the minor children. In fact, if alimony or property division is
at issue, the Court can address those disputes as well if it equitable to do
so.
3. HOW DO I FILE FOR AN ANNULMENT – If ground for an annulment exists, you can file a Petition for Annulment in a county where you or your spouse has resided for at least 90 consecutive days. You must cite one of the legal grounds for annulment listed above. You should also request any other relief you might require such as child support, alimony, division of debts and property division.
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Do you have questions about Divorce or Annullment?
Do you need assistance or advice in an annulment or
divorce case?
Call attorney Troy R. Jensen – 801-612-2112 – JENSEN
LEGAL
KNOW THE LAW,
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, KNOW I WILL FIGHT FOR YOU!
