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Index
What
is an annulment?
What
is the effect of an annulment?
What
is the basis for an annulment?
Who
may annul?
Miscellaneous
Annulment cases
Annulment
In our modern world, an annulment
tends to be more a creature of religion than of law. Annulments are
rarely granted and when they are, very specific circumstances must exist.
Often people believe that they may annul a marriage simply
because it was of a very short duration. That is not the case. To
annul a marriage, a person must demonstrate that the marriage is
void because it is prohibited by the laws of the State
or is voidable because the intent to enter into a civil
contract was not present at the time that the parties
married.
What is an Annulment?
Marriage is a civil contract between a man and a
woman. As a result, the contract is legally binding so long as the
requisite elements of the contract were present when the parties
married. If the elements of the contract were not present, the
marriage may be annulled. That means, the marriage is treated as if
it never existed. For all purposes, it is considered null and
void.
What is the effect of an
Annulment?
In some states, an annulment may result in the harsh
result of extinguishing interests in property acquired during the
purported marriage. In such states, each party would be entitled to
the property in their own name. This is not true under Minnesota
law.
In fact, Minnesota recognizes the concept of a
"putative spouse." Any person who has cohabited with another under
a good faith belief that the person was legally married acquires the same
rights conferred by the divorce statute including property
rights and the right to spousal maintenance. These rights terminate
when a person discovers that they may not be legally married. It is
important to remember that in the case of Bigamy (more than one spouse),
the second putative spouse's rights do not supercede the rights acquired
of the legal spouse (the first spouse). However, the Court may
apportion property, maintenance, and support rights among the claimants as
appropriate "in the circumstances and in the interests of
justice."
What is the basis for an
Annulment?
An annulment may be granted when a marriage is
automatically void under the law for public policy reasons or voidable by
one party when certain requisite elements of the marriage contract were
not present at the time of the marriage.
Void
Marriages.
A marriage is automatically void and is automatically
annulled when it is prohibited by law. Under Minnesota's statutes a lawful
marriage may be contracted when the following requisites are
met:
- only between persons of the opposite sex;
and
- only when a license has been obtained as provided
by law; and
- when the marriage is contracted in the
presence of two witnesses;
- and solemnized by one authorized, or whom one
or both of the parties in good faith believe to be authorized, by law to
marry them.
Any marriage occurring after April 26, 1941,
without these elements is considered null and void. Additionally,
Minnesota Statutes specifically prohibits a
nullifies the following marriage without any decree of dissolution or
other legal proceedings :
- Bigamy. A marriage entered into
before the dissolution of an earlier marriage of one of the parties
becomes final, as provided in section 518.145
or by the law of the jurisdiction where the dissolution was
granted;
- Interfamily Marriage. A marriage
between an ancestor and a descendant, or between a brother and a sister,
whether the relationship is by the half or the whole blood or by
adoption;
- Marriage between Close Relatives. A
marriage between an uncle and a niece, between an aunt and a nephew, or
between first cousins, whether the relationship is by the half or the
whole blood, except as to marriages permitted by the established customs
of aboriginal cultures; and
- Same Sex Marriage. A marriage between
persons of the same sex, a marriage entered into by persons of the
same sex, either under common law or statute even if the
same sex marriage was recognized by another state or foreign
jurisdiction. Any rights granted by the foreign jurisdiction
recognizing the same sex marriage are unenforceable in the state of
Minnesota.
Voidable
marriages.
A voidable marriage is one where an annulment is not
automatic and must be sought by one of the parties. Generally, an
annulment may be sought by one of the parties to a marriage if the intent
to enter into the civil contract of marriage was not present at the time
of the marriage, either due to mental illness, intoxication, duress or
fraud. Minnesota Statutes set out the following circumstances under
which a marriage may be annulled by Petition:
- Lack of Mental Capacity. A party
lacked capacity to consent to the marriage at the time the marriage was
solemnized, either because of mental incapacity or infirmity and the
other party at the time the marriage was solemnized did not know of the
incapacity; or because of the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other
incapacitating substances; or because consent of either was obtained by
force or fraud and there was no subsequent voluntary cohabitation of the
parties;
- Lack of Physical Capacity to have
Intercourse. A party lacks the physical capacity to
consummate the marriage by sexual intercourse and the other party at the
time the marriage was solemnized did not know of the incapacity.
This is considered a material term of the civil contract of
marriage;
- A Party was Under the Age of Consent.
A party was under the age for marriage established by Minnesota
law. Minnesota Statutes requires
that a person must have reached the full age of 18 years to
marry. Moreover, a 16 year old may marry only if they have the consent
of the person's parents, guardian, or the court.
A marriage by an underage party may become legally
binding and incapable of annulment if the cohabitation of the parties as
husband and wife continues voluntarily after the person reached the age of
consent. Similarly, a marriage involving an insane person may not be
annulled if the person with the mental disability is restored to capacity
and the parties continued to freely cohabitate as husband and
wife.
Who
may annul a marriage and when may an Action for Annulment be
Brought?
Under no circumstances may an annulment be granted
after the death of either party to the marriage. Additionally, there
are some timelines that must be followed in order to seek an
annulment. In other words, even if the grounds exist to grant an
annulment, the annulment may be refused if the party seeking it does not
act quickly.
Minnesota Statutes sets out who may annul and the
timelines for annulment as follows:
- If a party suffers from a mental incapacity, the
marriage may be annulled:
- by either party; or
- by the legal representative of the party who lacked capacity to
consent,
so long as the action is brought no later than 90
days after the petitioning party obtained knowledge that the person was
mentally incapacitated.
- If one of the parties lacks the physical capacity
to have sexual intercourse, and the disability is not known to the other
party, the marriage may be annulled by either party no later than one
year after the petitioning person obtained knowledge of the physical
incapacity;
- If one party is under the legal age of consent, an
action to annul the marriage may be brought by the underaged
party or the the party's parent or guardian so long as the action is
brought before the time the underaged party reaches the age of consent.
In What Types
of Cases have Annulments been Granted?
There have been very few cases that expand or define
under what circumstances an annulment may be granted for a mental
disability, duress, force or fraud. However, cases in other
jurisdiction have do provide some guidance.
Marriage and Having Children
- In 1991, the Superior Court of New Jersey granted
an annulment to a wife where the husband told the wife after marriage
that he wanted to have children despite the fact that he had signed an
antenuptial agreement before marriage stating that he did not wish to
have children. The court felt that this constituted fraud relating
to an essential element of the marriage contract. V.J.S. v. M.J.B., 249 N.J. super, 318, 592 A. 2d
328 (1991).
Former Spouse Still Alive.
- The Supreme Court of Illinois granted an annulment
to a husband when the wife represented that her former husband had
died. Her husband was , in fact, alive and known to be living by
the wife at the time of the representation. Wolfe v. Wolfe, 76 Ill. 92, 389 N.E.2d 1143
(1979).
Married to Get Immigration
Status
- An annulment was denied in New Jersey where the
husband claimed his foreign wife married him to enter the United
Stated. The Court primarily based its determination on the fact
that the husband presented insufficient evidence to prove his
claim. Oatel v. Navitlal, 265 N.J.Super. 402,
627 A.2d 683 (1992).
Spouse an Epileptic
- In Minnesota, the Court refused to annul a
marriage where the wife was an epileptic and at the time of the marriage
the condition was unknown to the husband. The Court reasoned that there
was no concealment of the fact that the wife suffered from the
disability,. In fact, the husband never asked her. As a result, there
was no fraud.. Moreover, epilepsy is not a condition which would
allow a marriage to be annulled. Behsman v. Behsmand, 144 Minn. 95, 174 N.W. 611
(Minn. 1919).
Spouse Previously Determined to
be Insane
- In 1925, the Supreme Court in Minnesota declined to
allow an annulment where a husband discovered that his wife had
previously been committed to a mental hospital as insane. After
the marriage she had a relapse and was again committed as insane.
The Court reasoned that there was no fraud because the wife did not
actively conceal her past condition. The husband simply never
asked "Hey honey, have you ever been insane?" Robertson v. Roth, 163 Minn. 501, 204
N.W. 329 (Minn. 1925).
Concealment of Venereal
Disease
- In Missouri, the Court of Appeals ruled that
a wife's fraudulent concealment that she had a venereal disease was
grounds for an annulment so long as there was an active
misrepresentation of the fact. In short, the husband asked. Watson v. Watson, 143 S.W.2d 349 (Miss.
App. 1940).
Unnatural
Sex
- In 1983 the Missouri Supreme Court annulled
a marriage upon the Petition of the wife where the husband failed to
disclose that he could not engage in normal sexual relationships and
that his only sexual activities were if an "unnatural type." The
Court did not bother to elaborate further in its decision. Kshaiboon v. Kshaiboon, 652 S.W.2d 219
(Missouri 1983).
Impotence
- The Minnesota Supreme Court allowed the annulment
of a marriage in 1974 where the husband failed to disclose that he was
impotent. Darrell v. Darrell, 298 Minn. 470,
215 N.W.2d 789 (Min. 1974).
-- Maury D. Beaulier, Esq. - Hellmuth & Johnson, PLLC
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