Can i void a marriage

It is a common misconception that if a piece of property—be it a house, a car, a bank account—is titled in just the name of one spouse, it is not marital property. That is not true. Everything accumulated during the marriage is a marital asset and subject to division by the court. All real property, bank accounts, retirement accounts, pensions and personal property cars, jewelry, electronics, etc.

Even in instances where one person was a saver and the other was a spender, the court can and will equitably divide assets. In the case of retirement assets and pensions, this can be financially significant even in shorter marriages. The court can also order spousal support in divorce cases. Courts can only award equitable distribution or spousal support where the parties have been married.

An annulment would result in the marriage being a legal nullity, permanently extinguishing the possibility of either of these awards. Therefore, while an annulment may seem appealing in theory, the legal protections of a divorce should be pursued when they are available.

The significant difference in legal protections offered by a divorce vs. Levick , decided by the Virginia Court of Appeals. In that case, the parties thought they had gotten married legally in December ; however, neither party had secured a marriage license prior to the ceremony being held. You can apply to court to have your marriage annulled if:. It is a criminal offence to force someone to get married if they do not want to. The penalty could be up to seven years jail. This law also applies to relatives and marriage celebrants.

It is still an offence even if the marriage happens overseas. To apply for an annulment you or the other party must either:. Applications for having your marriage annulled have to be made in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. You will need to pay a filing fee. No, there is no waiting period required between the filing and the court granting a suit to declare the marriage void. At the very least, it can be expected to take a few weeks. A divorce will end a valid marriage. A suit to declare a marriage void will consider the marriage to not be valid from the beginning and therefore to legally never have existed.

However, unlike an annulment, a void marriage is automatically not legally a valid marriage from the start whether or not a court decides it so. The parties cannot agree to it being a legally valid marriage. The Texas Family Code lists specific grounds for void marriages and separate ones for annulments. In Texas, there are several grounds under which a person can file a suit to declare a marriage void:.

See Texas Family Code chapters 6. If the parties are related to each other in one of the following ways, either by blood or by adoption, the marriage is void:. It should be noted that while the void marriage section of the Texas Family Code does not explicitly prohibit marriage between whole or half first cousins, either by blood or by adoption, clerks are unable to issue marriage licenses to these individuals.

See Texas Family Code chapter 6. If either spouse was still married when he or she married, then the most recent marriage is void. The spouse filing the suit to declare the marriage void has to prove that his or her spouse was married before and that the earlier marriage did not end by death, divorce, or annulment.

Further, the petitioner has to prove that he or she looked for a divorce or annulment in every county that the other party and his or her previous spouse might have filed paperwork. A marriage considered void on the grounds of bigamy can turn into a common-law marriage once the previous marriage has been ended if both spouses continue to live together and hold themselves out as married.

The common-law marriage then begins on the day the previous marriage has legally ended. A marriage is void if either party to the marriage is under the age of 18, unless a court order removing the disabilities of minority of the party for general purposes has been obtained.

See Texas Family Code chapter 2. While the Texas Family Code still makes the marriage between two people of the same sex void, the United States Supreme Court in ruled that same-sex marriages are legal in the case Obergefell vs. The Supreme Court overruled then existing Texas law. This decision applies to everyone in Texas as well as the entire United States.

This means that same-sex marriages are not automatically void. Please read over our divorce and annulment resources for more information. Getting legal advice from a lawyer now can save you time and money in the long run. This is true especially if you have children or if you or your spouse has a retirement account, house, or other valuable property.

An attorney can review your situation for potential issues that can arise. You can ask for a lawyer willing to accept reduced fee arrangements or are willing to provide limited scope representation, also known as unbundling.

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