A marriage can be declared void from
the inception, if certain legal requirements were not met at the time of the
marriage. If there legal requirements were not met, the marriage is considered
to have never existed in the eyes of the law. This is called an annulment. An
annulment is different form a divorce in that a divorce dissolves and existing
marriage while a marriage that is annulled never existed at all.
There are several legal grounds for
annulling a marriage which are set out below:
1. If you were married while under the
legal age in Tennessee, without the legal consent of at least one of your
parents or a guardian, your marriage may be annulled. After reaching the age
required for marriage in Tennessee, an annulment will depend on the facts of
the case.
2. If either spouse was legally
married to another person at the time of the marriage, then the marriage is
void and no formal annulment is necessary.
3. If the court finds that either
spouse did not have the ability to understand the nature of the marriage
contract or the duties and responsibilities of the marriage contract, then
there may be grounds for an annulment. However, if the spouse who did not
have the ability to understand the contract gains the capacity to understand
it and freely lives with the other spouse, then this ground does not apply.
This particular ground most often applies to someone who has been mentally
ill or who has suffered from a mental or emotional disorder.
4. If the consent to the marriage
contract was obtained either by fraud or force, then there are grounds for
an annulment. Fraud is not telling the truth in order to induce the other
party to enter into the marriage. Whether the failure to tell the truth will
be grounds for annulment depends on the facts of the case. Force is threat
of or threat of the use of physical violence to make a person get married.
If the person who has been threatened or deceived about the marriage
contract continues to live with the spouse after discovering the fraud or
the deception or after being forced into the marriage, it is possible this
ground will not apply.
5. If either spouse was physically
incapable of entering into the marriage at the time of the marriage, usually
because of lack of ability to have sexual intercourse, and if this inability
appears incurable or if the spouse refuses to take any action to cure the
inability, then there are grounds for an annulment. This inability must
continue and must exist at the time of suit.
A marriage between brother and sister
or parent and child or other close relatives is also void and like bigamist
marriages, need not be formally annulled.
If the wife is pregnant with someone
else’s child at the time of the marriage and husband does not know about it
the husband has grounds for an annulment.
Annulling a marriage simply erases it
from the records, as if it never took place. The children do not become
illegitimate even though the marriage was annulled.
9032 Stone Walk Pl. Germantown, TN. 38138 (901)759-3489