Also known as: void marriage · void marriages · voidable marriage · voidable marriages · void and voidable marriage · invalid marriage · annulment
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrinal distinction under which a void marriage is invalid from its inception and requires no judicial action to terminate it while a voidable marriage remains valid until a court grants an annulment declaring the marriage invalid.
Viktor Voronin obtained an annulment of his marriage to Vivian Velez on grounds that the union was void from the start due to a prohibited relationship. His will had named Vivian as a beneficiary of his estate. Upon the annulment the governing instrument's disposition to Vivian was automatically revoked under the applicable probate rule.
Violet Vang testified in a federal trial after her prior felony conviction had been annulled by court order based on a judicial finding of rehabilitation. The prosecution sought to use the conviction for impeachment. The court excluded the evidence because the annulment satisfied the rehabilitation exception.
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Valerie Voss and Virgil Vaughn submitted their marital dispute to arbitration under the uniform act. The arbitrator attempted to issue an award annulling their marriage on voidable grounds. The award exceeded the arbitrator's authority because the act does not permit such relief.
Vance Vogel and his wife had a child born during their marriage that was later annulled as voidable. The annulment did not disturb the presumption that Vance is the child's parent. The presumption continued to apply for all purposes under the parentage statute.
Vivian Velez and her former spouse held real property as joint tenants with right of survivorship. After their marriage was annulled the interests converted into equal tenancies in common. The severance occurred automatically under the probate rule governing annulments.
Viktor Voronin faced impeachment with a prior conviction that a court had annulled after finding actual innocence. The prosecution offered the conviction to attack credibility. The court excluded the evidence because the annulment rested on a finding of innocence.
An annulment of a void marriage terminates the union from inception and triggers revocation of dispositions to the former spouse or relatives under the probate code. An annulment of a voidable marriage produces the same revocation effect once the decree is final. Both forms of annulment therefore update donative documents to reflect the changed status.
A conviction annulled by pardon, certificate of rehabilitation, or equivalent procedure based on rehabilitation or innocence is inadmissible for impeachment provided the witness has no later serious conviction. The rule applies whether the annulment rests on rehabilitation or innocence findings.
An arbitrator may not grant an annulment because the uniform act expressly withholds authority to issue decrees of divorce, dissolution, or annulment. Such relief remains reserved for courts.
The parentage presumption survives annulment of the marriage whether the marriage is declared void or voidable. The child born during the marriage retains the benefit of the presumption for all legal purposes.
…It was assumed that the State might legitimately enforce limits on the use of contraceptives through laws regulating divorce and annulment, or even through its tax policy, but not necessarily be justified in criminalizing the same practice in the marital bedroom, which would entail the consequence of authorizing state enquiry…