Void Marriages and Voidable Marriages (Nullity Claims) in Irvine, California
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When people marry each other in California and later seek to “end” that marriage, they do so by filing one of the following actions:
- Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce)
- Legal Separation
- Annulment (Nullity)
If a person files for an nullity and if the court grants a judgment of annulment, it means that the parties were never married. However, even without a judgment of a nullity certain people may not be legally married to each other and it is as if the marriage doesn’t exist. Those marriages are called “void” marriages under Family Code 2200 and 2201. A marriage that is “voidable” means that the marriage is presumed valid until a family court judge in Orange, California rules that the marriage is not valid and is therefore nullified. Voidable marriages are not automatically invalid until a judge rules that the marriage is invalid. The relevant code sections are explained below.
VOID MARRIAGES
Family Code Section 2200 states:
Marriages between parents and children, ancestors and descendants of every degree, and between siblings of the half as well as the whole blood, and between uncles or aunts and nieces or nephews, are incestuous, and void from the beginning, whether the relationship is legitimate or illegitimate.
This means that a marriage between certain family members is automatically void and does not exist.
Family Code Section 2201 states:
(a) A subsequent marriage contracted by a person during the life of his or her former spouse, with a person other than the former spouse, is illegal and void, unless:
(1) The former marriage has been dissolved or adjudged a nullity before the date of the subsequent marriage.
(2) The former spouse (A) is absent, and not known to the person to be living for the period of five successive years immediately preceding the subsequent marriage, or (B) is generally reputed or believed by the person to be dead at the time the subsequent marriage was contracted.
(b) In either of the cases described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the subsequent marriage is valid until its nullity is adjudged pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2210.
In this Code section, the law explains that marriages entered into while one spouse is still married to another person is void. This the “bigamy” statute in California, as a person that is legally married to one person cannot also marry someone else at the same time. In subpart (a)(2), there are a couple of exceptions to this rule which include when a spouse in the first marriage goes missing for at least 5 years or is believed to be dead at the time the second marriage is entered into.
VOIDABLE MARRIAGES
As explained above, “voidable” marriage are those marriages that are not automatically void but will become invalid when a judge in Orange County enters a judgment of nullity. The grounds for voidable marriages are found in Family Code Section 2210 and Family Code Section 2211.
Family Code Section 2210 states:
A marriage is voidable and may be adjudged a nullity if any of the following conditions existed at the time of the marriage:
(a) The party who commences the proceeding or on whose behalf the proceeding is commenced was without the capability of consenting to the marriage as provided in Section 301 or 302, unless, after attaining the age of consent, the party for any time freely cohabited with the other as his or her spouse.
(b) The spouse of either party was living and the marriage with that spouse was then in force and that spouse (1) was absent and not known to the party commencing the proceeding to be living for a period of five successive years immediately preceding the subsequent marriage for which the judgment of nullity is sought or (2) was generally reputed or believed by the party commencing the proceeding to be dead at the time the subsequent marriage was contracted.
(c) Either party was of unsound mind, unless the party of unsound mind, after coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as his or her spouse.
(d) The consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless the party whose consent was obtained by fraud afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as his or her spouse.
(e) The consent of either party was obtained by force, unless the party whose consent was obtained by force afterwards freely cohabited with the other as his or her spouse.
(f) Either party was, at the time of marriage, physically incapable of entering into the marriage state, and that incapacity continues, and appears to be incurable.
In plain terms, a marriage might be adjudicated to be invalid if one party was a minor at the time of the marriage and a nullity action is filed while the party is still a minor, one spouse was missing or thought dead (this is essentially the same provision as in 2201), either party was of “unsound mind” (i.e. too drunk to understand they were entering into a marriage for example) and thereafter did not live together as husband and wife, when the marriage is procured by fraud (for example, when one party tricks the other into marriage for purposes of getting a Green Card), when a party uses force to procure the marriage (like what happened in the movie the Princess Bride), or if a party is “physically incapable” of consummating the marriage.
Beware that there are strict timeframes for filing a request for an annulment under Family Code 2210, as follows:
A proceeding to obtain a judgment of nullity of marriage, for causes set forth in Section 2210, must be commenced within the periods and by the parties, as follows:
(a) For causes mentioned in subdivision (a) of Section 2210, by any of the following:
(1) The party to the marriage who was married under the age of legal consent, within four years after arriving at the age of consent.
(2) A parent, guardian, conservator, or other person having charge of the minor, at any time before the married minor has arrived at the age of legal consent.
(b) For causes mentioned in subdivision (b) of Section 2210, by either of the following:
(1) Either party during the life of the other.
(2) The former spouse.
(c) For causes mentioned in subdivision (c) of Section 2210, by the party injured, or by a relative or conservator of the party of unsound mind, at any time before the death of either party.
(d) For causes mentioned in subdivision (d) of Section 2210, by the party whose consent was obtained by fraud, within four years after the discovery of the facts constituting the fraud.
(e) For causes mentioned in subdivision (e) of Section 2210, by the party whose consent was obtained by force, within four years after the marriage.
(f) For causes mentioned in subdivision (f) of Section 2210, by the injured party, within four years after the marriage.
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