Also known as: nullity · annulment · void marriage
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
The invalidity of a presumed or supposed marriage because it is void on its face or has been voided by court order. A void marriage such as an incestuous marriage is invalid on its face and requires no formality to end.
The invalidity of a presumed or supposed marriage because it is void on its face or has been voided by court order. A void marriage such as an incestuous marriage is invalid on its face and requires no formality to end.
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A suit brought to nullify a marriage. Also termed a nullity suit.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A suit brought to nullify a marriage. Also termed a nullity suit.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Naveen Nanda executed a will leaving his estate to his wife. After the court declared the marriage a nullity because of a prior undissolved union, Naveen died. The probate court treated the bequest as revoked under the governing statute and distributed the assets to Naveen's children from an earlier marriage.
Noreen Nguyen was convicted of felony theft. Years later a court annulled the conviction on grounds of rehabilitation. When prosecutors sought to use the conviction to impeach Nguyen at trial, the judge excluded it because the annulment rested on a finding of rehabilitation and no subsequent serious crime had occurred.
Natasha Nielsen and Nestor Navarro submitted their marital dispute to arbitration under the uniform act. The arbitrator issued an award declaring the marriage a nullity on grounds of fraud. The award was confirmed by the court and treated as equivalent to a judicial decree of annulment.
Nalini Narula gave birth to a child while married to Noelle North. The marriage was later declared a nullity. The court held that the parentage presumption still attached because the child was born during the marriage even though the marriage could be declared invalid.
Nestor Navarro and Natasha Nielsen held real property as joint tenants with right of survivorship. After the marriage was declared a nullity, the court severed the joint tenancy into equal tenancies in common under the probate statute.
Naveen Nanda was convicted of perjury. A later proceeding annulled the conviction on a finding of innocence. At a subsequent civil trial the judge refused to admit the conviction for impeachment because the annulment rested on innocence rather than rehabilitation.
A void marriage is invalid on its face and requires no court action to end it. A voidable marriage remains valid until a court declares it a nullity. The distinction determines whether any civil effects arise before the declaration.
Supporting sources
Yes. Under UPC section 2-804(b) an annulment revokes revocable dispositions to a former spouse or the former spouse's relatives in a governing instrument unless the instrument expressly provides otherwise.
A conviction annulled on a finding of rehabilitation is inadmissible if the person has not committed a later serious crime. A conviction annulled on a finding of innocence is inadmissible regardless of later conduct.
No. The Uniform Parentage Act provides that a child born during a marriage is presumed to be the child of both spouses even if the marriage is or could be declared invalid.
The annulment severs the joint tenancy and converts the interests into equal tenancies in common. Third-party purchasers who relied on apparent title by survivorship are protected unless the severance is properly recorded.
…every person under punishment or prosecution under the sedition law, because I considered, and now consider, that law to be a nullity, as absolute and as palpable as if Congress had ordered us to fall down and worship a golden image." Letter to Mrs. Adams, July 22, 1804, 4 Jefferson's Works (Washington ed.), pp. 555, 556.…