There may be circumstances where parties elect to secure a declaration that the marriage is void or voidable.
If a marriage is Void, it is presumed to have never existed in the first place. A declaration may be required for immigration reasons, if you wanted to get married again or to ensure there were no future inheritance claims.
A marriage is void if a party was under 16 or if one of you was already married or in a civil partnership.
A marriage can be declared ‘Voidable’ as opposed to ‘Void’ for one of the following reasons:
- it wasn’t consummated - you haven’t had sex with the person you married ( not applicable to same sex marriages)
- you didn’t properly consent to the marriage - eg you were drunk or forced into it
- the other person had a sexually transmitted disease when you got married
- the woman was pregnant by another man when you got married
- Financial relief can be claimed by parties following a void/voidable marriage.
- Where there is a NON-MARRIAGE, financial relief may not be available. There is a fine but important distinction between void marriages and non marriages. Non Marriages tend not to comply with the legal formalities necessary to create a valid and legally binding marriage. The mindset of the parties engaging in the ceremony has been the subject of much debate in recent case law on this complex and exciting area of law.
We at Charles & Co Solicitors are regularly instructed have the requisite experience to deal with this complex area of law. Feel free to email our Gurjit Chahal for advice.
