Yes to annulment?

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Today's post covers annulment. Many people are confused as to what constitutes grounds for an annulment in the state of California, so we thought we'd clear the mystery up a bit for you.

A question was posed to two of our attorneys recently. The question was on annulment in California. Here is the question:

I got married in the County of San Diego less than a year ago. I just found out that my husband has not filed tax returns, or reported any income in at least the last 13 years and in order to protect myself from prosecution I will need to extricate myself from this marriage as soon as possible. Would this constitute fraud as it relates to the definition for an annulment in this state?

Colin T. Greene Esq. our resident family law expert and attorney answered: Probably not. The fraud looked for under Family Code § 2210(d) is fraud that goes to the basis of the marriage -- the intention to be married. Typically, fraud of a purely financial nature is insufficient. You'll need more.

And Mark Russakow Esq. also answered: This is not grounds for annulment according to case law on point. You also when getting divorce should make sure you have an innocent spouse exclusion on your settlement agreement for tax issues. Good luck. Also see Colin T Greene answer of our firm. (We even work as a team answering questions)

So, what constitutes an annulment in the state of California?

An annulment (or "nullity of marriage" or "nullity of domestic partnership") is when a court says your marriage or domestic partnership is NOT legally valid. A marriage or domestic partnership that is incestuous or bigamous is never valid. Other marriages and partnerships can be declared "void" because:

• of force, fraud, or physical or mental incapacity;
• one of the spouses or partners was too young to legally marry or enter into a domestic partnership; or
• one of the spouses or partners was already married or in a registered domestic partnership.

Annulments are very rare. If you ask to have your marriage or domestic partnership annulled, you will have to go to hearing with a judge.

You can find out what you need to consider when filing for an annulment or a divorce, please do so by calling us here at RRJ 626.683.8869 or email cgreene@rrjlaw.com. And to do some research on your own, please also consider this website: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/family/divorce/divlinks.htm