Civil Law and Family Law (part 2)

Part II: Difference between annulment of marriage and divorce, a void marriage and a voidable marriage

Annulment of marriage is the determination by a court that a supposed marriage was never legally valid. Annulment, also called nullity of marriage, is distinguished from divorce, which is the action of a court in terminating a valid marriage. Marriages subject to annulment proceedings are classified as void or voidable.

A void marriage is one that is deemed invalid is all respects. Examples of void marriages include those involving incest or bigamy.

A voidable marriages occurs when some defect exists in the contractual agreement in which all marriages originate. Examples are marriages of the underaged or the insane or a marriage procured by fraudulent means.. A voidable marriage may be annulled only in a lawsuit brougth by the aggrieved party directly against the guilty party. In practice, voidable marriages are valid until annuled, and any children are legitimate.

  • Annulment:
  • Divorce:
  • Nullity of marriage:
  • Voidable marriage:
  • Void marriage:
  • Fraudulen: