Is a Marriage Legal If Not Consummated

If a marriage was never legally valid, the law says it never existed. A marriage may be annulled if one of the parties contracted the marriage without his or her consent. South Carolina law has said that the coercion or forced marriage must be so great that the person has not been able to act as a free agent, and the forced party to the marriage must have a great fear of bodily harm. Most people marry with the intention of staying together forever, but that`s not always the case. While most marriages have to go through the divorce process, some may be eligible for annulment, which is very different. If a couple divorces, it will be documented in the county where they live. When a couple obtains annulment, the marriage is completely erased from all acts as if it had never taken place. Because this type of resolution is so extreme, there must be a good reason for it to be granted. Below is an overview of how cancellations work and if you can get one if your wedding has never been consummated. The grounds for annulment in the State of Virginia are set forth in Virginia Code sections 20-89.1, which do not include non-performance of marriage. The judge in that case confirmed that while these grounds are «not exclusive» after reviewing Virginia`s laws and jurisprudence on the subject, non-enforcement alone is not sufficient grounds for overturning. However, cheating someone to marry is a legal ground for annulment and the party alleging fraud bears the burden of proof of fraud. The judge ruled that a marriage annulment in the event of non-consummation requires clear evidence that one party induced the other party to marry on the basis of a false promise of consummation, not just the fact that the marriage was not consummated.

That the element of fraud is necessary in the incitement to marriage. Even if a declaration of nullity basically extinguishes a marriage, there are still legal obligations and responsibilities that both spouses have towards their children and towards each other. Children born of an annulled marriage are still considered legitimate in the eyes of the law and both parents are still legally responsible for their physical, emotional and financial care. As a result, the court may impose custody, support and parental leave requirements. The parties in this case were married on November 19, 2017, but their marriage was never consummated. The wife filed an annulment petition on September 26, 2019, claiming that the husband deceived her by not telling her (1) that he did not intend to consummate the marriage and (2) that he intended to change the male sex to a woman. The husband testified that he started taking female hormones about six months before marriage, which the wife was aware of, but that he was unsure of his gender identity at the time of their marriage. He categorically denied cheating on the woman, instead testifying that despite his best efforts to contain his feelings, his desire to switch to the woman only grew stronger with the time following his marriage. In March 2019, the husband underwent sex reassignment surgery. The wife testified that she did not know the true reason for the husband`s female hormone treatment prior to marriage, nor the husband`s intention to change sex. Two questions were referred to the Court: (1) Was the absence of execution alone a sufficient ground for annulment? and (2) did the husband deceive the wife into marrying him without informing her of his intention to change sex? After reviewing all the evidence, the court finally believed the husband`s testimony that he had entered into the marriage with the intention of consummating the marriage and that, although he was unsure of his sexual identity, he had married as a man and wanted to continue as such at that time.

The judge ruled that the wife had not met her burden of proof of fraud in arranging the marriage. Accordingly, the court dismissed the wife`s application for annulment. While a void marriage has never been legal in New York and is automatically invalid under state law, an annullable marriage requires grounds for annulment. In New York, there are five grounds for annulment: a spouse can only apply for a declaration of invalidity on the basis of certain criteria.