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Home Services Nullity

Scott Law Offices - San Diego Nullity Lawyers Helping to Correct Mistakes

Some marriages are invalid for different reasons, and when a marriage is not actually a marriage despite the fact that a ceremony was held and most people believe that the marriage was legitimate, one or both of the parties involved need to pursue what's called a Judgment of Nullity. In everyday parlance, this is known as an annulment.

Annulments are much different than divorces, as a divorce is the dissolution of a valid, legally recognized marriage that must go through an entirely different process in order for it to be final. An annulment is basically a declaration by the court that a marriage never validly existed in a legal sense and therefore should be erased from any licensing records.

Grounds for a Judgment of Nullity

Unlike divorce, where there does not need to be a specific reason for a marriage to be dissolved, an annulment can only be granted if certain specific conditions exist. Below is a brief overview of some of these conditions:
  1. Incest - A marriage is considered void (meaning it was never legal in the first place) if the parties are too closely related to be legally married in California. It does not matter if the parties involved in the marriage were legitimately in love - close relatives cannot be married and the marriage is not valid.
  2. Bigamy - A person can only be legally married to one other person in California, and any subsequent marriage would not be recognized by the state. The only valid marriage in this situation would be the party's first marriage.
  3. Age of Consent - If a party to a marriage is under the age of 18 at the time it occurs and did not secure the proper authorization from the parents or legal guardians, that marriage is not considered legal.
  4. Unsound Mind - Under this legal action, it must be proven that at least one of the parties involved lacked the mental capacity to have an understanding of what was happening.
  5. Force - If one of the parties only agreed to be married because of the threat of force, then the law recognizes that said party never fully gave informed consent to the marriage.
  6. Fraud - Fraud is a difficult claim to prove to the court when seeking an annulment, as the moving party must show that the party accused of fraud concealed or misled the other in regards to something vital and central in relation to the marriage. This includes a condition of sterility or a complete lack of intent by one party to exist within a legitimate marriage to the other.

How to Proceed

Overall, while obtaining a Judgment of Nullity is not an easy process, it is possible. However, there are also statutes of limitations involved with some of the specific claims mentioned above, so if you're concerned about your marriage and would like to look into the possibility of having it annulled, you need to contact the Law Offices of James D. Scott today to schedule an initial consultation.
 

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