A
marriage is an agreement between two parties and sanctioned by the
government in the form of official recognition of the agreement. The
marriage contract must comply with traditional contract principals
and the official requirements of the state. When a couple go through
a marriage ceremony but violate the law of contracts or fail to meet
the requirements imposed by the state then the marriage may not have
been created. This means that the validity of the marriage and the
ability to obtain an annulment are based on facts that occur at the
time of the wedding ceremony and not anything that happens after the
ceremony. As a result, it is not relevant that the parties never
consummated the marriage or were abusive or unfaithful.
Grounds
for an annulment are based on contract principals or governmental
interests. An annulment can be granted for failure to enter a
contract. In other words, a person did not actually agree to the
marriage. Examples of these contract reasons are fraud, undue
influence, duress, or unable to have form consent such due to
incompetency or underage. Governmental interests prevent a marriage
when there is an impediment or a close family relationship. An
impediment means that a person is married to someone else. Family
relationships are barriers to marriage because our society does not
want siblings to marry, parents and children to marry, or other close
family members to marry.
Even
though annulment is a declaration that a couple were never married,
once a couple has gone through a wedding ceremony, neither party can
get married to someone else without a judicial annulment. Annulments
are rare in Massachusetts and anyone who is contemplating an
annulment should consult an experienced family law attorney.
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