The most common ground for annulment is fraud and misrepresentation.
A marriage may qualify for annulment if it was never legally valid or was defective. A marriage is considered void if it was never valid under the law, while a marriage is considered voidable if it was not valid from the beginning.
Annulment is legal when one person failed to have disclosed to the other a prior divorce, a criminal record, an infectious disease, or an inability to engage in sex or have children.
There are reasons a marriage may qualify for annulment which includes the following:
1. One or both spouses were underage at the time of marriage (in the UK, a sixteen year old cannot legally marriy and it is the law in Nigeria too but some religions in the country have a culture of betrothing underage marriages without a commensurate enforcement mechanism of the laws against such practices)
2. One or both spouses were already married or in a civil partnership with someone else when they got married. (Bigamy).
3. The marriage was not consummated. This is where a party in the marriage is unable to physically interact with the other.
4. One or both spouses did not properly consent to the marriage. ( A marriage under duress)
5. One or both spouses had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) when they got married
6. The lady has been impregnated by someone else when the marriage took place.
An annulment must be applied for within a reasonable period of time. This is usually within 0-3 years of marriage and depending on the jurisdiction.
What is the alternative to an annulment?
Legal separation is often viewed as a middle ground between maintaining the marital bond and seeking a full annulment.
However, it is important to note that legal separation does not dissolve the marriage. Rather, it allows spouses to live separately and cease marital cohabitation, while remaining legally married.
Grounds for Legal Separation.
1. Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct against the petitioner or their children.
2. Physical violence to compel the petitioner to change their religious or political affiliation.
3. Attempt of one spouse to corrupt or induce the other, or their children, to engage in prostitution.
4. Final judgment sentencing one spouse to imprisonment of more than six years.
5. Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism.
6. Lesbianism or homosexuality of one spouse.
7. Sexual infidelity or perversion.
8. Attempt against the life of the petitioner by the respondent spouse.
9. Abandonment without justifiable cause for more than one year.
Take note that Legal separation allows for the division of assets, custody arrangements for children, and the cessation of spousal support obligations. However, it does not permit either spouse to remarry, as the marriage remains valid until fully divorced.
Dr George Ogunjimi
Juris Republic
04/11/2024.
