You Can Get An Annulment Of Your Marriage If The Marriage Was Based Upon Fraud

Often times when a party is seeking a permanent separation from their spouse they would prefer it if the marriage had never existed. Legally that is a possibility if the reason for the divorce meets certain legal standards and if so a person can obtain an annulment which legally acts as if the marriage had never occurred. One of the ways for a spouse to seek an annulment is through a claim that their spouse convinced them to entering into the marriage based on lies, legally speaking “fraud in the inducement”. But in the state of California there are limited situations in which the court will allow an annulment based on fraud in the inducement. In deciding whether you will have a chance at obtaining an annulment there are many complexities, as I will explain in generalities, and the advice of an attorney would likely be highly beneficial.

Under California law, and as stated in the case of In re the Marriage of Meagher, “an annulment of marriage may be granted on the basis of fraud only ‘in an extreme case where the particular fraud goes to the very essence of the marriage relation.’” As confusing as that sounds, the basic rule is that in order to annul the marriage the lies that led to the marriage relate to the sexual or procreative aspects of marriage. Common examples where the annulment requirements were met where one spouse is concealing their sterility when entering into the marriage, when a soon to be wife conceals that she was pregnant by another man, or when a spouse has an intent to continue an intimate relationship with a third person at the time of the marriage. As the common examples illustrate the court will generally grant an annulment on the basis of fraud in the inducement in cases where the fraud is related to the sexual or procreative aspects of marriage.

There have also been cases where the requirements didn’t seem to be met but the courts have granted the annulment due to the highly deceptive acts on the part of the spouse that the annulment is being sought against. An example of this is in the California case of Douglass v Douglass. In that case prior to their marriage the husband told his soon to be wife that he was an honest, law abiding, respectable and honorable man, with only one child whom he took care of, however shortly after marriage the wife found this to be anything but the truth. Three months into their marriage Husband was arrested for a parole violation due to his failure to support his two children from a previous marriage and Wife further found out that he had been convicted of grand theft only a few years earlier. In that case the court held that although the fraud isn’t one that is conventionally the type that permits an annulment but not granting an annulment to Wife would be “unjust and intolerable”.

Due to the complexities of the law when seeking an annulment it is important to hire divorce lawyer that is aware of all possible benefits you should be entitled to in a family law case. The Law Offices of Michael S. Carrillo will explore any and all options in order to get you the best results from your case. Give us a call today for a free consultation and to see what he can do for you on your case. (626) 799-9375.