As some of you may know, the 72-day marriage between Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries has finally been settled, after a long year and a half divorce battle. Kris Humphries claimed that the whole marriage was a sham, and it was all for publicity and reality star ratings, which is why he was so adamant about getting a marriage annulment. Luckily for Kim, the divorce never went to trial as expected, and Humphries was unsuccessful in the lack of supporting evidence to prove the marriage was fraud.
In Massachusetts, under the M.G.L. Chapter 207, Section 14, either party is allowed to file a Complaint for Annulment. A marriage annulment is not dissolution in marriage, but rather a declaration that no marriage ever existed between the parties. In the eyes of the law, the marriage never happened and is to be void. In order for the court to declare a marriage annulment, the marriage must meet the grounds to be "void" or "voidable", proving their marriage was never valid.
The marriage can be found void, which means it could never have been legal in the first instance. This occurs if there is (1) consanguinity--- when the parties are too closely related such as brother and sister, (2) affinity,---when the parties are too closely related through marriage such as a mother-in-law or (3) bigamy--- when one party was already legally married to another person at the time of the marriage.
The marriage can be found voidable, which means that the evidence for marriage annulment became available only after the marriage took place. This occurs if there is (1) lack of mental capacity or a disability to consent to the marriage, (2) impotence, which is the lack of ability to have children, (3) fraud in the marriage contract, where one is marrying for love and the other is marrying for personal beneficial reasons such as avoiding deportation, or (4) duress, where you only entered the marriage because of pressure or threat.
If you are unable to prove these elements when you file a Complaint for marriage Annulment, the judge could grant you and your spouse a divorce, considering it dissolution of the marriage, which was the outcome of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries case. Additionally, Kim was able to dissolve her marriage without any payment to Kris Humphries because he signed a prenuptial agreement.
- Libby Mouradjian
