Annulments in Texas

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Divorce Lawyers Houston: This past year I had one consultation that I will not forget about any time soon. In case you were not aware, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan offers free of charge consultations to you or anyone else who is interested in learning more about a potential family law case. The consultations are done at our office and are free of charge. Most people come in and ask questions about one specific area that he or she has questions on.

The unforgettable consultation that I was referencing in the opening paragraph to this blog post came in to discuss an annulment. I cannot recall having ever spoken with a person about an annulment before this particular consultation and have not spoken with anyone about one since. However, it is not the subject alone that will cause this interaction to stick with me.

A young lady came in to speak to me about an annulment and did so with a man. The man is the person who I assumed she was coming in to discuss getting an annulment from.

After about one minute it became obvious that this was not the case. She let me know that she had consumed one (or four) too many adult beverages the day prior with a female friend of hers and managed to find themselves at a municipal court building here in the Houston area. The next thing she knew, she and her friend had been legally married.

Call it an unintended consequence of the new laws regarding same-sex marriage or a reason to moderate your future alcohol-related activities, but this lady found herself needing a way to declare her marriage void. Is the aforementioned scenario one that is covered by our state’s laws on annulments? Let’s discuss that subject in today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan.

ANNULMENT BASICS

If you are seeking to have your marriage annulled then you would need to argue to a court that at no point was your marriage ever valid. This means that you would not be able to argue that you acquired community property rights to any of the income or property of the other person involved in the annulment case. In the event that you or the other party had a child born during the marriage that was annulled that child’s parentage will have already been determined under state law. Legally speaking you and the other person are that child’s mother and father.

HAVING A COURT APPROVE AN ANNULMENT

Family Attorney Houston: This is the part that is easier said than done and is what I told the woman who came in to meet with me last year at the office. In the event that you are a person that cohabitated with another adult with whom you had a relationship, held yourself out to the community as being married and agreed between each other to be married then you meet the requirements of a common law marriage. The important point in all of this is to understand that while you may think that you have grounds to have a marriage declared void, it may be that you and the other person were living together as spouses for some time but just did not know it.

Younger than 18

A person under the age of 18 needs permission from a parent in order to get married. A person under the age of 16 cannot get married under any circumstances in Texas, so in reality, we are discussing persons between the ages of 16 and 18 for this section.

In the event that you, your parent or guardian seek an annulment based on the lack of parental approval then there are grounds present in order for that annulment to be granted.

The annulment must be sought within 90 days of the date the marriage began. It is not an open and shut matter, however, as the judge can decide to allow the marriage to remain in place. If for some reason the judge determines that you or the other person in a marriage like this would be harmed due to the marriage being annulled then he or she may not declare the marriage to be void.

Impotence

Divorce Attorneys in Houston: Impotence is another way to declare a marriage void in Texas. If you or the other person in your annulment case were impotent when the marriage began, and the requesting spouse was unaware of the impotency

Then the marriage can be declared void. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are the party who seeks the annulment and you continue to live in the same residence as the other party even after learning of his or her impotency then the annulment does not have to be granted. So where you live after finding out this information has a great deal of bearing on the ultimate determination you are seeking.

So far, then, our woman from the consultation has not been saved from her lack of judgment in getting married. Fortunately for her, there are a few more ways to declare a marriage void and grant an annulment in Texas and we will discuss those in tomorrow’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan.

Once we cover each of the ways to get an annulment you will know whether or not I was able to give this potential client any peace of mind on this subject.

QUESTIONS ON ANNULMENTS IN TEXAS? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY

If you have any questions about the material that we have covered in today’s blog post please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. The best way to learn more about any subject in Texas family law is to speak with a licensed family law attorney… Continue Reading