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Joanna Grossman at Writ, Annulments Based on Fraud: What is the "Essence" of Marriage?

The following is edited from Johanna Grossman's two parts at FindLaw's Writ (see below). Ms. Grossman is a professor and the John DeWitt Gregory Research Scholar at Hofstra Law School.

"Larry and Joy Farr were married for thirty years — the first time around. Then, in 2007, three years after getting a divorce, they remarried. But this time, their marriage only lasted three years, at which point he filed for divorce and she cross-filed for an annulment — a declaration that their second marriage was invalid from the get-go."

"According to Joy, she only agreed to remarry Larry based on his representation that he had a terminal illness; she didn't want him to die alone. But he survived, and she cried foul. The second marriage, she alleged, had been based on fraud — a false representation that he would soon be dead."

"Is this type of misrepresentation, if proven, grounds for annulment? A Colorado appellate court said yes, in Farr v. Farr. In the first part of this two-part series, I will discuss the traditional doctrine of annulments based on fraud and the ways in which courts kept a tight leash on such claims. In Part Two, I will discuss the shift towards a more lenient definition of fraud that is exemplified by the ruling in Farr, an opinion I will analyze in detail."

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Annulments Based on Fraud: The Traditional Approach

"The history of the law involving annulments based on fraud is instructive. Even going quite far back in American history, annulment laws in this country have generally included "fraud" as one of the available grounds. But not every proven case of deception results in a decree of annulment. Courts have often refused to nullify marriages for fraud if the innocent party was willfully blind to the truth or too easily fooled by statements made during courtship."

"Courts also require that the fraud induce the marriage: The duped spouse had to show that he or she genuinely relied on the misrepresentation in deciding to go through with the marriage. An appellate court in Missouri denied an annulment in Blair v. Blair in 2004, even though the wife fraudulently misrepresented to her husband, before he agreed to marry her, that he was the father of her child. The court concluded that he had other reasons for marrying her and thus did not rely on the misrepresentation in making his decision."

"A Washington state court likewise refused an annulment in its 1991 decision in Radochonski v. Radochonski to a husband whose wife had deceived him about her plans to continue dating another man while married and about an alleged secret purpose for marriage: to gain permanent residency status in the United States. He was unable to prove, however, that he relied on her misrepresentations or concealments in deciding whether to marry her."

"Even when a solid case of fraud is proven, courts might decide that it is outweighed by countervailing factors. A long marriage is harder to annul than a short one; a consummated marriage is harder to annul than an unconsummated one; and a marriage that has produced children was harder to annul than one with an empty nest."

Read the rest of Johanna Grossman's Part 1 at Writ and Part Two

Relationships and Going Places, Legal, Senior Women Web

Joanna Grossman at Writ, Annulments Based on Fraud: What is the "Essence" of Marriage?

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