What is the difference between a claim for annulment of a marriage and a claim for divorce? Divorce means the end of a marriage. For the future. And invalidity means recognition on behalf of the state that there was no marriage. And it does not entail any legal consequences.
In some cases, filing a claim to declare a marriage invalid is more profitable than a divorce through the registry office or in court. Thus, after a marriage is declared invalid, the property of the “spouses” is not subject to the matrimonial property regime. Personal rights and obligations, including the payment of alimony, do not arise.
The right to go to court with the intention of declaring a marriage invalid arises only when, at the time of registration of the marriage, the conditions provided for in Articles 12-14, Part 3 of Art. 15 of the Family Code.
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Statement of claim for recognition of marriage as invalid
How is a marriage declared invalid?
The concept of “invalidity of marriage” applies only to officially registered relationships and is used in cases provided for by current legislation.
At the same time, only the judicial authorities are vested with the power to declare marital relations invalid. You can dissolve a marriage yourself, but even if the parties recognize its invalidity, this will not entail any consequences. Recognition of a marriage as invalid is a unilateral expression of the will of one of the spouses or persons interested in the dissolution of the marriage (representatives, guardians for the incapacitated, for example).
Grounds for recognizing the invalidity of a marriage
To declare a marriage union illegal with the subsequent termination of marital relations, one of the grounds provided for by family law, set out in Art. 12-14 IC of the Russian Federation.
According to part one of Article 12 of the RF IC, the mandatory conditions for entering into a marriage relationship include the voluntariness of the decision made and reaching the age of marriage.
Article 14 of the RF IC establishes the following restrictions on marriage:
- marriage of a citizen already in an official marital relationship;
- registration of marriage between persons who are closely related, as well as between adopted children and their parents;
- entering into official relations with a person declared incompetent due to mental illness;
- marrying a person who hid the presence of HIV infection or a sexually transmitted disease;
- fictitiousness of registered relationships.
All of the above conditions can serve as grounds for invalidating a marriage union registered in the registry office. The validity of official relations is challenged in court.
Claim structure
Claims of this type are classified as controversial, and, as a result, are drawn up using the following structural elements:
- the name of the court to which the claim is submitted for consideration;
- listing of the parties to the claim - plaintiff and defendant, indicating their full names and addresses;
- names of interested parties;
- a descriptive part, which includes the background of the claim, that is, the date of marriage, the motives for marriage, the grounds on which the plaintiff believes that the marriage should be declared invalid;
- the motivational part, which includes evidence of the plaintiff’s arguments;
- the operative part with a brief listing of the claims;
- list of attached documents;
- lists of witnesses if they are expected to be questioned at a court hearing;
- date and signature.
The claim and its annexes are filed in a number of copies corresponding to the number of participants in the process.
Legal consequences
If the plaintiff manages to prove the validity of the stated claims, the marriage is declared invalid, and the following legal consequences occur for its participants:
- Termination of marital relations, accompanied by registration with the civil registry office. Moreover, regardless of the duration, a previously formalized union is declared invalid from the moment of its official registration, that is, from the date of conclusion. All legal consequences associated with it are annulled, except for the recognition by the father of a child born in marriage that was subsequently declared invalid.
- Recognition of the invalidity of the marriage contract. If at the time of marriage the spouses have drawn up an agreement, in the event of the marriage union being declared invalid, the property acquired during the years of marriage is considered to be the common shared property or the common joint property of the persons;
- Preservation of the rights of a child born in such a marriage, or until the expiration of three hundred days after the court decision. Thus, the invalidity of a marriage does not limit or exempt spouses from fulfilling parental responsibilities, including the financial support of a minor. It is impossible to formalize a voluntary renunciation of paternity due to the invalidity of the marriage.
- The ability of a conscientious spouse to demand from the spouse who violated his rights compensation for material and moral damage in accordance with the procedure established by civil law.
- The right of a law-abiding spouse to retain the surname that he chose upon marriage.
How to invalidate a marriage: procedure and procedure
As noted above, recognition of a marriage union as invalid is possible only in court. To do this, it is necessary to comply with a number of conditions established by civil procedure legislation.
Who can demand annulment of a marriage?
The list of persons who can demand in court the invalidity of a marriage union is established in Art. 28 IC RF. Among them:
- A minor spouse, if the marriage is concluded between persons or one person who has not reached the age of majority. Along with minors, the legal representatives of the spouse or the prosecutor have the right to demand the invalidity of a marriage;
- A spouse who did not know about the circumstances leading to the illegality of the marriage or a spouse whose rights were violated by the marriage;
- The prosecutor, if he became aware of the fictitiousness of the marriage or the conclusion of an alliance under pressure, deception or coercion;
- Guardianship authority, if the spouse in whose interests the institution submits the application needs additional guardianship.
Any of the listed entities has the right to file a claim in court.
Statement of claim for recognition of marriage as invalid
Depending on the reason, the initiator of declaring the marriage union invalid may be any entity from the list above.
The document is drawn up in writing, but no one bothers you to fill it out by hand. But remember - if the statement of claim is not readable, the judge has every right to return it or leave it without movement for retraining.
How to file a claim correctly?
The claim is filed according to the general rules of civil procedural law. The standard application form must include:
| Mandatory part | Content |
| Statement header | Indication of information about the court, the applicant, the defendant and third parties (citizens and organizations interested in the outcome of the case, involved in participation in the process). |
| Main part | Describes the essential circumstances of the case, including arguments in favor of the plaintiff (evidence of the defendant’s guilt), as well as references to the rules of family law that serve as the basis for going to court and other relevant provisions of the law. |
| Petition part | It consists of presenting the essence of the requirements, supported by the norms of family and civil procedural legislation. In this part, it is necessary to indicate the provision - the basis for recognizing the invalidity of marriage relations (Part 1 of Article 27 of the RF IC). |
| Application | This part of the claim contains a list of documents attached to the application as evidence of the validity of the plaintiff's claims. |
At the end of the application, the personal signature of the applicant and the date of preparation of the document must be placed. If the claim is filed on behalf of the principal, the application may contain the signature of his legal representative, and the attachment includes a copy of the notarized power of attorney issued in the name of the plaintiff’s representative.
Sample claim
It is best to entrust the preparation of documents in the case of invalidation of marriage to professionals.
But if you really want to prepare your claim and all the necessary documents yourself, you can use the sample below.
To avoid serious consequences, we strongly advise you to consult with experienced lawyers on our site. They will tell you whether all the circumstances you need are correctly identified and evaluate the work done. Consultation is free.
Where to submit?
Civil cases on recognition of the invalidity of a marriage concluded between spouses are considered by district and city courts of general jurisdiction.
The choice of court is carried out in accordance with the actual address of residence of the defendant known to the applicant, or at the place of his registration. In certain cases, if the place of residence of the defendant is unknown, it is allowed to file a claim at the place of residence of the plaintiff.
Documentation
The evidence base may vary depending on the basis. The main documents of the application are:
- marriage certificate;
- a copy of the applicant's passport;
- payment document confirming payment of the duty.
In addition to the main documents, the application may include documentary evidence of the defendant’s guilt.
It can be:
- a medical report indicating a sexually transmitted disease at the time of marriage and proving the fact that the spouse was aware of it;
- a document confirming the fact of a previously registered marriage and other certificates);
- audio, video and photo evidence;
- witness statements.
In this case, witness testimony is considered both written and oral (voiced during the trial).
State duty amount
Like any other claim, this application, when sent to court, is subject to a state fee, the amount of which primarily depends on the nature of the claims. If the plaintiff demands that the marriage be declared invalid without presenting property claims (for example, for the division of property), the amount of the state duty is determined on the basis of clause 3, part 1, art. 333.19 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the applicant must pay a fee of 300 rubles before filing a claim in court.
Is it possible to restore a marriage relationship annulled by the court?
Restoration of marriage at the legislative level is possible only in two cases:
- Appearance of a spouse declared dead by a court decision.
- The appearance of a husband or wife, one of whom was declared missing in court.
These requirements are reflected in Art. 26 IC RF. The norm does not provide for other conditions and circumstances for the restoration of marriage. That is why, if the marriage union was declared invalid by the court, the restitution (restoration) procedure is not provided for.
Attention
After the marriage has been officially annulled by the court, the former spouses can apply to re-register the relationship at any time. At the same time, Art. 29 of the RF IC indicates that the court may declare official relations legal and valid if, by the time the case is considered in court, the circumstances that previously served as grounds for the court to declare the marriage invalid have disappeared.
Property division
Quite often, such claims in Russia are accompanied by demands for the division of joint property. If such a property conflict exists, the demand for division can be made both as part of a claim for annulment of the marriage, and after the court makes a decision.
In any case, the division is made in accordance with the norms of family law. By law, former spouses have the right to receive half of the property acquired during the marriage. However, if the marriage is declared invalid, the property is recognized as joint and is subject to division in accordance with the norms of civil law. In practice, this looks like common property, registered in shares. Moreover, in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 30 of the RF IC, in the event of annulment of a marriage, the previously concluded marriage agreement of the spouses is declared invalid. Consequently, the former spouse has no right to demand division of property on the basis of a marriage contract.
After the annulment of a marriage, in contrast to the termination of the marital relationship due to divorce, as a rule, each spouse remains with the property of which he is the owner according to the documents (that is, whoever has what is written on him remains with it).
Simultaneously with the recognition of the marriage as invalid, the judge may reserve the right of the injured (bona fide) spouse to collect alimony and divide property in accordance with the norms of family law, that is, to divide the property between the spouses in half. In addition, at the discretion of the court, the law allows recognition of the validity of a previously concluded marriage contract, or partial annulment of the latter.
It is important to understand that in the absence of sufficient legal grounds, the court will not accept responsibility for annulment of a marriage concluded between spouses, therefore it is more appropriate to place the burden of drawing up a claim and representing the interests of the plaintiff in court on an experienced lawyer specializing in the field of family law.
Regulatory acts
Legal relations that develop between a man and a woman are regulated by many regulations of various levels and strengths. You should understand the essence of each of them in order to know what to turn to and what to rely on when resolving difficult situations. The most important legal acts when a court recognizes a marriage as invalid are:
- The Constitution of the Russian Federation is the supreme law of the state, laying down the principles of the activities of government bodies and the basis for the functioning of social institutions, including marriage. Yes, Art. 38 of the law establishes that the family is under the protection of the state and public authorities.
- The Family Code of the Russian Federation lays the foundations of family legislation and determines the mechanism for the activities of authorized government bodies. Section III reflects Chapter 5 on the nullity of marriage. The chapter includes 4 articles devoted to the features of the procedure.
- The Federal Law “On Acts of Civil Status” dated November 15, 1997 No. 143-FZ is devoted to the peculiarities of the marriage registration mechanism. Despite the fact that the issue concerns the invalidity of the union, this normative act comes into force in certain situations when it comes to the activities of the civil registry office.
- The Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation regulates the mechanisms of the activities of courts when resolving civil claims. The requirement to declare a marriage invalid is a civil one, which means it is considered according to the rules of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation. Thus, Chapter 15 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation regulates the sequence and principles of judicial proceedings.
- Civil Code of the Russian Federation - comes into force when determining the incapacity of a citizen. In addition, the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulate the implementation of property and related non-property relations. Yes, Art. 29 of the Code defines the concept of incapacity.
Arbitrage practice
It is impossible to derive any uniform practice for considering cases of invalidity of marriage. Even on the same grounds, cases can be considered with completely different results, sometimes unsettling both lawyers and the parties.
Case No. 2-744/2017 of the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow. The plaintiff demanded that the marriage be declared invalid due to the husband’s concealment of the presence of a sexually transmitted disease, which he knew about, but did not inform her at the time of marriage. At the meeting, it was found out that the plaintiff’s husband actually underwent an examination at the medical center *** three months before the marriage, as a result of which he received a medical certificate confirming that he had the disease ***.
This fact was an unconditional basis for declaring the marriage invalid and the court granted the claim.
However, not everything is as simple as shown in the example above. Most often, cases of declaring marriage invalid are complicated and legally complex disputes, which are almost impossible to resolve without the help of a lawyer.
Lawyer's answers to private questions
Is it possible to recognize a marriage as invalid if it was concluded with a foreign citizen?
Yes. To do this, you need to go to court in the Russian Federation. The application can be submitted to the last known address of the defendant, if he is no longer in Russia.
Can I invalidate a marriage if at the time of its conclusion I was already in another marriage, but it has now been dissolved?
Yes. The court will need a divorce certificate
Will the court invalidate a marriage concluded with a spouse whose passport has expired?
No. Failure to meet the deadline for passport replacement is not grounds; the claim may be refused.
Will my citizenship be deprived if the court declares the marriage invalid? I got married just because of the accelerated acquisition of Russian citizenship
Yes. According to the law, the invalidity of a marriage entails the cancellation of all transactions and the annulment of documents received precisely because of marital status
The marriage was declared invalid; based on a court decision, the registration in the registry office must be canceled, but I do not agree with this. What to do?
The only option is to appeal the decision before it enters into legal force through the appellate procedure. A complaint to a higher court is filed through the court that made the contested decision
