Recognition of marriage as invalid and legal consequences of the procedure

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Published: 10/16/2016

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One of the methods of ending a marriage is to declare it invalid.

This process, unlike divorce, relieves former spouses of mutual responsibilities and rights towards each other.

• What does the law say?
• Grounds and conditions for recognizing marital relations as illegal
• Invalidity of marriage with a citizen of another state
• Who can demand that a marriage be declared invalid?
• Procedure for recognizing a family as fictitious Filing a claim in court (the defendant is the dishonest spouse)
• Setting a court date

Grounds and conditions for recognizing marital relations as illegal

The Family Code provides for rules according to which a marriage can be declared illegal.

These, according to Article 27 of the mentioned document, include:

• People got married without the goal of starting a family (fictitious marriage);
• The relationship was registered forcibly, under the influence of deception and delusion;
• Married persons are close relatives;
• The spouses are the adoptive parent and the adopted child;
• Both spouses (or one of them) have not reached the age when marriage is permitted, or have not received permission for early registration in accordance with the procedure established by law;
• Both (or one of the spouses) are in a previously undissolved marriage;
• At the time of marriage, one of the spouses hid from the other the presence of sexually transmitted diseases or HIV;
• Both (or one of the spouses) have been declared incompetent by the court due to mental illness.

The above list is exhaustive. No other reasons can serve as a basis for declaring a marital relationship invalid.

The practice is that most often a marriage is declared invalid due to its fictitiousness.

To do this you need to prove:

1. At the time of marriage, both (or one of the spouses) had no intention of starting a family;
2. After registering the marriage, the spouses were actually not connected by a common life and family relationships.

Arbitrage practice

In practice, 99% of claims for recognition of the illegality of marriages are satisfied. The fact is that the norms regulating this procedure prevent violations of the procedure already at the stage of accepting applications. And in the case of simple unwillingness to be married, it is much easier to get a divorce than to start the recognition procedure.

The most prominent cases of this kind in Family Law are claims for moral damages. The fact is that it is almost impossible to prove moral suffering. One can compare mental suffering with the prices of neurologists and psychotherapists, but even when presented in court with medical evidence of such harm (in the amount of up to 500,000), the court refused to satisfy.

The exception is marriages with a prenuptial agreement, in which this probability is indicated. But in Russia there are only a few such cases. By the way, in some Western countries it is much easier to obtain compensation for moral damage than recognition or divorce itself. The difference is that Russian courts are based on articles and norms of legislation, while Western courts consider each claim on a private basis.

Invalidity of marriage with a citizen of another state

The invalidation of a marriage concluded with a foreigner is regulated by Article 159 of the Family Code.

The place of marriage plays a decisive role in the consideration of the case:

• If registration was carried out on the territory of Russia within the framework of current laws, then the issue of invalidity of family relationships will be considered within the framework of the legislation of our country;
• If a marriage was concluded abroad using foreign legislation, then its invalidity is determined by the laws of another country.

Interested parties in the requirements for annulment of marriage

The Family Code clearly defines the person who has the right to apply to a judicial institution to demand the annulment of a marriage. The circle of such persons depends on the basis of the demand for recognition of the union as illegitimate.

A request to annul a union entered into before reaching the age of marriage may be filed with the court by:

• a husband or wife who did not meet this requirement at the time of marriage registration;
• their parents or persons in loco parentis, the prosecutor and the guardianship authority, if the person concerned is under eighteen years of age at the time of the application.

A citizen whose rights have been affected, as well as a prosecutor, can annul a family relationship that has arisen contrary to the actual will of a person.

Lack of will may be obvious. Formal consent can be obtained as a result of the use of violence (other coercion), deception, or the creation of a false impression of the event.

“Yes,” said by a person who is at that moment in a state that does not allow him to understand the meaning of what is happening and control his own actions, is not recognized as consent.

An application for annulment of a marriage committed under circumstances prohibiting its registration may be made by:

• a husband or wife who did not know about them;
• guardian of an incapacitated husband or incompetent wife;
• husband or wife from a previous marriage;
• other persons whose rights are violated by such a union;
• guardianship;
• prosecutor.

Who can demand that a marriage be declared invalid?

The recognition of marital relations as illegal is carried out through the court. As a rule, the spouse whose rights were violated files a claim. If we are talking about minors, relatives, guardians or a prosecutor can contact representatives of the law.

So, the following can file a claim to recognize the relationship as fictitious, in accordance with Article 28 of the Family Code:

Appeals from other persons will not be considered by the court..

Legal consequences

The abolition of all legal relations implies the abolition of marriage relations. Property issues are regulated by the Civil Code, that is, ex-spouses are left with what they had before marriage. If joint property was acquired, the former spouses can enter into a voluntary agreement or divide the property in accordance with the rules on shared property. An interested party may file a claim for recognition of the right to part of the property.

The spouse who did not know about the circumstances making the marriage invalid (the bona fide spouse) has the right to demand payment of alimony for his maintenance in accordance with Articles 90 and 91 of the Family Code. Also, a conscientious spouse can leave his marital surname if he likes it.

Harm caused to the person or property of a citizen, as well as harm caused to the property of a legal entity, is subject to compensation in full by the person who caused the harm.

Clause 1 of Article 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

Many people, on the eve of the trial, utter words about compensation for harm, but few know what compensation for harm and in what form can be demanded. Thus, it is possible to indicate material and moral damage in the pleading part of the claim. Moreover, payment of the amount appointed by the court can be recovered not only from the person who caused this harm.

Sometimes unscrupulous spouses, fearing an award of damages, agree to voluntary compensation

The legal consequences of recognizing the illegality of a marriage do not apply to children. Children. those born in such marriages have the same rights as other children.

The recognition of a marriage as invalid does not affect the rights of children born in such a marriage or within three hundred days from the date of trial. Children born in a marriage declared invalid (or within three hundred days from the date of recognition of the marriage as invalid) have the same rights and obligations in relation to their parents and their relatives as children born in a valid marriage.

Article 30 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation

Procedure for recognizing a family as fictitious

To declare a marriage illegal, the following is provided:

Filing a claim in court (the defendant is the dishonest spouse)

To submit it you will need the following documents:

• Receipt for payment of state duty;
• Certificates of marriage and birth of common children;
• Plaintiff's passport;
• A statement of claim drawn up in free form with a demand to dissolve the marriage and annul the entry in the registry office, as well as documents confirming the invalidity of the family relationship.

Typically, courts do not delay consideration of such claims.

Setting a court date

During which the court will study all the circumstances of the case and listen to the opinions of the parties. If sufficient evidence of the fictitious marriage is provided, the claim will be satisfied.

Really compelling reasons are required as evidence. For example, the fact of separation is not due to a banal quarrel, but precisely due to the fact that one of the parties did not set the goal of marriage to create a family.

If the court wins, this means that the marriage was not legally valid from the moment it was concluded. After this, within 3 days the court sends an extract from the decision to the civil registry office that registered the marriage. Confirmation of divorce is a corresponding certificate issued by employees of the civil registry office.

A lawsuit cannot be satisfied if at the time of the meeting:

• One of the spouses died;
• The marriage has already been dissolved.

It is necessary to separately highlight cases of challenging the correctness of records,

produced by employees. We are talking about when an entry was made using falsified documents, without the knowledge or personal presence of one of the persons allegedly entering into marriage. In this case, it is impossible to talk about the fact of marriage, and accordingly, it cannot be declared invalid either.

It is worth noting that during a court hearing, a marriage can be recognized as valid. Art. speaks about this. 29 of the Family Code. This decision is called marriage reorganization. It is not obligatory, but the court has the right to make it.

This is appropriate when, on the date of consideration of the case, the circumstances preventing the conclusion of marriage disappear:

• Each spouse has reached the legal age for marriage;
• The husband and wife actually started a family;
• Invalidation or termination of a previous marriage.

Sanitation is impossible under any circumstances if family relationships are registered between:

• Close relatives;
• Guardian and guardian.

A prenuptial agreement may be declared invalid if the marriage was declared invalid by a court decision. You can find a current sample of a marriage contract at this link. Without children and common property, a marriage can be dissolved at the request of one of the spouses. Read more about this here.

Order

A marriage can be declared illegal only in a judicial manner established by the Civil Procedure Code.

Without a court decision on its illegality, it is impossible to refer to the invalidity of the marriage, even if there is strong evidence.

Asiyat Kirasirov, lawyer

For the recognition procedure, you need to contact the district court. Territorial jurisdiction is determined by the defendant's registered address. When accepting a claim, the court will consider whether the plaintiff is proper, that is, whether he has the right to bring such a claim to court. Also important is the question of whether the reason for filing the application is a basis from the point of view of the law. If the grounds are insufficient, the claim will be rejected.

You can file a claim for recognition of invalidity at any time, since there is no statute of limitations in such cases.

First you need to fill out an application. It should include the following data:

• name of the court;
• information about the plaintiff;
• information about the defendant;
• cost of claim (if any);
• descriptive part (circumstances of the current situation);
• pleading part (demands: for recognition of invalidity, for annulment of a marriage record, for compensation for damage, etc.);
• signature and date.

The application must refer to legal norms

During the trial, a decision is made that is considered to come into force from the moment the illegal marriage is registered.

For example, the marriage took place on May 1, 2010, the trial took place on March 1, 2017, and during the trial a decision was made to declare it invalid. The marriage is annulled. Legal consequences come immediately, the former “spouses” will leave the courthouse in the status in which they were before the marriage was registered. Within three days, the decision will be sent to the registering registry office and the entry in the registration book will be cancelled.

Ksenia Artyushkina, lawyer

What documents need to be attached to the application?

The claim must be drawn up in two copies (one copy will be sent to the defendant). The state fee must be paid before filing a claim in order to attach a receipt. You can pay the state duty at the cash desk of any bank, at payment terminals at Sberbank offices and at the post office. By the way, the state fee for invalidation is 300 rubles.

Another mandatory attachment is the marriage registration certificate. You can attach a copy of the certificate to the claim, but you must give the original at the hearing, as the judge must take it away. If there are children from such a marriage, birth certificates of the children are needed (copies are possible). The originals will not be taken away. Then everything depends on the circumstances. It is necessary to prepare documents confirming the validity of the requirements.

First, you need evidence. For example, if the basis was bigamy, copies of documents confirming the existence of a second marriage, testimony of witnesses, etc. must be attached as evidence. If the reason was to conceal the fact of a venereal disease, you must attach medical certificates, an extract from the medical record, etc.

Secondly, if there are any requirements other than recognition itself, they need to be justified. For example, if a claim is made for compensation for material damage, you need to justify the cost of the claim (checks, receipts, printouts from accounts, etc.).

A list of all attached documents must be included in the claim itself.

Who has the right to demand that a marriage be declared invalid?

The list of persons who can file claims for illegality of marriage is determined by Article 28 of the Family Code:

• minor spouse, his parents or guardianship authorities;
• spouse whose rights have been violated;
• a spouse who did not know about the fact of the illegality of the marriage;
• guardian of a spouse declared incompetent;
• spouse from a previous undissolved marriage (if the basis is bigamy);
• a spouse who did not know about the fictitiousness (if the basis is fictitious);
• other persons whose rights were violated by the conclusion of this marriage;
• prosecutor;
• guardianship and trusteeship authorities (in cases relating to minor spouses or incompetent persons).

Trials of this kind are held in the presence of a limited number of people, since disclosure of someone's private life may violate the rights and interests of the parties involved

If we are talking about the marriage of a person who entered into a marriage before the age of marriage, but at the time of the trial the age of marriage was reached, then the presence of guardianship authorities is not required. Moreover, in this case, only the spouse himself can file a claim. For example, a girl was forced into marriage at the age of 17 (1.5 months left until adulthood). After consulting with a lawyer, her mother drew up a statement of claim demanding an annulment of the marriage because she was not under the age of marriage at the time of marriage. But the mother’s application was not accepted, since at the time of filing the application her daughter had already turned 18.

The prosecutor may file a declaration of invalidity if the fact of forced marriage is revealed. Sometimes a civil case can smoothly turn into a criminal case. For example, when the ritual “theft” of a minor bride with subsequent registration turns into kidnapping.

Ekaterina Guryanova, lawyer

If the victim is incapacitated, representatives of the guardianship authorities can submit an application for recognition of the illegality of his marriage. In practice, there are cases when young women marry disabled pensioners. Later they register a residence permit in the spouse’s apartment, and sometimes draw up a will. Most of these cases end in the satisfaction of the claim of the guardianship authority and the eviction of such “wives” without the provision of other housing.

Documents for annulment of marriage

At the legislative level, there is no specific list of documents required to be attached to a statement of claim to declare a marriage invalid by the court. However, according to Art. 132 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the most generalized list is as follows:

1. A receipt confirming the fact of payment of the state fee.
2. Power of attorney if the interests of the applicant are protected by a representative.
3. Marriage registration certificate issued by the civil registry office.
4. A copy of the applicant's passport.
5. Birth certificates of babies or children, if there are children.
6. Documents confirming the existence of grounds for recognizing the marriage as invalid. This may be a certificate of registration of the marriage union of one of the spouses with a third party; certificate of disease; certificates and documents confirming relationship; a court decision establishing the status of one of the spouses as incapacitated, etc.
7. Testimony of witnesses in any form - written, oral, electronic.
8. Photographs, audio recordings, videos confirming the demands and statements of the applicants.

Of course, the central document in civil proceedings is the claim. It should be noted that there is no universal list of official papers, each situation is individual, so you should use the services of a lawyer, or consult with a specialist on our website to collect a full package of documents.

Authority considering the request for annulment of marriage

As noted above, marriage registration is carried out administratively, by the registry office. Recognition of a union as invalid is possible only in court. The claim must be filed in court at the location of the other spouse - the defendant. The statute of limitations does not apply to this category of cases.

The case is being considered as a claim proceeding. An extract from the decision to declare the union invalid is sent by the court to the registry office.

Invalidation of divorce

There are also more dramatic situations - the spouse, taking advantage of the long business trip of her life partner, files for divorce. According to the law, if the defendant does not appear for three court hearings, the divorce occurs automatically without his consent. When the person returns, he finds out that he is already divorced. It’s good if less than a month has passed since the separation, the other half can challenge the court’s decision. But if more than 30 days have passed, the confused spouse has only one option left to recognize the divorce as invalid - to find flaws in the work of the court and prove them in order to annul the decision.