Annulment in Nebraska

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An annulment in Nebraska is a legal process to establish that the marriage license was at-fault when the wedding took place and should never have been granted in the first place. It implies that the marriage was "null and void right from its inception" and that "it should never have been" to begin with.

Grounds for Annulment in Nebraska:

Annulment in Nebraska is a rare occurrence and is only granted under the specific grounds as defined by the statute of Nebraska. These circumstances have to be proved in the court in front of the judge and then the annulment can be granted. These grounds are as follows:

• Incurable Mental Illness - If a person realizes that the person s/he married has a mental illness or a disorder which is incurable and which renders him / her incapacitated for the normal functioning like a normal individual, such a person can seek an annulment on the grounds of incurable mental illness.

  However, they are supposed to prove that the spouse is indeed insane and this is not a plot to get out of a marriage and do without having to pay support as normally is the requirement for a divorce case.

• Same-sex Marriage - The marriages between same-sex couples are prohibited by law and are illegitimate. Such marriages are not recognized in any state including Nebraska, perhaps with the exception of Massachusetts. Such a marriage is "null and void right from its inception" and there is no way that this marriage can be validated or made legal.

  A marriage which is void right from the scratch cannot be continued with and has to be annulled.

• Fraud - Concealment of important information pertaining to the normal functioning or smooth-sailing of a marriage can be a ground for seeking an annulment in Nebraska. Concealment comprises of hiding the income, social status or more serious things such as impotency, inability to consummate the marriage, different sexual preference, sexually transmitted disease or suffering from permanent or temporary insanity.

  These things are vital for a marital relationship and without them, a marital relation cannot be healthy. However, as per the law, these allegations need to be proved in the court in front of the judge with the help of extraneous witnesses and other proofs.

• Duress - When a spouse is forced to enter a wedlock by threatening, coercion or by holding someone on a gunpoint, such a marriage is considered as void as free will and free consent were not present when the wedding took place. An individual is entitled to marry a person of their choice and no one can force anyone to marry him / her.

  Such marriages are popularly known as "gunshot marriages" and their number is on the increase. These allegations need to be proved and witnesses need to be summoned which is a difficult task owing to the reason for seeking the annulment.

• Bigamous Marriage - A person is not supposed to marry someone else when they are already married to a living person and the marriage hasn't been dissolved before entering the current wedlock.

  Such a marriage is termed as bigamous and prohibited by the law. It is not just prohibited by law, but is considered as a criminal offense and the person can have to serve the jail term for violating the state law. Proving this ground generally proves to be difficult as it is a task gathering proofs and witnesses.

• Underage Marriage - Any person who is under the legal marriageable age, is not supposed to get married and such marriage is considered as void ab initio and thus has to be annulled. However, the petition has to be filed by the underage spouse or his / her parents on behalf of their child.

  Luring a child into a marital bond is a criminal offense and sex offending charges can be leveled against the respondent if the charges are proved against him / her.

• Consanguinity or Affinity - Marriage between ancestor and descendant is considered as incest and nothing can be done to validate such a marriage; it has to be annulled even if the relationship is legitimate.

  Relatives by blood or by marriage are not supposed to marry and their marriage cannot be considered as legal.

• Incompetency at the time of Marriage - If the spouses are intoxicated or in an inebriated state during the time of marriage or if they were not in a condition to say whether they wanted to marry or not are considered as incompetent and such a marriage is considered as null and void.

Being cited all these grounds, it should be noted that the process of annulment in Nebraska is similar to the divorce process. The only difference between the two is that a divorce severs a valid marriage and an annulment erases a marriage which was invalid to begin with.

Annulment in Nebraska is granted in the form of a court decree and is granted after the cited grounds are proved.

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