By law, a civil marriage or civil union may be annulled for various reasons. If you are a victim of domestic violence, if your spouse fails to provide you with assistance, or if you discover that your spouse was in bad faith or already married at the time of the marriage or civil union, you can apply for a declaration of nullity.
An application for the annulment of a marriage or civil union may be made for various reasons.
These reasons include
- reasons of public order; for example,
- the spouses were not old enough to marry (16 years old, with parental authorization) or to form a civil union (18 years old),
- the spouses are too closely related to each other (father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother),
- the marriage notice was not posted,
- the marriage ceremony was not public,
- the officiant was not authorized to perform a marriage ceremony,
- the former marriage or civil union of one of the spouses was still valid;
- reasons relating to the spouses; for example,
- the parents or tutor of a minor spouse had not given authorization for the marriage,
- one of the spouses had not consented to the marriage or was forced or tricked into giving consent.
A declaration of nullity of the marriage or civil union allows the 2 spouses
- to liquidate their matrimonial or civil union regime;
- to share the family patrimony.
However, both spouses keep their own property if they decide not to share the family patrimony or if the court rules that both spouses acted in bad faith.
In addition, a declaration of nullity generally prevents one spouse from claiming support from the other spouse, although both spouses retain their rights and obligations with regard to any children born during the marriage or civil union.
Annulment of a religious marriage
An annulment by the court does not annul the religious aspects of a marriage, just as an annulment by the
Church does not annul the civil aspects of a marriage. A religious annulment may be requested on grounds other than the legal grounds.
Any person wishing to have a marriage or civil union declared null.
Civil Code of Québec, 1991, chapter 64, a. 365 and 380 to 390
