Alaska Divorce Source: Alaska Annulments

Encyclopedia

Alaska Info

Alaska Divorce Start Your Divorce Find Professionals Alaska Articles Divorce Facts Divorce Grounds Residency Divorce Laws Mediation/Counseling Divorce Process Legal Separation Annulments Property Division Alimony Child Custody Child Support Divorce Forms Process Service Grandparent Rights Forum Alaska Products Divorce by County

Info Categories

Contemplating Divorce Children & Divorce Divorce, Dollars & Debt Divorce Laws Divorce Process Divorce Negotiation

More Information

Articles Checklists Research Center Cases of Interest Dictionary Encyclopedia Encyclopedia (pop-up) Blogs

For Professionals

Advertise With Us Free Network Page Join Our Network Submit Articles Sign In

Network Sites

Alaska Divorce Support Alaska Divorce Online

Alaska Annulments

Annulments in Alaska

Alaska does not have an official court action called "annulment of marriage." However, a party may still ask the court to declare a marriage void. A void marriage was never valid from the outset because the parties did not have the legal ability to marry.

In Alaska, the difference between a void marriage and an annulled marriage is subtle. Once a judge says that a marriage is annulled, it becomes void - it's as though the marriage never existed; the marriage is called a "legal nullity." The Alaska court cannot award alimony or divide assets or liabilities as part of an annulment because the law considers a void marriage as never having been valid, and there cannot be a marital estate without a valid marriage.

The Alaska Code Section 25.05.01, et seq.; 25.20.050, 25.24.030 deal with voidable marriages.

Grounds

The Alaska court voids marriages when:

one or both partners were already married, which is bigamy;
the parties are related to each other more closely than third cousins;
one of the parties was a minor when he or she married, and he or she married without the consent of a parent or guardian;
one or both partners are seriously mentally ill;
one of the parties used fraud to manipulate the other partner to consent to the marriage;
one party used duress (which means force) to get the other to marry;
the parties did not consummate the marriage.

Limitations attach to some of these grounds. The court will not void a marriage if the partners freely lived together:

after the minor partner achieved a majority,
after their mental state improved,
after the defrauded party learned about the fraud,
after they were forced into marriage,
after having sexual relations.

A person contemplating voiding a marriage in Alaska should consult a lawyer. The court only divides the marital estate in the case of a divorce or separation, so there might be financial ramifications. Moreover, the partner may contest the action.

Procedure

The plaintiff, who is the filing partner, must be a resident of the state of Alaska.

Alaska has no forms for filing to void a marriage, so a party contemplating annulment should consult with an attorney.