Life is such that people often break up and marriages break up. Everyone can give many examples of such situations. Until recently, it would seem that the couple were living peacefully and happily together next door to you, and suddenly it became known that they had separated. No one is immune from such a situation; problems can arise in any family. However, from a legal point of view, there is a big difference between divorce and invalidation of a marriage. To avoid problems, it is advisable to understand the legal intricacies of these processes.
Which marriage is considered invalid by law?
Answers to all questions should be sought in the Family Code Russian Federation(RF IC). First of all, this is Art. 27–28 of the RF IC, which sets out the basic rules regarding the invalidity of a marriage union. In particular, it contains the grounds that may lead the court to make just such a decision. But this is given in the form of a reference to other articles of the RF IC.
In order for a marriage to be recognized as such, the conditions set out in Articles 12–14 and paragraph 3 of Art. 15 IC RF. If at least one of the points prescribed in these norms is violated, then this is a legal basis for declaring the marriage union invalid.
What is the difference between the concepts
From a legal point of view, the official recognition of a marriage union as annulled and dissolution are concepts that have different consequences.
Signs of an invalid marriage
So, let's turn to the RF IC. On the basis of what facts does the court have the right to determine the marriage union as invalid?
- Violation of the voluntary nature of marriage on the part of at least one of the spouses. This can be an alliance not only under duress or as a result of blackmail, but also in the presence of insanity. In judicial practice, there are quite often situations when a 70-year-old woman marries a 30-year-old man she doesn’t know well, who then lays claim to her property. Less common, but still found in our country, are arranged marriages, when there is an agreement on future wedding children at a very young age.
- Having a previously registered and undivorced marriage. The opportunity for a new relationship often arises when a person receives a new passport, which for some reason does not have a marriage stamp. When registering, the civil registry office is required to request copies of certificates of divorce or death of the former spouse, but sometimes there are mistakes. They subsequently allow the registered marriage to be declared invalid.
- Age insufficient to enter into a marriage. The law provides for an 18-year threshold for marriage. In some situations, it is permissible to lower the specified age limit. But all accompanying circumstances that allow this to be done must be documented.
- Union between close relatives. It does not matter whether the spouses knew about the existence of such a relationship. Once this information is known, an action for annulment must be filed. The same applies to marriages between adoptive parents and adopted children. They are only possible if the adoption is officially cancelled.
- Incapacity of one of the spouses due to mental disorder.
- Concealment by one of the spouses of sexually transmitted diseases or HIV at the time of marriage.
Experts point out that the list of signs that allow annulment of a marriage is quite limited. It cannot be interpreted broadly and is limited only to those grounds that are provided for by the RF IC. Violations of the procedure for concluding a marriage (for example, waiting less than a month before registration) are not such grounds, which was confirmed by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in its resolution of November 5, 1998.
Types of invalid marriages
As a matter of fact, there are only two types of such unions - directly invalid and fictitious. Signs of the first type are listed above. The indicators of the second include the absence of:
- cohabitation, if it is not supported by valid reasons;
- communication between husband and wife;
- intimate relationships between them (which is actually quite difficult to prove);
- joint budget;
- common property;
- knowledge about facts from the life of the other spouse.
The main distinguishing feature of a fictitious marriage is the purpose of its conclusion. Usually this is not about starting a family, but about receiving a certain benefit.
These could be benefits and allowances from the state, evasion of service in the Armed Forces, acquisition of citizenship of a certain country, the opportunity to meet with a prisoner, a well-paid job, etc. There is no intention to lead a traditional married life.
How to invalidate a marriage
This is only possible by court decision. Recognition of a marriage as such and its annulment is carried out only in judicial procedure. But depending on the reason for cancellation, you have the right to apply there with the appropriate application (Article 28 of the RF IC):
- prosecutor;
- one of the spouses;
- both husband and wife - by mutual consent;
- guardianship and trusteeship authorities;
- parents or guardians of the minor spouse;
- the official guardian of the spouse who was previously declared incompetent by the court;
- spouse of a previous marriage that was not officially dissolved before entering into a new union.
In principle, any citizens who believe that this marriage union may cause them harm and violate their legal rights have this right. For example, these could be potential heirs of a spouse who has been declared incompetent due to a mental disorder. They have the right to demand a judicial investigation and annulment of such a union so that their rights to inheritance are respected.
How to fill out an application and prepare documents
You should contact the district (city) court, which is located where the defendant lives or is registered. Such jurisdiction is not always convenient, since the defendant may be located on the other side of the country, many hundreds of kilometers from the plaintiff. However, these are the requirements of the law.
The application is submitted in person to the court secretariat or by mail (by registered mail with notification). Its text is compiled according to general rules. Indicate the full details of the court, the plaintiff and the defendant. Then they describe in detail the reasons for going to court and the circumstances of the case. It is necessary to talk in detail about the grounds that give the right to demand the annulment of a marriage. In conclusion, the plaintiff must demand that it be declared invalid and the corresponding civil status record be excluded.
You must attach a package of documents to your application to support your position. Their set may be different - depending on the grounds that are stated as the reason for the invalidity of the marriage union.
These can be medical certificates, court decisions (recognizing a citizen’s incapacity), copies of marriage certificates - current and earlier, certificates of family composition and adoption, and other papers. In addition, you must attach a receipt for payment of the state duty. It is 300 rubles if there are no property requirements.
One of the methods of ending a marriage is to declare it invalid.
This process, unlike, relieves former spouses of mutual responsibilities and rights towards each other.
Marital relations are regulated by the Family Code.
It sets out clear grounds on which a registered marriage can be declared invalid.
Invalid marriage is an official term prescribed in Articles 12-14, as well as Part 3 of Article 15 of the Family Code. It means an unlawfully entered into marital union that requires forced dissolution. The invalidity of a marriage is regulated by Article 27 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation.
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 ();
- The relationship was registered forcibly, under the influence of deception and delusion;
- Married people are close;
- 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 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.
To do this you need to prove:
- At the time of marriage, both (or one of the spouses) did not have the intention to create;
- After registering the marriage, the spouses were actually not connected by a common life and family relationships.
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 the registration was carried out on the territory of Russia within the framework of current laws, then the question of invalidity family relations 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.
Who can demand that a marriage be declared invalid?
The recognition of marital relations as illegal is carried out through. As a rule, the spouse whose rights have been violated applies. If we are talking about, 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..
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;
- and the 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 you 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. It's about about when the 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 a fact, 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.
Consequences of a decision on the invalidity of a marriage
Recognition of a marriage as invalid from the date of its conclusion leads to the following: 
- According to clause 2 of Article 30 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, a marriage contract between spouses (if there is one) is declared invalid, and its terms have no legal force;
- Property acquired by a man and a woman during marriage is recognized as shared property, to which the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation apply. This means that one of the former spouses can demand from the other in court the allocation of the share due to him in kind or in cash. In addition, the parties to the marriage can agree on the division of property.
It is worth noting that:
Recognizing a marriage as invalid does not infringe on the rights of the children born in it.
A conscientious spouse has the right:
- Recognize partially or fully valid the marriage contract (if one was concluded);
- Keep what you received in marriage;
Demand compensation from the dishonest spouse for damage caused:
- material and moral, and also use the rules applicable to the shared property of spouses;
- Receive alimony from ex-spouse.
Unfortunately, situations are not uncommon when people get married without the goal of starting a family, but guided by other intentions. Having learned about this, the second spouse rushes to file for divorce, forgetting about a more advantageous way to resolve the issue - declaring the family relationship invalid.
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Recognition of marriage as invalid.
Article 27. Recognition of marriage as invalid
1. A marriage is invalid if the conditions established by Articles 12 - 14 and paragraph 3 of Article 15 of this Code are violated, as well as in the case of a fictitious marriage, that is, if the spouses or one of them registered a marriage without the intention of starting a family.
2. A marriage is declared invalid by a court.
3. The court is obliged, within three days from the date of entry into legal force of the court decision to recognize the marriage as invalid, to send an extract from this court decision to the civil registry office at the place of state registration of the marriage.
4. A marriage is declared invalid from the date of its conclusion (Article 10 of this Code).
Recognition of marriage as invalid. Grounds for declaring a marriage invalid. The procedure for recognizing a marriage as invalid. Consequences of declaring a marriage invalid. The right to claim compensation for material damage and moral harm.
Article 27 of the RF IC establishes the grounds for recognizing a marriage as invalid, the procedure for such recognition, and also determines the moment from which the marriage is recognized as invalid.
The list of grounds for declaring a marriage invalid, specified in Article 27 of the RF IC, is exhaustive, and no other circumstances can be a basis for declaring a marriage invalid.
A marriage is declared invalid if the conditions and procedure for concluding a marriage established by the Family Code of the Russian Federation have been violated.
Marriages are declared invalid:
With persons (persons) who were forced into marriage without taking into account their disagreement;
With a person who has not reached marriageable age and has not received permission in accordance with the procedure established by law for early registration of marriage;
Availability of another registered marriage;
The presence of marriage between close relatives in a direct ascending and descending line: between parents and children, grandfather, grandmother and grandchildren, full and half (who have a common father or mother) brothers and sisters, between adoptive parents and adopted children;
Between persons, at least one of whom has been declared incompetent by a court due to a mental disorder;
If one of the married persons hid from the other the presence of a sexually transmitted disease or HIV infection;
When concluding a fictitious marriage, i.e. marriage without the intention of starting a family.
The procedure for recognizing a marriage as invalid.
A marriage is declared invalid by a court through a lawsuit. The law provides for cases when a court can recognize an invalid marriage as valid:
If by the time the case of declaring a marriage invalid is considered, those circumstances that, by force of law, prevented its conclusion have disappeared (for example, the grounds for declaring a citizen incompetent due to his recovery have disappeared);
If, when considering a claim for invalidation of a marriage concluded with a person under marriageable age, it was established that the preservation of the marriage is required by the interests of the minor spouse, and also if there is no consent to invalidate the marriage;
If the persons who entered into a fictitious marriage subsequently actually created a family before the case was considered by the court.
Consequences of declaring a marriage invalid.
If a marriage is declared invalid, it is considered invalid from the moment of its conclusion. Such a marriage does not give rise to the rights and obligations of the spouses. When entering into a new marriage, they have the right not to indicate that they were previously in a marriage that was declared invalid.
Property acquired jointly by persons during a marriage that has been declared invalid is considered their common shared property and can be divided by agreement between them.
If an agreement is not reached on the method and conditions for the division of common property or the allocation of the share of one participant in shared ownership, the right to demand in court the distribution in kind of his share from the common property or payment to him of the value of this share by another participant in shared ownership.
A marriage contract, in accordance with clause 2 of Article 30 of the RF IC, concluded by spouses who entered into a marriage that is declared invalid, is also declared invalid and, as a result, all the terms of such a contract become invalid from the moment of its conclusion.
Recognition of a marriage as invalid does not affect the rights of children born in a marriage declared invalid, as well as children born within 300 days from the date of recognition of the marriage as invalid. In these cases, the father of the child is recorded in the child's birth certificate as the spouse of the mother of the child born in this marriage; the child's surname is determined according to the general rules.
The right to claim compensation for material damage and moral harm.
The right to claim compensation for material damage and moral harm, Article 30 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation refers to a conscientious spouse whose rights were violated by the conclusion of a marriage declared invalid by the court.
Thus, a conscientious spouse retains the right to:
To receive maintenance (alimony) from the other spouse in accordance with Articles 90 and 91 of the RF IC;
To use the rules on joint property of spouses and its division when dividing property;
To demand from the ex-spouse compensation for material and moral damage caused to him.
Material damage is understood primarily as damage of a property nature, i.e. determined and reimbursed in money (the cost of treatment expenses, the cost of a damaged item, etc.).
Moral injury, i.e. physical or moral suffering suffered by a person as a result of the unlawful guilty behavior of another person is determined by the court, and its amount does not directly depend on the amount of property damage suffered by the victim. Damage caused is subject to compensation if the following conditions are met: the presence of harm; unlawful culpable conduct of the other spouse in a marriage declared null and void; the presence of a causal relationship between harm and unlawful guilty behavior;
To preserve the surname chosen during state registration of marriage;
For the confession of a prisoner in accordance with Art. 40 IC RF marriage contract valid in whole or in part.
