USA – OHIO Law and Practice Contributed by: Andrew A Zashin, Amy M Keating, Kyleigh A Weinfurtner and Christopher R Reynolds, Zashin Law
Alternatives Methods to Terminate a Marriage in Ohio Annulment In certain circumstances, Ohio parties can obtain an annulment to terminate their marriage. The various grounds for obtaining an annulment fall into two categories, namely grounds when the marriage is void and grounds when the marriage is voidable. “Void” marriages are marriages that were not valid at the time of marriage. Because of this, there is no conduct that either party can per - form to subsequently make the marriage valid. A void marriage occurs when one of the spouses already was legally married to someone else at the time of marriage or if the spouses were close relatives, which could amount to incest. “Voidable” marriages can be declared void by the court under certain circumstances. Ohio law recognises several voidable grounds for annul - ment: • the party seeking the annulment was under the age of 18, unless after attaining that age such party cohabited with the other as hus - band and wife; • either party has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent, unless that party, after being restored to competency, cohabited with the other as husband or wife; • the consent to the marriage by either spouse was obtained by fraud, unless the party afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, cohabited with the other as husband or wife; • the consent to the marriage of either party was obtained by force, unless the party after - wards cohabited with the other as husband or wife; or
• the marriage between the parties was never consummated although the marriage is other - wise valid. Like a divorce complaint, the party seeking the annulment must file a complaint with the court, asserting the grounds under which they seek the annulment. The filing party must have been an Ohio resident for six months before filing the action. The statute of limitations for commenc - ing this action depends on the grounds the par - ty is asserting but is generally two years for all grounds except mental incompetency or if the Another option for Ohio parties is to seek a legal separation from their spouse. Unlike divorce, dissolution, or annulment actions, however, a legal separation does not terminate the parties’ marriage. In a legal separation action, however, the court can issue orders dividing the parties’ property, issuing support (child and spousal), and allocating parental rights and responsibili - ties. The process for initiating a legal separation complaint is similar to the process for initiating a complaint for divorce. A party commencing a legal separation action, however, does not need to have been an Ohio resident for six months to initiate the complaint. Instead, in legal separa - tion proceedings, Ohio law only requires that the complaint be filed in the county where the filing party has resided for 90 days prior to filing. For the marriage to be terminated, either one party must file a complaint for divorce or the parties’ jointly petition the court for a dissolution of their marriage in the future. marriage is void. Legal separation
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