The Nullity of Marriage Act 1971

Zombie Law: Conjugality, Annulment, and the (Married) Living Dead

“…Distinctions are also made between 'void' and 'voidable' marriages, the complexities of which are not especially germane to the present discussion-suffice to note that a void marriage is deemed to have never constituted a marriage at all, while a voidable marriage is one that can be understood to have existed up until its nullification (Cretney and Masson 1997, 39-40;Goda 1967;Hall 1971;Passingham and Harmer 1985, 46). Weddings deploy speech acts and performative utterances.…”

Conjugality

“…Thus the array of conditions that can invalidate a marriage varies significantly, not only across time and space, but even within jurisdictions: a couple married in 1950 might have grounds for annulment today that would not be available to a couple married in 1980. 4 Typically, however, a distinction is drawn between void and voidable unions (Cretney and Masson 1997, 40;Hall 1971).…”