When a Marriage is Declared Invalid: Grounds, Consequences, and Rights of the Parties

Persons who have reached the age of 18 have the right to marry. At the same time, a citizen who has turned 16 may obtain permission to register a marriage by court decision if it is established that this corresponds to their interests according to the norms of the Family Code of Ukraine.

The legislation also defines a list of persons between whom marriage is prohibited. Such restrictions are established considering biological and social circumstances.

Persons who cannot be married to each other

According to Article 26 of the Code, the following persons cannot be married to each other:

- persons who are relatives in a direct line of kinship. (Kinship is a blood relation based on common descent from one person or common ancestor, on which rights and obligations depend. It is fundamentally a biological factor. Direct line: parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, great-grandparents and great-grandchildren);

- full or half siblings. Full siblings share both parents. Half siblings share either the same mother or the same father;

- cousins, aunts, uncles, and nephews or nieces;

- an adopter and the adopted child. Marriage between an adopter and the adopted child can only be registered if the adoption is annulled. (According to Article 207 of the Code, adoption is the acceptance by the adopter into their family of a person as a daughter or son, carried out based on a court decision, except in the case provided by Article 282 of this Code).

At the same time, this article provides that by court decision, the right to marry may be granted between the adopter's biological child and the adopted child, as well as between children adopted by the same adopter.

Invalidity of Marriage

If it turns out that a marriage was concluded between persons prohibited by law, such marriage is grounds to consider or recognize it as invalid.

- According to Article 39 of the Code, a marriage registered between persons who are relatives in a direct line of kinship, as well as between full siblings, is invalid.

Upon the request of a person, the state registration authority terminates (recognizes as invalid) the marriage record.

- A marriage between cousins; between an aunt, uncle and nephew or niece; between an adopter and the adopted child in violation of the requirements established by part five of Article 26 of this Code may be recognized as invalid by court decision.

When resolving a case on recognizing a marriage as invalid, the court takes into account the extent to which the marriage violates the rights and interests of the person, the duration of cohabitation of the spouses, the nature of their relationship, as well as other circumstances of significant importance.

A marriage cannot be recognized as invalid in the case of the wife’s pregnancy or the birth of a child from these persons (Article 41 of the Code), reminds the Ministry of Justice.

The right to file a lawsuit to recognize a marriage as invalid belongs to: the wife or husband, other persons whose rights were violated in connection with the registration of this marriage, parents, guardian, custodian of the child, prosecutor (Article 42 of the Code).

A marriage is invalid from the day of its state registration (Article 44 of the Code).

Legal Consequences of Invalidity of Marriage

An invalid marriage (Article 39 of this Code), as well as a marriage recognized as invalid by court decision, does not give rise to the rights and obligations of spouses between the persons who registered it, nor to the rights and obligations established for spouses by other laws of Ukraine.

If during the invalid marriage persons acquired property, it is considered to belong to them as joint partial ownership.

The size of each share is determined according to their participation in acquiring this property through their labor and funds.

If a person received alimony from the one with whom they were in an invalid marriage, the amount of alimony paid is considered received without sufficient legal basis and is subject to return according to the Civil Code of Ukraine, but not for more than the last three years.

A person who moved into the residential premises of another person in connection with registration of an invalid marriage did not acquire the right to reside there and may be evicted.

A person who changed their surname due to registration of an invalid marriage is considered to bear that surname without sufficient legal basis.

The legal consequences established by parts two to five of this article apply to a person who knew about the obstacles to marriage registration and concealed them from the other party and/or from the state civil registration authority (Article 45 of the Code).

Special Legal Consequences of Invalidity of Marriage

If a person did not know and could not have known about the obstacles to marriage registration, they have the right:

- to division of property acquired in the invalid marriage as joint common property of the spouses;

- to reside in the residential premises in which they settled in connection with the invalid marriage;

- to alimony according to Articles 75, 84, 86, and 88 of this Code;

- to the surname chosen at the time of marriage registration (Article 46 of the Code).

Rights and obligations of parents and a child born in an invalid marriage

The invalidity of the marriage does not affect the scope of mutual rights and obligations of parents and the child born in this marriage (Article 47).

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