The Alpha Arizona Annulment Kit

By Kermit Burton, Alpha Publications

Venue:

Arizona

Description:

This Alpha Arizona Annulment Kit is published in accordance with the Arizona Domestic Relations Laws which provides, among other things, that either spouse may Petition the Court to Annul the Marriage when a legal impediment exist that renders the marriage void as a matter of law.

The essence of what this means is simply that the martial contract must be void as a matter of law when it was entered into by the parties. For example, if one party has not divorced a previous spouse, then this is a legal impediment to a valid martial contract. Another obvious legal impediment is when one party was not of legal age to marry. After these two grounds, the grounds are not so obvious but can prevail upon convincing proof, for example,

• (a) the marriage was never consummated, or
• (b) the marriage was occasioned by fraud, duress or gross misrepresentation.

Without attempting to thoroughly review and explain the legal meaning of each of these grounds, it will be briefly stated that if the alleged ground is the 'non- consummation' of the marriage, then unless the other spouse was either incarcerated or hospitalized prior to and during the ensuing period of the marriage, then this will be a difficult ground to make stick. And if fraud, duress or gross misrepresentation is the ground of choice, then you must be prepared to fully present evidence of such alleged acts. You should also be made aware that one of the more common grounds that result in the dismissal of an annulment action is the allegation that the other spouse did not reveal that he or she was an alcoholic or addict, even though the marriage was otherwise legally consummated.

This Alpha Arizona Annulment Kit contains all of the Forms required to Petition the Court to Annul the Marriage when there are no children of this marriage and the wife is not pregnant. This kit does not include provisions for a marriage with children or that the wife is pregnant since there are legal considerations in these circumstances that require the guiding hand of an attorney.

The Kit also includes the Forms for service of process, that is, Personal Service by Petitioner when the other spouse signs the Acceptance of Service Form 500, or service by a Deputy Sheriff or Private Process Server, either inside or outside Arizona.

Each of these methods of service of process are fully explained in Chapter Five (The Selection, Preparation, Filing and Service of the Forms). Also in Chapter Four, each of the Forms are described as to their application and purpose in an Annulment Action.

It will be mentioned here that even though the Rules of Civil Procedure provides for service of process by publication when the whereabouts of the respondent is unknown, this Kit does not contain the Form necessary to accomplish this type of service since it has been the experience of this author that most (if not all) Judges will be very reluctant to grant an annulment when the whereabouts of the other spouse are allegedly unknown. Therefore, it is in the best interest of all concerned, that the other spouse be personally aware of the annulment action, then if he or she chooses not to contest or respond to the action, then the action can be finalized by default.

If, in spite of this directive, you feel that your action stands on very legal grounds and you honestly do not know the whereabouts of respondent, even though you have expended considerable efforts in attempting to locate him or her, and you desire to accomplish service by publication, simply contact us and request the Publication Form 700. There is no charge for the Form."