A Georgia marriage is void if one spouse was not of sound mind when the ceremony took place, and that makes it a candidate for annulment.
The Capacity Has to Be Missing on the Wedding Day
OCGA 19-3-2(a)(1) requires that a person be “of sound mind” to contract marriage, and OCGA 19-3-5(a) makes a marriage void where a party was unable to contract. What matters is the person’s condition at the ceremony, not before it and not afterward.
The Person Affected Does Not Have to Sue
This ground carries a procedural rule the others do not. OCGA 19-4-3 provides that “[a] petition for annulment may be filed by next friend for minors or persons of unsound mind.”
That is a practical necessity. A spouse who lacked the capacity to agree to the marriage may equally lack the capacity to file suit about it, and the statute makes sure the incapacity does not protect the marriage it created.
Family Members Can Raise It After a Death
In Saunders v. Padovani, 258 Ga. 866 (1989), a man some 25 years older than his companion suffered a stroke, became partially paralyzed, and was taken from the nursing home where he was recuperating to a magistrate’s office, where they married. He signed a will leaving her the bulk of his estate and died three months later. Two brothers and a nephew sued to annul the marriage on the ground that he had been mentally incompetent.
The jury refused to invalidate the marriage. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, holding a tape recording of his conversation with his lawyer admissible “as evidence of that capacity two days before the wedding.”
So capacity is a question of fact, and evidence from around the wedding date is what decides it.
Contact Us
This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!