Bigamous marriage declared void by Family Court

An Auckland couple have had their marriage declared void after it was discovered the overseas marriage of one of the participants was still valid.

In a recently published decision, Auckland Family Court judge David Burns was asked to declare the marriage “void ab initio”, or void from the beginning.

Bigamy is an unusual case to come before the courts. If someone is charged with bigamy in New Zealand, the charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

The pair were married in September 2019 – a second marriage for both of them.

Judge Burns said the man’s previous marriage had been dissolved some years earlier, however the woman had been previously married in China in 2014.

The marriage had not been dissolved and that fact was not declared by her on the online application for the marriage licence.

The Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua advised the man that the marriage between the parties was void ab initio as one of the parties was not free to marry on September 25, 2019.

However, they were not required to do anything further legally.

The woman later obtained a dissolution of her overseas marriage and while the pair were now free to marry, they had not.

“I find that it is sufficient evidence for the court to accept the fact of bigamy,” judge Burns said.

A marriage that was deemed or declared to be void effectively meant that there was no marriage at all.

Bigamy charges are very rare – in March 2022, a Wellington man was given home detention for bigamy and fraud.