Bill and Ted are both men. They love one another and decide to get married. They visit their local church and the pastor pronounces them a married couple. However, their state does not allow same-sex marriages. Their marriage is void. Under the law, they were never married from the beginning.
Void marriage
A marriage that was for some reason never valid from the start and cannot be made valid. Common reasons for a court to find a marriage void ab initio are that the marriage is incestuous, polygamous, or a same-sex marriage.
Compare with voidable marriage.
"Missouri law distinguishes between void and voidable marriages. A void marriage is invalid from its inception because the parties lacked the capacity to contract under state law. While a minor generally lacks the capacity to contract, Missouri law provides that a marriage will be valid if one of the minor's parents consents to the marriage in writing. Plaintiff does not dispute that her mother consented to her marriage to Everetts. A voidable marriage is treated under Missouri law as valid for all civil purposes unless it is annulled by decree. A voidable marriage results from fraud, error, duress, or other imperfect consent."
"In Missouri, an annulment constitutes a judicial declaration that no marriage existed. The effect of a decree of annulment depends on whether the marriage is void or voidable. A voidable marriage set aside by a decree of annulment is valid until disaffirmed by that decree; a void marriage is null from inception. Voidable marriages are, of course, good for every purpose until avoided . . . During the existence of the voidable marriage neither party can marry again. Missouri courts hold that an annulment of a prior voidable marriage does not validate a second marriage begun before the annulment decree."
Everetts v. Apfel, 63 F. Supp. 2d 1020, 1024 (E.D.Mo. 1999) (quotation marks and citation omitted), aff'd, 214 F.3d 990 (8th Cir. 2000).
