nullity
Something that is void or has no legal force. A nullity may be treated as if it never occurred. Nullities are commonly found in the context of marriages . For example, in Marriage of Garcia , the court stated, “a judgment of nullity of marriage determines that, for reasons existing at the time of the alleged creation of the marriage, ‘no valid marriage ever existed.’” Such a judgement may occur due to noncompliance with the statutory formalization procedures of the marriage (e.g. the marriage was not properly licensed, solemnized, and authenticated ) or because the marriage is found to be invalid for some other reason (e.g. incest or fraud ). However, the term’s use is not limited to marriages. For example, in Illinois , the “nullity rule” voids judgements rendered in cases where a person who was not entitled to practice law represented one of the parties.
[Last reviewed in June of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team ]
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