NH Annulment – A husband in a 27-year marriage claimed that his wife concealed her prior lifestyle of prostitution, drug use and “certain medical procedures.” Had he known this background he said he would not have married her.
Annulment Could Be High Hurdle in Court
The New Hampshire Supreme Court in In the Matter of Geraghty and Geraghty, 169 N.H. 404 (2016) said the hurdle was high to get an annulment as the fraud had to concern something essential to the marriage relation “making impossible the performance of the duties and obligations of that relation or rendering its assumption or continuance dangerous to health or lifestyle.” His facts fell short of the mark despite her past.
Could He Pay Her Less Than 50% of What They Had?
The husband also challenged the property division claiming the trial court should not have divided the property equally because his contributions to the acquisition of the marital estate were greater and certain assets were in his name alone. The Supreme Court rejected those arguments saying that all property, regardless of whether it is held jointly or separately, is included in the marital estate. The Court also relied on the long-term nature of the parties’ 27-year marriage and the wife’s non-economic, but important contributions to the parties’ home and lifestyle.
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