Rance and Rance

[2018] FamCA 754

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA

RANCE  & RANCE [2018] FamCA 754

FAMILY LAW – NULLITY – Application for declaration – Where at the time of the marriage the applicant was married to another person – Declaration of nullity granted.

Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 51
Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) s 23B(1)

APPLICANT: Mr Rance

RESPONDENT: Ms Rance

FILE NUMBER: PAC 2535 of 2018

DATE DELIVERED: 21 September 2018

PLACE DELIVERED: Parramatta

PLACE HEARD: Parramatta

JUDGMENT OF: Foster J

HEARING DATE: 10 September 2018

REPRESENTATION

THE APPLICANT: Mr Rance in person

THE RESPONDENT: Ms Rance in person

Orders

1. That it be declared that the marriage between the applicant Mr Rance and the respondent Ms Rance conducted at Suburb B New South Wales on … 2013 is a nullity.

Note: The form of the order is subject to the entry of the order in the Court’s records.

IT IS NOTED that publication of this judgment by this Court under the pseudonym Rance & Rance has been approved by the Chief Justice pursuant to s 121(9)(g) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth).

Note: This copy of the Court’s Reasons for Judgment may be subject to review to remedy minor typographical or grammatical errors (r 17.02A(b) of the Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth)), or to record a variation to the order pursuant to r 17.02 Family Law Rules 2004 (Cth).

FAMILY COURT OF AUSTRALIA AT PARRAMATTA

FILE NUMBER: PAC 2535  of 2018

Mr Rance 

Applicant

And

Ms Rance

Respondent

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

1. The applicant seeks a declaration that the marriage ceremony entered into between him and the respondent at Suburb B, NSW in 2013 is void and for a decree of nullity to be granted.

2. On 31 July 2018 the matter came before a Registrar who listed the matter for judicial case management and noted that the respondent consents to the marriage being declared a nullity.

3. On 10 September 2018 the matter came before this Court and judgment was reserved in respect of the application for a declaration of nullity. 

background

1. The respondent married Mr C (“the first husband”) in 2005 in the Country D. 

2. In circumstances that have not been made clear to the Court the respondent separated from her first husband, came to Australia and participated in a marriage ceremony with the applicant in 2013.

3. On the Marriage Certificate the respondent claimed that she had “never been validly married” despite her marriage to her first husband. The respondent deposes in her affidavit filed 6 June 2018 to being under the misapprehension that she only had to declare marriages conducted in Australia and not any marriages conducted overseas.

4. In May 2018 the respondent filed a petition for a Declaration of Nullity of Marriage in relation to her marriage to her first husband in the Country D.

5. On 31 July 2018 the applicant filed an Initiating Application seeking that his marriage to the respondent be declared a nullity on the basis that the respondent was married to another person at the time of her marriage to the applicant.    

applicable law

1. Pursuant to s 51 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) a decree of nullity may be granted on the ground that the marriage is void.

2. Section 23B(1) of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) provides that, inter-alia, a marriage is void where “either of the parties is, at the time of the marriage, lawfully married to some other person”.

3. In support of the Application for Nullity a copy of the Marriage Certificate for the respondent’s first marriage in the Country D was filed in Court on 10 September 2018. 

4. Accordingly, I am satisfied that at the time the applicant participated in the marriage ceremony with the respondent in 2013 he was lawfully married to another person.

5. A declaration will be made that the marriage between the applicant and the respondent conducted at Suburb B on in 2013 is a nullity.

I certify that the preceding thirteen (13) paragraphs are a true copy of the reasons for judgment of the Honourable Justice Foster delivered on 21 September 2018.

Legal Associate: 

Date:  21 September 2018