Is My Marriage Legal if I Used a Name on the Marriage License That Isn't My Legal Name?
Full Question:
Answer:
If it is not your legal name and you knowingly falsified the application, it will be grounds to void the marriage for fraud. Some of the reasons for granting an annulment are:
FRAUD OR COERCION
The consent to marriage of one of the parties was obtained by coercion or fraud and the parties have not cohabitated (lived together as husband and wife) after learning of the fraud. Fraud or coercion by a party to the marriage is grounds for an annulment, but each case is determined by the specific facts involved.
Cases where annulments have been granted in the past based on fraud include the following circumstances:
CITIZENSHIP
One person married another solely to obtain a green card, or citizenship.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she would not fulfill a prenuptial promise to become a U.S. citizen.
SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP
One person misrepresented a willingness to consummate the marriage and reside together following the marriage.
One person misrepresented a willingness to bear children after the marriage.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she was not willing or physically able to engage in sexual intercourse following the marriage.
One person misrepresented to the other party that he/she was willing and able to conceive children during the marriage, despite knowing they are sterile and unable to conceive children.
The wife misrepresented or concealed that she was pregnant by another man at the time of marriage.
Prior to the marriage the wife claimed to be pregnant, but it was disclosed after the marriage that she was not pregnant.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she was homosexual.
CHARACTER, HONESTY
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she had physically abused a prior person in their lives.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she had a criminal history.
One of the parties was forced into the marriage because of duress, threats and intimidation and would not have entered into the marriage except for the other party’s conduct.
HEALTH
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she was not in good health or had a disease.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she suffered from a mental illness or had been institutionalized in a mental hospital.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she suffered from alcohol, drug, or gambling addiction.
FINANCIAL
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she married the other person solely to obtain the parties' money, wealth or property.
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she would not fulfill the terms of a prenuptial agreement to reimburse the other party for alimony lost because of remarriage.
RELIGION
One person misrepresented or concealed that he/she would not fulfill a prenuptial promise to have a religious marriage ceremony performed after the civil marriage ceremony.
One person misrepresented or concealed his/her present religious conviction or acceptance of the other's religion.
One person misrepresented or concealed his/her prior divorce and the other party is a Roman Catholic.
Other grounds may include:
Undisclosed prior marriage
Violation of divorce decree or statute prohibiting remarriage.
Marriage entered into as a joke or without an intent to having a binding marriage.
One or both parties were under the legal age to consent at the time of marriage, as defined by state statute
Incestuous marriages, as defined by incest laws of the state in which the marriage took place.
Temporary insanity existing at the time of marriage, so that the capacity to marry was not present because the person lacked an understanding of the duties and relationship of marriage. Poor judgment is insufficient.
Intoxication at the marriage ceremony to such a degree as to render that person incapable of knowing the nature of the marriage contract and its consequences.
Please see the following OH statute, which says that a false statement is a criminal offense:
3101.05 Application for marriage license.
(A) The parties to a marriage shall make an application for a marriage license. Each of the persons seeking a marriage license shall personally appear in the probate court within the county where either resides, or, if neither is a resident of this state, where the marriage is expected to be solemnized. If neither party is a resident of this state, the marriage may be solemnized only in the county where the license is obtained. Each party shall make application and shall state upon oath, the party’s name, age, residence, place of birth, occupation, father’s name, and mother’s maiden name, if known, and the name of the person who is expected to solemnize the marriage. If either party has been previously married, the application shall include the names of the parties to any previous marriage and of any minor children, and if divorced the jurisdiction, date, and case number of the decree. If either applicant is under the age of eighteen years, the judge shall require the applicants to state that they received marriage counseling satisfactory to the court. Except as otherwise provided in this division, the application also shall include each party’s social security number. In lieu of requiring each party’s social security number on the application, the court may obtain each party’s social security number, retain the social security numbers in a separate record, and allow a number other than the social security number to be used on the application for reference purposes. If a court allows the use of a number other than the social security number to be used on the application for reference purposes, the record containing the social security number is not a public record, except that, in any of the circumstances set forth in divisions (A)(1) to (4) of section 3101.051 of the Revised Code, the record containing the social security number shall be made available for inspection under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
Immediately upon receipt of an application for a marriage license, the court shall place the parties’ record in a book kept for that purpose. If the probate judge is satisfied that there is no legal impediment and if one or both of the parties are present, the probate judge shall grant the marriage license.
If the judge is satisfied from the affidavit of a reputable physician in active practice and residing in the county where the probate court is located, that one of the parties is unable to appear in court, by reason of illness or other physical disability, a marriage license may be granted upon application and oath of the other party to the contemplated marriage; but in that case the person who is unable to appear in court, at the time of making application for a marriage license, shall make and file in that court, an affidavit setting forth the information required of applicants for a marriage license.
A probate judge may grant a marriage license under this section at any time after the application is made.
A marriage license issued shall not display the social security number of either party to the marriage.
(B) An applicant for a marriage license who knowingly makes a false statement in an application or affidavit prescribed by this section is guilty of falsification under section 2921.13 of the Revised Code.
(C) No licensing officer shall issue a marriage license if the officer has not received the application, affidavit, or other statements prescribed by this section or if the officer has reason to believe that any of the statements in a marriage license application or in an affidavit prescribed by this section are false.
(D) Any fine collected for violation of this section shall be paid to the use of the county together with the costs of prosecution.
