The Claimant has presented the agency with a Decree of Annulment, entered on April
XX, 2022, finding that she was entitled to an annulment from Z~ under section 9-12-201
of the Arkansas Code because her consent to marry Z~ was obtained by fraud. The court
awarded an annulment and ordered that “the bonds of matrimony heretofore existing
between the plaintiff and defendant shall be declared void and set aside.”
Under Arkansas law, “[m]arriage is considered in law a civil contract to which the
consent of the parties capable in law of contracting is necessary.” Ark. Code Ann.
§ 9-11-101. Marriage “may be annulled only for causes set forth by statute.” Stuhr
v. Oliver, 363 S.W.3d 316, 320 (Ark. 2010).
At issue here, section 9-12-201 of the Arkansas Code provides:
When either of the parties to a marriage is incapable from want of age or understanding
of consenting to any marriage, or is incapable of entering into the marriage state
due to physical causes, or when the consent of either party shall have been obtained
by force or fraud, the marriage shall be void from the time its nullity shall be declared
by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-12-201. The Arkansas Supreme Court has expressly addressed the
issue presented. Although the statute is titled “void marriages” and declares a marriage
“void,” the Arkansas Supreme Court has explained that the term “void” as used in section
9-12-201 of the Arkansas Code’s “annulment statute means that such a marriage is voidable.”
Stuhr, 363 S.W.3d at 320; Vance v. Hinch, 261 S.W.2d 412, 414 (Ark. 1953). The Arkansas Supreme Court explained that the statute
states that “the marriage shall be void only from the time it is declared a nullity
by a court of competent jurisdiction,” and thus, “[t]he only reasonable interpretation
. . . is that such a marriage is voidable, not void.” Vance, 261 S.W.2d at 414. Thus, under Arkansas law, a marriage obtained by fraud is a voidable
marriage and such a marriage remains valid unless and until it is annulled pursuant
to section 9-12-201 of the Arkansas Code. See id. Once annulled, however, it is considered to have never existed. See id.
Accordingly, under Arkansas law, the Claimant’s marriage subject to the annulment
under section 9-12-201 of the Arkansas Code was voidable. See POMS PR 06315.005 Arkansas, A. PR 11-014 Whether a Decree of Annulment Renders a Marriage Void or Voidable
under Arkansas Law – NH Charles R. B~ - Reply (Nov. 15, 2010) (advising that a marriage
that a court annuls for failure to consent by virtue of a want of understanding was
a voidable marriage under section 9-12-201 of the Arkansas Code). Upon entering the
Decree of Annulment on April 11, 2022, Arkansas law considers the marriage to never
have existed.[2]
As stated above, a gency policy instructs that where a voidable marriage has been
annulled, benefits previously terminated because of such marriage may be resumed upon
the taking of a new application. POMS GN 00305.130B.1.a. Benefits are payable no earlier than the month the annulment decree is issued subject
to the usual provisions of retroactivity. POMS GN 00305.130B.1.a.