4 Void and Voidable Marriage

1. Void marriage (void ab initio — no legal existence): the condition-fundamental violations — bigamous marriage (subsisting spouse); marriage within prohibited degrees; child marriage (below 20 — voidable-and-punishable in the classic Ain design, void under the modern child-protection reading — state the debate honestly); the fraudulent-identity core cases; consequences: no spousal status, no inheritance, but the children's legitimacy protected (the innocent party-and-children protection rules) and the offence-punishments apply (below); 2. Voidable marriage (valid until annulled): the consent-vitiating and incapacity grounds — fraud (concealment of decisive facts), coercion; impotence/non-consummation revealed; the spouse's pre-marriage pregnancy by another undisclosed; the mental-condition grounds — each subject to the Code's short statutory limitation windows from knowledge (annulment the remedy; the marriage otherwise fully valid); 3. The distinction's exam table: void = no status from the start, anyone may question, no decree needed (though declaration available); voidable = valid till annulled, only the aggrieved party may petition, within the window; both = the children's and the innocent-party's protections.