325 Mass. 217 | Mass. | 1950
This is a libel for an annulment of a marriage brought in the Probate Court. G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 207, § 14. The case is here on an appeal from the dismissal of the libel. The evidence was not reported. The judge made a report of material facts, which may be summarized as follows: The libellant, domiciled in Fall River at the time of the ‘ marriage and when the libel was filed, was married to the libellee on December 6, 1946, at Brooklyn, New York. Almost immediately after the ceremony, the libellant learned for the first time, and from the libellee, that he was in difficulties with the immigration authorities and that he needed to show that he was married to prevent deportation to Greece. The libellee married the libellant to get out of trouble with the immigration authorities, and he refrained from telling the libellant of this because he was afraid she might refuse to marry him if she knew of it. She refused to live with him and shortly afterwards returned to Fall River. The parties never cohabited.
The Probate Court had jurisdiction of the libel since, although the marriage was solemnized out of the Commonwealth, the libellant was domiciled in the Commonwealth when married and when she brought this libel. G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 207, § 14. Cohn v. Cohn, 310 Mass. 126, 129.
The libel alleged, but the judge did not specifically find, that the libellant would not have married the libellee had she known of his purpose in marrying her. We think, however, that it ought to be inferred from the findings of the judge that the libellant would not have married had she known the reason why the libellee married her, and that she was induced to marry by his concealment of the purpose of the marriage and his deception.
We have examined the decisions of the courts of the State of New York, and they uniformly hold that fraud practised upon one of the parties to marriage by the other affords a ground for annulment of the marriage, particularly where the marriage was not consummated. And it was said in Hanson v. Hanson, 287 Mass. 154, 159, “The trend of the authorities is that annulment of an unconsummated marriage may be secured more readily than in a case where the parties have cohabited.”
The two leading cases in New York are di Lorenzo v. di Lorenzo, 174 N. Y. 467, and Shonfeld v. Shonfeld, 260 N. Y. 477. In the di Lorenzo case there was an allegation that the husband’s consent to marry was obtained by a fraudulent representation by the wife, before marriage, that
Here, however, the situation is different. There was no representation, the falsity of which could be discovered by an ordinarily prudent person, but rather a deception and concealment which so affected the consent of one of the parties at least as to make this marriage contract invalid under the laws of New York. New York domestic relations law, § 10. Protopapas y. Protopapas, 47 N. Y. Sup. (2d) 460, 461. Siecht v. Siecht, 41 N. Y. Sup. (2d) 393, 395. Truiano v. Truiano, 121 Misc. (N. Y.) 635, 637. Laage v. Laage, 176 Misc. (N. Y.) 190, 195. The appli
So ordered.