I came across an article on Daily Mail Online which presented revelations from people who have been dumped and those who called it quits on their wedding at the last minute.
Reddit user Fluffledoodle revealed that she left a man at the altar. She froze when she realized that she “didn’t love him as much as [she] craved the safety and security” that marriage would bring. Fluffledoodle was a recent divorcee.
User Scrappy_Larue “bailed” out just two days before the marriage. He had jokingly proposed to a woman whose visa was expiring in what he termed as a “green-card marriage”. Scrappy_Larue believed that the girl would have vanished on him at some point and he could be charged with an immigration offence.
User falto1 found out that her fiancé was cheating on her. 85% of her wedding was set up, but she made the heartbreaking decision to leave her fiancé.
User trjones1’s friend left the bride at the altar. His friends advised him to break off from the relationship right from the start. They made a final pitch on the morning of the wedding and they finally succeeded.
User katrilli was dumped at the altar. Her fiancé had spent the day before the wedding with his ex-girlfriend and did not help out at the wedding. katrilli kicked her fiancé out and went on with the party.
See: Martha Cliff, “’I dodged a huge bullet’: People reveal what REALLY happened when they left someone at the altar in shocking confessions”, Daily Mail Online, 14 November 2016
Annulment of Marriage Singapore
While I have not had clients who left their fiancé/ fiancée at the altar (they wouldn’t be seeing me if they did), I have met many clients who regretted their marriage as soon as they signed on the dotted line. Many of them choose to proceed with an annulment, in which case their marriage was deemed to be void from the day of their solemnization date. They are, in other words, deemed to never have married.
Click here to understand the differences between annulment of marriage and divorce.
One of the most common reasons for annulment (also known as “nullity”) in Singapore is that the marriage was not consummated owing to the willful refusal of the other party.
Other less common reasons for annulment in Singapore include:
- The marriage was not consummated owing to the incapacity of either party;
- Either party did not validly consent to the marriage;
- Either party was suffering from a mental disorder to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage at the time of the marriage.
- One party was suffering from venereal disease at the time of the marriage and the other party did not know.
- The wife was pregnant by some other person other than the husband at the time of the marriage and the husband did not know.
Some marriages are void from the onset for reasons such as:
- Either party was already married at the time of the marriage.
- Parties were of the same sex at the time of the solemnization of the marriage.
See: Sections 104 to 111 of Women’s Charter (Singapore)
While it may be heartbreaking to break off a relationship just before marriage, or to have an annulment soon after, it does make more sense to “dodge a bullet” before getting hit. Marriage is a big commitment and anyone contemplating it should consider it seriously.
You may also be interested to read more about:
2. Annulment (Nullity) of Marriage
5. Maintenance Issues (Alimony)
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