Annulment due to cancer?

krissalee85

I have a weird question. I'm wondering if a marriage can be annuled due to terminal illness. My husband and I were married this past October. At the time, I was on disability and had medicare health coverage for brain cancer. I had been receiving SSDI, which is not impacted by marriage. In December, it switced over to SSI and medicaid, which is impacted by marriage due to the husbands income. Since a portion of his income is counted as my own, I cannot get SSI or medicaid so I'm left with nothing. I am not able to work and my husband does not make enough money to fully support me. Going on his health insurance plan would cost $450 a month. There is no way we can afford that. Does this sound like something that would qualify for an annulment? I had no idea that my disability coverage would be switching over in December. If I did, I would not have gotten married. This is so complicated and overwhelming.

DG1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:ee4d3359-4a7c-4ff7-acdb-aa98dcb2af99">Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a weird question. I'm wondering if a marriage can be annuled due to terminal illness. My husband and I were married this past October. At the time, I was on disability and had medicare health coverage for brain cancer. I had been receiving SSDI, which is not impacted by marriage. In December, it switced over to SSI and medicaid, which is impacted by marriage due to the husbands income. Since a portion of his income is counted as my own, I cannot get SSI or medicaid so I'm left with nothing. I am not able to work and my husband does not make enough money to fully support me. Going on his health insurance plan would cost $450 a month. There is no way we can afford that. Does this sound like something that would qualify for an annulment? I had no idea that my disability coverage would be switching over in December. If I did, I would not have gotten married. This is so complicated and overwhelming.
Posted by krissalee85[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>
</div><div>What a mess. I'm sorry you have to deal with that.</div><div>
</div><div>I'm not sure why you would need an annulment, though. Divorce works just fine in these types of situations, does it not?</div><div>
</div><div>If you are referring to a Catholic church annulment, then no, this probably doesn't qualify you for that. The good news, though, is that your legal divorce has no standing in the church, so you can get divorced to get the medicaid coverage and still be married as far as God is concerned, so no living in sin. </div><div>
</div><div>It's beautiful, really, the separation of church and state.

</div>

*Barbie*

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:ee4d3359-4a7c-4ff7-acdb-aa98dcb2af99">Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a weird question. I'm wondering if a marriage can be annuled due to terminal illness. My husband and I were married this past October. At the time, I was on disability and had medicare health coverage for brain cancer. I had been receiving SSDI, which is not impacted by marriage. In December, it switced over to SSI and medicaid, which is impacted by marriage due to the husbands income. Since a portion of his income is counted as my own, I cannot get SSI or medicaid so I'm left with nothing. I am not able to work and my husband does not make enough money to fully support me. Going on his health insurance plan would cost $450 a month. There is no way we can afford that. Does this sound like something that would qualify for an annulment? I had no idea that my disability coverage would be switching over in December. If I did, I would not have gotten married. This is so complicated and overwhelming.
Posted by krissalee85[/QUOTE]

<div>take this with a grain of salt:</div><div><a href="http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/annulment_laws/" rel="nofollow">http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/united_states/annulment_laws/</a></div><div>
</div><div>why can't you get divorced?</div><div>
</div><div>i always thought of an annulment in a religious perspective ( eg. someone who is divorced wants to remarry in the catholic church.) not a legal perspective. based on the link, no, you would not qualify unless you could get a doctor to testify that you were mentally ill and incapable of consenting to the marriage. </div>

krissalee85

Thank you for the link. I had been looking for something with that info and hadn't found anything clearly laid out like that. I know that divorce is the other option but I hate to have him be my ex-husband. I'd rather if he just go back to being my boyfriend. That sounds trivial but it just seems more dismal to divorce. We are not religious. I was figuring, hey if Britney Spears can get an annulment, why can't I? A far fetched hope.

GBCK

I'd say that probably, you ought to talk to a lawyer before you do either.  Because the differences may affect this

*Barbie*

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:6bad79ce-9074-4e3e-9a27-ed7dafb4aec3">Re: Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you for the link. I had been looking for something with that info and hadn't found anything clearly laid out like that. I know that divorce is the other option but I hate to have him be my ex-husband. I'd rather if he just go back to being my boyfriend. That sounds trivial but it just seems more dismal to divorce. We are not religious. I was figuring, hey <strong>if Britney Spears can get an annulment, why can't I? </strong>A far fetched hope.
Posted by krissalee85[/QUOTE]
mental illness would probably apply in her case ;-)

Lyds85

wow... i would talk to a lawyer this is a difficult situation...

DG1

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:6bad79ce-9074-4e3e-9a27-ed7dafb4aec3">Re: Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you for the link. I had been looking for something with that info and hadn't found anything clearly laid out like that. I know that divorce is the other option but I hate to have him be my ex-husband. I'd rather if he just go back to being my boyfriend. That sounds trivial but it just seems more dismal to divorce. We are not religious. I was figuring, hey if Britney Spears can get an annulment, why can't I? A far fetched hope.
Posted by krissalee85[/QUOTE]

<div>I guess I get it, but you know those labels don't actually mean anything, right? I mean, functionally, he would still go back to being your boyfriend (right?).</div><div>
</div><div>But they are right. Talk to a lawyer about your best options. </div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

krissalee85

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:2f6d39b6-2ecd-477b-a3e2-a897dd35df2f">Re: Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Annulment due to cancer? : mental illness would probably apply in her case ;-)
Posted by *Barbie*[/QUOTE]

Ah yes, good point Barbie <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue Out" title="Tongue Out" />

ladytori

I'm so sorry that you are in this terrible situation.

Instead of going to a lawyer, try to go to a legal document prepration service like we the people. (If you are not fighting over kids and property, your divorce should be simple and lawyers charge way too much for even a simple divorce.) See if there is a we the people in your state.

krissalee85

Yeah he would go back to just being my boyfriend. I guess I just really really don't want to divorce him. Whereas with annulment, it'll be completely off the record with the state but to us, we will still be married. Does that make sense? Rather than there being records saying that we were married and are divorced, there will be no records of a marriage.
I looked for We The People in Maine but couldn't find it. I called the court house and they said to call a free lawyers hotline tonight so I will do that. Thank you all for your input. It is very much appreciated.

jeannemarie06

Be very careful.  Even insurance companies hire private investigators.  You could have a whole mess on your hands.  Before you do anything way all pros and cons.  Try Catholic Charities and do not post anything else anywhere.  I advise you to keep things as private as possible going forward.  Try to think like a lawyer for the other side.

AprilH81

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:ee4d3359-4a7c-4ff7-acdb-aa98dcb2af99">Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a weird question. I'm wondering if a marriage can be annuled due to terminal illness. My husband and I were married this past October. At the time, I was on disability and had medicare health coverage for brain cancer. I had been receiving SSDI, which is not impacted by marriage. In December, it switced over to SSI and medicaid, which is impacted by marriage due to the husbands income. Since a portion of his income is counted as my own, I cannot get SSI or medicaid so I'm left with nothing. I am not able to work and my husband does not make enough money to fully support me. Going on his health insurance plan would cost $450 a month. There is no way we can afford that. Does this sound like something that would qualify for an annulment? I had no idea that my disability coverage would be switching over in December. If I did, I would not have gotten married. This is so complicated and overwhelming.
Posted by krissalee85[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>I would be VERY careful with this.  This would likely be considered fraud in most states and you could end up worse off than you are.</div><div>
</div><div>Are there any charities in the area that you could apply to for help?  Any other government programs that you could enroll in to free up other money that can then go towards insurance?

</div>

krissalee85

Ahhh this is so stressful.

krissalee85

Why fraud? I don't know of any charities in the area that help in situations such as this.

jeannemarie06

Believe it or not courts make sure it is a bonified divorce. Everything is looked at by a judge. In the past couples have tried this to get college money by getting divorced so courts have wised up and really look at the whole picture. Don't put yourself and your family in a position that you wish you hadn't . I mentioned catholic charities also try united way.

AprilH81

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_annulment-due-to-cancer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:47Discussion:7c8112ff-453d-4fdb-8540-24af1145754fPost:dea5abcf-46d7-4141-9081-b7e46de28af8">Re: Annulment due to cancer?</a>:
[QUOTE]Why fraud? I don't know of any charities in the area that help in situations such as this.
Posted by krissalee85[/QUOTE]

<div>To get a divorce in order to get benefits from the government is fraudulent.  If you are otherwise still acting "married" you are trying to defraud the government by misrepresenting your true situation.</div><div>
</div><div>My grandparents (who are awful grandparents BTW) got a divorce a long time ago in order to qualify for Medicaid, higher foodstamps and assistance with their utilities.  They still lived together and never actually told anyone that they had divorced.  The state found out and threatened legal action so he moved out for a little bit.</div>