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Dear Mrs Macaulay,
I am a British woman who married a Jamaican man in Jamaica in 2005. Within months of the marriage my husband admitted to deceiving me in that he had a baby with another woman. After this revelation I left him. <span style="font-weight: bold">The issue of children and my position on this subject was specifically discussed prior to the marriage.</span>
<span style="font-weight: bold">It now appears that my husband's sole intention in marrying me was to gain a visa to the UK where his child is resident.</span> <span style="font-style: italic">Can you confirm that in Jamaica consent to a marriage is not valid if the consent was obtained by fraud and whether you believe, based on the information I have provided, it might be possible for me to obtain an annulment through the Jamaican courts? </span>It may be useful for you to know that at the time of the revelation I was expecting a baby and subsequently had the child.
You ask whether in Jamaica consent to a marriage is invalidated when it was obtained by fraud. As you know "fraud" simply defined is deliberate deception or cheating with the intention of gaining an advantage.
You have stated that you and your husband discussed the issue of children and that your position on the subject was specific and clear before the marriage. By this, I understand that you made it clear that you would only marry him if he had no children prior to your relationship and he assured you that he had none.
If this was the case, he deliberately did deceive you intending to have you go through with the marriage ceremony to gain for him the advantage of being able to more readily obtain a visa to enter and remain in the United Kingdom. While I commend any father for having enough interest in his child that he goes to strenuous lengths to be near him/her, he should act with integrity.
You said that he admitted that he deceived you, when, within months of your marriage, you found out that he had a child with another woman.
You said "baby" - this would mean the relationship and birth was close to your marriage, if the child was a baby within months of your marriage.
<span style="font-style: italic">His deliberate conduct of deceit clearly falls within the meaning of "fraud". The Matrimonial Causes Act 1989, Section 4 provides that a decree of nullity of marriage may be pronounced on an application to the court in that the marriage is void, on the ground that the consent of either party to the marriage was not valid because it was obtained by fraud. So yes, I can confirm that in Jamaica when the consent of a party to a marriage was obtained by fraud, that consent is invalid and this makes the marriage void. Fraud is only one of the grounds which results in a marriage being void from its inception and as a result of which decrees of nullity could be applied for and be granted by the court.
You may apply for a decree of nullity to the courts in Jamaica and once the deceit is proved and it is further proved that it did lead to you consenting to the marriage and he so deceived you to gain the proved advantage for himself, you ought to be granted such a decree.</span>
You say, however, that you were pregnant at the time you discovered the truth and that you had the child. You also said that you left him after you found out about his deliberate lie, but you did not say when you actually left. By this, I understand you mean that it caused the breakdown of your marriage and you separated from him and have not reconciled with him. <span style="font-style: italic">Your marriage in other words broken down irretrievably because of his breach of trust</span>.
I mention the concept of irretrievable breakdown - <span style="font-weight: bold">which is the sole ground for divorce in Jamaica </span>- because if the deceit is such that it does not amount to "fraud", then dissolution of the marriage would be the route to go. There are, however, time considerations for divorce - you must be married for two years unless a court order says otherwise and you must after separation live separate and apart for 12 months immediately preceding the filing of your petition.
It, however, seems to me that you can bring yourself within the "fraud" of the Matrimonial Causes Act, because you had made clear your position regarding this specific subject and its importance to you before the marriage was celebrated. Then he lied to you so that he could obtain what he wanted, that is the visa for the UK. The "fraud" renders your consent to the marriage invalid and in law your marriage was therefore void.
In circumstances where the marriage is in law void, even when you have not yet obtained a decree of nullity, nothing can be done which can be said to validate it. Once it is void in law it is null, and void and cannot be resurrected.
I must also tell you that the grant of a nullity decree to you will not affect the status of your child. Your child will still be a "relevant child" and shall therefore be entitled to all that the law provides for all relevant children of marriages.
So good luck and I hope that you find, if you wish, another partner who is all that you would wish for in a mate.
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