Judge annuls wealthy US lawmaker's marriage: Does that also erase assets to divide in divorce?
A Florida judge on Tuesday annulled a wealthy federal lawmaker’s longtime marriage, finding it to be invalid because his wife was already married when they wed.
That means U.S. Representative Alan Grayson, D-Florida, won’t have to worry about dividing marital assets in his pending divorce, his lawyer says, because the marriage, from a legal standpoint, never occurred, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
“It would be our position that since the marriage is an annulment, there are no such things as marital assets,” attorney Mark NeJame told the newspaper. “It’s extremely important because there are substantial assets that are involved.”
Grayson, said to be worth some $30 million, is planning to run for a U.S. Senate seat.
Neither the Sentinel nor WKMG, which also has a story about the Orange County Circuit Court annulment ruling, includes any comment from Grayson’s estranged wife or her legal counsel.
Grayson married Lolita Grayson in 1990, and she filed for divorce in January of last year. However, he responded by seeking the annulment, contending that their marriage wasn’t valid because she hadn’t disclosed a prior marriage in 1980 that had never been dissolved, the Palm Beach Post reported last month.
An earlier Tampa Bay Times story provides additional details.
Updated July 15 to fix a typo.