Matter Of Geraghty

150 A.3d 386 (2016)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The parties met in 1981 and were married in 1986 in New York. Shortly after marrying, H moved into W's New York apartment, where they resided for approximately four years. W stopped working outside the home, and maintained the parties' household by cooking, cleaning, organizing, and doing most of the grocery shopping. H worked outside the home and served as the sole financial provider. In 1990, they moved to Massachusetts, where they resided for approximately four years. In 1994, they moved to New Jersey and purchased a house, which served as their principal residence until 2007. In 2007, the parties sold their New Jersey house and purchased property in New Hampshire, where, by January 2008, they resided full-time. In September 2013, W filed a petition for divorce. H filed a petition for annulment of the marriage on the ground that the marriage had been induced by fraud. H claimed that W had concealed that she had engaged in prostitution, used illegal drugs, and had certain medical procedures prior to their marriage and that had he known about this conduct he would not have married her. H argued that New York law should apply to the petition for annulment because the parties were married under New York law and annulment of marriage concerns whether a marriage is void at its inception. W moved to dismiss the annulment petition, which the trial court denied. The court ruled that New Hampshire law is the appropriate law to be applied in this case. It then ruled that prostitution and use of illegal drugs prior to the marriage were insufficient to warrant annulment of the marriage. H appealed.