Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

marriage of convenience

Our 32 y.o. adopted son (from Vietnam) is a US citizen and has a low comprehension regarding financial situations and relationships. He recently got talked into marrying a girl for her papers as INS is already in touch with her. She has embezelled thousands from him in the past but he has no real grasp of the situation. He thought he was helping out a friend and says he did not want to resort to marrying her. He also says they have no relationship other than roommates. Just so you understand our worry, he is very gulible and becomes victim to buying friendships. When he told us of the arrangement, after the fact, we pointed out to him that it is fraud, and now we want to get him out of the situation. What steps are needed to anul the marriage? Will he be implicated legally if found out by INS to have aided her in this sham? He has limited capacity to understand that this is not right. We realize that he is not competent in this particular area but wonder if we are even in a legal position to assist him since he is living and working on his own. We have tried talking to him but he does not see the real picture and now he is so far in debt we need you valued assistance. We live in NJ so are at a loss of CA laws.


Asked on 2/28/05, 6:14 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter De Bruyn Law Offices Of Peter De Bruyn

Re: marriage of convenience

Under California law, a marriage can be annuled if one or more of the parties lacks capacity or if the marriage is based on fraud. It is doubtful that the INS will consider your son criminaly culpable, based on his lack of capacity and the fact that the fraud was not done for material gain. To help him legally, you should consider being appointed conservator. A conservator is a person or organization chosen to protect and manage the personal care, finances, or both, of someone who has been found by a judge to be unable to do so. As far as debt, you should consider bankruptcy.

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Answered on 3/01/05, 7:13 am


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