Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Re: anullment

"Marriages that are void as against public policy or that are voidable at the option of the aggrieved party may be annulled. If a marriage is annulled, the legal effect is that the parties are treated as though they were never married. A decree of annullment has the effect of rendering the marriage void from the inception and returns the parties to their original status prior to the marriage, as nearly as possible, as though the marriage never took place. The children of the marriage, however, are not made illegtimate by virtue of annulment.(TCA 36-2-207). Since the marriage is treated as never having existed, there is no duty of support that can be judicially extended, thus alimony is not available. . . .Property rights, to the extent that it is possible to do so, should be restored to the premarital position and acquired marital property should be equitably divided. . .property held as tenants by the entirety was deemed to be held as tenants in common with a right of survivorship where the parties were found not be be legally married." Direct quotation from TENNESSEE FAMILY LAW, 1997, pages 108-109, published by Janet L. Richards, Cecil C. Humphreys Professor of Law, University of Memphis School of Law.