SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio has denied the petition of a couple to confirm their marriage as a matter of law.
Langyue Huang and Honghua Chen, represented by attorney Bruce L. Mailman, have petitioned the court to confirm their marriage pursuant to 8 CMC § 1321.
Huang and Chen have lived together since Nov. 27, 2016. They got married on June 9, 2017 in Guangdong province, China.
Huang was previously married to Weihua Peng at the Saipan Mayor’s Office in San Antonio on Dec. 6, 1999. Huang divorced Weihua Peng on May 21, 2021.
At the time of petitioners’ 2017 marriage to each other, Huang was still married to his first wife, Weihua Peng.
For her part, Chen was previously married to Zimu Zhang at Guangdong province, China on Dec. 1, 2006. She divorced Zimu on Oct. 25, 2010. At the time of the petitioners’ 2017 marriage to each other, Chen was free to marry Huang.
Court ruling
At a hearing on July 12, Judge Kim-Tenorio said she was hesitant to exercise the court’s discretion to confirm the petitioners’ marriage because petitioner Huang had still been married to his former spouse, Weihua Peng, at the time of the petitioners’ marriage in 2017.
“In the instant case, Petitioner Huang had a lawful living spouse, Weihua Peng, at the time of Petitioners’ marriage in 2017. Therefore, Petitioners’ marriage is void as a matter of law, and the Court may not exercise its discretion to confirm the marriage, pursuant to 8 CMC § 1321,” the judge said in denying the petition.
In the couple’s petition, they stated that although Huang had a living spouse, Weihua Peng, at the time of the petitioners’ marriage in 2017, Huang and Weihua Peng divorced on May 21, 2021.
The petitioners said the obstacle to the validity of their marriage has been removed, and the court may therefore exercise its discretion to confirm the marriage.
But citing a previous decision of the CNMI Supreme Court that rejected this interpretation of the statute, Judge Kim-Tenorio said, “While the Court may have the discretion necessary to deny an annulment — thereby confirming the marriage — … it may not do so when the marriage is clearly unlawful.”
When either party had a lawful living spouse at the time of marriage, “the marriage was never a legal relationship and is void as a matter of law,” the judge reiterated.
