이혼 후 청구된 혼인무효 확인의 소 ―대법원 2024. 5. 29. 선고 2020므15896 전원합의체 판결 중심으로―

The Supreme Court of Korea acknowledge the benefit of confirmation to the extent that a suit for confirmation serves as the most appropriate means to eliminate the risk and concerns of a plaintiff. So the Supreme Court said that even after the marriage is resolved by divorce, there is a benefit of confirmation in seeking invalidity if a status relationship such as marriage has a direct and significant impact on the current legal status, even if it is in the past. However, the Supreme Court en banc Decision recently acknowledges the benefit of confirmation even if the plaintiff does not present the current legal relationship related to the marriage, as it can be a valid and appropriate means of resolving related disputes at once. Marriage invalidity is more advantageous to the parties than divorce because the marriage has not been established from the beginning. However, if a child is born between the couple, the nullity of marriage has a serious impact on the child's legal relationship. The child may suffer from the nullity of marriage, throwing him or her into a new legal dispute. There is no misunderstanding of the legal principles regarding the benefit of confirmation in the existing judgment abolished by this ruling. This ruling cannot be absolved of blame that it misunderstood the legal principles related to the benefit of confirmation and recognized the benefit of confirmation too broadly. There is also a remarkable risk that people who have already divorced will overuse a lawsuit to simply delete their family relations register.