A null marriage is not recognized by law and does not require special steps to separate. It can be voided if it violates laws such as same-sex or closely related marriages. A voidable marriage can be challenged and annulled by the court, but can be legalized if the spouses take steps to do so.
A null marriage is one that was not legal to begin with, and therefore was never recognized by law. Spouses in a null marriage who wish to separate need not take any special steps to do so because, legally, they are not married. Similarly, disputes over property rights and other issues can arise in a null marriage, because the partners are not married and therefore no rights are available which would automatically be extended.
Many things can void a marriage. One is a law prohibiting marriages of that form; for example, some countries prohibit same-sex marriage. Some countries have bans on marriages where the partners are closely related. If, for example, a brother and sister get married, they may have a null marriage. Likewise, bigamy is not permitted by law in some regions. In situations where someone is married to someone else and fails to properly dissolve the marriage before remarrying, the second marriage will be a void marriage because it is considered bigamous.
One thing to be aware of with a null marriage is that some rights extended to married couples will not be available. This can become especially problematic when a partner dies. It may be possible to challenge the will of the partner on the basis of the argument that the couple was not married.
A null marriage is not the same as a voidable marriage. Voidable marriages are marriages that the law accepts as legal unless challenged, in which case the marriage can be annulled. Some examples include marriages in which one or both parties are minors and marriages in which one partner is impotent. Marriages in which one of the spouses acted fraudulently in order to contract the union, marriages in which coercion or force was used to enter into the marriage contract and marriages in which one of the partners had no the ability to consent.
In a voidable marriage, someone can challenge the marriage and the court can declare it null and allow the partners to separate. However, if the spouses cohabit after the disclosure of the circumstances that make the marriage voidable or take other steps to legalize the marriage, such as obtaining parental consent for a minor marriage, the marriage is no longer voidable. In these situations, divorce proceedings are required to legally separate.
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