LOS ANGELES – Renee Zellweger's marriage to country crooner Kenny Chesney never existed — at least in the eyes of the law.
The couple's union has been annulled by the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to documents obtained this week by the television show "Extra." Publicists for Zellweger and Chesney did not return calls to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
An annulment is a judicial declaration that a marriage never legally existed.
In California, an annulment may be granted when either party in the marriage is under 18, of unsound mind, bound to a previous marriage or if the consent to marry was obtained by fraud or force.
In court papers filed last September, Zellweger listed "fraud" as the reason she was seeking an annulment after four months of marriage.
The Oscar-winning actress later issued a statement saying the term was "simply legal language and not a reflection of Kenny's character."
Zellweger, 36, and Chesney, 37, wed in a small ceremony on the Caribbean island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands in May. It was the first marriage for both.
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