Marriage Annulment
If you are interested in getting a marriage annulment, first you must understand that there are two different types: a civil annulment and a religious annulment through the Catholic Church. Your priest is the best source for advice on the latter, but do be aware that a religious annulment does not mean you also have a civil annulment, which is an entirely separate process.
What follows is important information about civil marriage annulments that may help you decide whether you’d like to pursue one or not.
What is a civil marriage annulment?
A civil marriage annulment is an order issued by a judge stating that a marriage is null and void and indeed never existed.
How does one obtain a civil marriage annulment?
Obtaining a civil marriage annulment closely follows the process of filing for divorce. The person seeking to annul the marriage must file a petition with the court stating the reason(s) for the request. The court will then hold a hearing on the petition and hand down a decision. If there are child support or property division issues, they will be handled as well, but this is unlikely as most annulment requests are for short-term marriages.
How difficult is it to obtain a civil marriage annulment?
Because civil marriage annulments are granted on very narrow grounds, a civil marriage annulment is actually much more difficult to obtain than a divorce.
What are the grounds for civil marriage annulment?
The grounds for civil marriage annulment vary by state, but most require that an annulment request be filed within two years of the date of marriage.
Some common valid grounds for annulment include the following:
- Age (one spouse is under the legal age of consent)
- Bigamy (including if one spouse was previously married but hasn’t completed divorce proceedings)
- Duress
- Failure of one party to reveal previous marriage (and divorce)
- Fraud
- Impotence
- Incest
- Incompetence
- Insanity
- Mental disability (spouse cannot mentally participate in the marriage)
- Marriage not consummated
- Married under influence of drugs or alcohol
- Withholding of information such as impotence, sterility, criminal record or sexually transmitted disease.
Note that some states consider cohabitation a bar to annulment, and that simply being married for a short period of time is not usually grounds enough to grant an annulment.
What about children born of a marriage that is later annulled?
Some states prohibit annulment in the case of marriages that produced children; in that situation, your only option is divorce. In states that do permit annulment of marriages that produced children, those children are always considered legally legitimate even if the marriage is later annulled.
Is alimony or spousal support considered in annulment proceedings?
Rarely, but it is possible in annulments of long-term marriages.