Annulment Information

Annulling your marriage.

On the surface the legal procedures associated with a marriage annulment appear similar to those associated with divorce proceedings. Despite the procedural similarities, the legalities underpinning a divorce and an annulment significantly differ. Before moving forward to file an annulment of your marriage, understanding whether your circumstances warrant an annulment is necessary.

Function

Unlike a divorce that terminates a valid marriage, an annulment action functions to decree that no valid marriage existed in the first place. Some sort of impediment existed at the time the parties attempted to marry, preventing a legal marriage from occurring.

Considerations

Examples of the types of legal impediments that prevent a valid marriage in the first instance include bigamy, mental incompetence, fraud or a close blood relationship between the couple. Other grounds include undisclosed impotence and minority of one or both of the parties. The legal grounds justifying an annulment vary from one state to another. Therefore, you must consult your state's law to determine the specific available legal considerations.

Time Frame

Some states place more restrictive deadlines on when an annulment case is brought. The theory is that if a marriage truly is invalid, the parties need to take action promptly to correct the situation. Examples of more restrictive time frames include a mandate to bring an annulment case withing six months or one year of the date of alleged marriage.

Effects

The declaration of invalidity of a marriage issued in an annulment case means that you were not married in the first place. You are not divorced following an annulment case. You return to the marital status that existed before the purported marriage took place.

Misconceptions

The granting of a civil annulment does not effect the religious status of a marriage. Some religions generally do not permit divorce and remarriage, the Roman Catholic Church being a prime example. The fact that you obtain a civil annulment of your marriage does not automatically mean you become clear to remarry in these churches. You must pursue a religious annulment in accordance with the rules of a particular church (Code of Canon Law in the Roman Catholic Church, for example).

References

• Woman's Divorce: Marriage Annulment
• Marriage Laws: Annulment Laws
• Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries: Annulment of Marriages and Civil Unions in Connecticut

Resources

• Expert Law: Annulment Law