What are the grounds for annulement?

Question

I do not understand the concept of annulment so I would like to have it explained to me.

1 What are the grounds for annulment?
2 How does it differ from divorce?
3 Why opt for one over the other?

Please answer as thoroughly as possible using more than sentences. Please do not answer, "I am not married so I would not know" because that would not be an answer to this question.

Please share your story. Feel free to use plenty of description. I got the time to listen.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Answer 1

The specific grounds (reasons) for annulment are different from state to state, but generally you get an annulment if there was a fraud or serious mistake in your decision to get married.

For example fraud: he was already married, knew it and didn't tell you.

Mistake: You were already married, thought your divorce was final, but you were wrong.

Also, an annulment can be granted when the marriage is "voidable". That means that one of the persons did not have the legal ability to consent to it because they were too young, insane, or otherwise not competent.

You can usually only get an annulment in the first year of the marriage, sometimes an even shorter time. By then, if you haven't discovered the problem with the marriage, you have to go through a divorce. Divorce is more complicated in most cases because of the division of property acquired during the marriage. With an annulment, it is as if it never happened and everyone leaves with what they came in with.

Answer 2

As I remember it, the main ground for annulment is fraud. If, for example, he didn't tell you that he was really a woman, or that he had another wife, or that he had had a vasectomy and couldn't have the kids you had been talking about, or if one or both of you was so drunk or high that you didn't realize that you were getting married at all (the Britney Spears example), you could file for an annulment. The difference between an annulment and a divorce is that an annulment basically says that you were never married in the first place, while a divorce says that you were married, but that the marriage is now over. That is why some religions will accept an annulment, but not a divorce - they think that once you are married you should stick to the marriage, but if you were never really married, you can't be held to anything.

Answer 3

Being married for a very short time and deciding that you don't want to be married anymore. It means the marriage never happened. A divorce means that the marriage is recognized as happening and then failing.

Some will say that in order to have an annulment that you must not have consumated the marriage, but this is not true because without pregnancy, there's no actually way to prove a couple has had sex short of a medical exam directly after intercourse and a DNA test done on any remaining bodily fluids.

Answer 4

i'm filing for annulment now with the district court. the grounds depends on what state you live in. i believe there's 3 grounds for annulment, if the marriage was a fraud, difficult time getting along, and theres one more i'm forgetting. there's no time limit, so even if you've been married for more than a year you're still able to file for annulment. there are different packets and then you may file. Packet 27: no children together, no joint debts, and no properties owned. This is in the state of nevada, it does differ state to state so inquire within the district court or a lawyer.

the difference between annulment and divorce is when you get annuled it would make the marriage voided or null as if it never happens. you're back to single status instead of divorced. getting a divorce is more complicated situation, i.e. debts, children, etc

good luck!

Answer 5

Annulment is basically declaring that the marriage was never legit in the first place. Divorce is saying that the marriage happened, but it's now over.

One interesting quirk is that the Catholic church and perhaps other religious groups don't recognize divorce, so if you ever want to remarry in that church, you have to get an annulment. It doesn't have to be within the first year, though. So a Catholic person who splits up from their spouse would get a legal divorce, then seek and annulment from the church.

According to this Catholic website, if you were insane, immature, unable to perform your marital duties, you didn't really mean it when you said "I do", your spouse deceived you in some significant way, you were coerced, and possibly if you wouldn't have gotten married if you'd really understood what it meant. (this last one confused me a little.)
http://www.archdiocesesantafe.org/Offices/Tribunal/ExplanationGr.html

Answer 6

Annulment can happen if the marriage can be declared never legally binding OR in some states, if there is proof there was never a sexual relationship. So for instance, if someone puts false info on the marriage license it can be declared null and void. Or maybe you find out later the person you married was not legally available to marry at that time. Like they were getting divorced, but it hadn't gone through by the time you married. Or you marry someone and then they deny sex to you completely when they didn't inform you prior to the marriage that they were going to do that.

Answer 7

There are different grounds in different states. You would have to consult an attorney to find out for sure what they are in your state.

I got mine for bigamy--my ex had at least 4 other wives that I was able to prove.

An annulment differs from divorce in that after the granting of a divorce, it still looks as though it existed. After an annulment the record is supposed to be completely expunged as though it had never existed.

A divorce will let your children be considered legitimate whereas an annulment would cause them to be considered illegitimate. In today's world, who cares?

Answer 8

~annulment means the church (and I think the government too) acts as if the marriage never happened
~an annulment (at least in the state I live in) can only be done up to the first year or so
~ if you have been married for a couple years, you can't get an annulment, and again, an annulment completely wipes it off your record as if nothing ever happened.

Answer 9

You can get an annulement if you were married for less than 1 year and you decided that it's not working. No strings attached. You can just fill out some papers and undo the marriage.

If you get a divorce after a year's time, it's much more difficult. You have to have reasons, tons of paperwork, split the money, etc.

Answer 10

I really depends on where you live but I have had a annulment here in Canada. When I was married I kept a journal which helped quite a bit when I applied. It proved that my wife was unfaithful, abusive and not ready to be married. I hope this helps and good luck.

Pete