Annulment

What you need to know about Annulment

Annulment is a legal process that declares that a marriage is null. Given the fact that the annulment procedure is retroactive, a marriage that has been annulled is considered unlawful and it’s like it never existed.

How to be eligible for an annulment

You must be a resident of the state where you’d like to receive the annulment. Most states have clear residency requirements that need to be met in order to be considered for the annulment of marriage.

Be aware of the fact that annulment laws may vary from state to state. It’s best to hire an attorney in your area who knows the valid criteria for this procedure and who can guide you through the requirements.

How to get an annulment

In order to obtain an annulment, you need to have solid proof that there were reasons why your marriage should be declared null. See a list of annulment reasons below.

In case you don’t want to represent yourself in court, you will need to hire an attorney. Get information about the costs. You also need to consider the basic petition fees payable to a tribunal. Generally it costs between 200 and 1000$ for a standard nullity case.

Consult you local priest or rabbi and get information on if and how it could be possible to get an annulment from the Church.  The top 10 reasons for divorce have been documented in many places.

Reasons for annulment:

1. Consanguinity. This refers to the propriety of being descended from the same ancestor as another person. Being married to someone you are related to can be legal grounds for annulment.
2. Age requirements. If at least one of the spouses was under age when getting married, or without parental consent, the marriage can be considered void.
3. Insanity. If one or both spouses have some kind of mental disability or they got married  under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the marriage certificate is declared null.
4. Simulation of consent. This refers to the situation when one of the spouses does not intend to remain faithful to the spouse after marriage.
5. Obtaining consent by deceit. This is considered to be reason for annulment when one partner was deceived by the other, in order to get married and had he or she known the truth they would have not accepted to get married.
6. Murder. If one of the spouses commits adultery, and the couple kills the spouse in order to be free to be together.
7. One of the spouses is already married. It is not legal for a person to be married to more than one person at a time.
8. Forcefully imposed marriage. This refers to the situation when one of the spouses was coerced to get married either by physical or mental force or by abduction.
9. Lack of “canonical form”. The failure to adhere to requirements of cannon laws.
10. Refusal of intercourse. This is also referred to as “willful exclusion of children”. If one of the spouses the other’s right to sexual right open to procreation, the marriage can be declared void.

For more free tips on divorce, discover other parts of this website.   If your disagreements are headed towards a divorce, and you happen to be a man, the best guide can be found at Divorced Dads Survival Guide.