Is Annulment the Same Thing as Divorce?

What Is an Annulment? When Can a Marriage Be Annulled? Why Seek an Annulment Rather Than a Divorce?

Your marriage isn’t working, and there’s no realistic hope of resolving your differences. You know you can file for divorce, but you’ve also heard mention of an “annulment.” Is that the same as a divorce? If not, what are the differences? What requirements must be met to have your marriage annulled? Why would you choose to do that instead of getting a divorce?

What Is the Annulment of a Marriage?

An annulment is not the same thing as a divorce. A divorce will legally terminate a marriage, dissolving the bonds of matrimony, whereas an annulment finds that the marriage itself was not valid in the first place, meaning that the parties were never legally married. Typically, even when a marriage is annulled, the records related to that marriage still remain on file.

When Can a Marriage Be Annulled?

The grounds for an annulment are based on state laws, so there are some differences from state to state. As a general rule, though, one of the following conditions must exist for a marriage to be legally annulled:

• The marriage was the result of duress, threat, or misrepresentation.
• One of the parties was legally married to another person at the time of the marriage.
• One of the parties was under the legal age to marry at the time of the marriage.
• One of the parties intentionally concealed a material issues, such as a criminal history, a serious illness, substance abuse, or the existence of a child.
• One of the parties lacked the capacity to enter into a marriage due to impairment by drugs or alcohol, or due to a mental defect or condition.
• The marriage violated state laws regarding incest.

Why Would You Seek Annulment Rather Than File for Divorce?

An annulment can be preferable for the following reasons:

• An annulment can be sought at any time after the marriage—Many states prevent parties from filing for divorce within a certain time period after the wedding. There are no such limitations with an annulment.
• An annulment may allow a party to regain access to benefits discontinued by the marriage—For example, most alimony awards are terminated when the receiving party remarries. If a person receiving alimony gets remarried, and then that second marriage ends in divorce, the person who was receiving alimony can’t ask the court to reinstate the previous support obligations of the first spouse. But if the marriage is annulled, the party may be eligible to receive support again from their first spouse.
• An annulment will protect certain property rights—In a divorce, the parties must come to an agreement as to how marital debts and assets will be divided (unless there’s a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement). With an annulment, since the marriage never legally occurred, all property reverts to the person who owned it before the marriage.