Many people think that they may get their marriage or domestic partnership annulled instead of divorce just because they don’t want to deal with the ‘nightmare’ of alimony or spousal support. Let take a look if you can file an annulment of your marriage!
An annulment (or “nullity of marriage” or “nullity of domestic partnership”) is when a court says your marriage or domestic partnership is NOT legally valid. After an annulment, it is like your marriage or domestic partnership never happened because it was never legal.
Grounds for an Annulment
A marriage is NEVER legally valid when it is:
- Incestuous: when the people who are married or in a registered domestic partnership are close blood relatives; or
- Bigamous: where a spouse or domestic partner is already married to or in a registered domestic partnership with someone else.
Other marriages and partnerships can be declared invalid because of:
- Age at the time of marriage or domestic partnership;
- Prior existing marriage or domestic partnership;
- Unsound mind;
- Fraud;
- Force;
- Physical incapacity;
These are short explanations of the reasons for an annulment. Each of these reasons has important details you have to prove to get a court to give you an annulment.
To get an annulment, you must be able to prove to the judge that 1 of these reasons is true in your case. This makes an annulment case very different from a divorce or a legal separation. For example, “irreconcilable differences” are not a reason for getting an annulment.
Getting an annulment does not depend on how long you have been married or in a domestic partnership. Even if you have been married/in a partnership only a very short time, you may not be able to prove to the judge that your case has 1 of the legal reasons that makes your marriage/partnership invalid.
Proving that there is a legally valid reason to get an annulment can be very difficult. Contact DP Legal Solution for more information to show to a judge before he or she will agree to give you an annulment.