When ending a marriage, most people immediately think of divorce. It’s not the only way, however. Annulment is another potential option.
The term annulment gets tossed around, though it’s misunderstood almost as often. Before you try to travel this path, you should take the time to learn the ins and outs and find out if you even qualify.
What Is An Annulment?
An annulment is where a judge determines that a union is invalid for reasons that existed at the start of the marriage. If an annulment is granted, the marriage is found to have never have existed and it will be as though the marriage never happened.
Different states have different sets of rules about qualifying for annulment. They’re often similar and based on comparable statutes, but they do diverge in certain specific ways.
When Can You Annul A Marriage in California?
You can annul a marriage in California if something is fundamentally wrong at the very beginning. This includes cases of bigamy, polygamous relationships, or instances of incest.
Of these, bigamy, or when one spouse is already married, is the most common. Sure, it sounds like the plot of a bad made-for-cable movie, but it’s not often as dramatic as one spouse having multiple secret families squirreled away across the country.
This usually happens in cases where a spouse ran off, has been out of contact for five years, or may even be presumed dead. But if this individual does turn up at some point, the subsequent marriage may qualify for an annulment.
Even if there was no fundamental fault from the beginning, you may also qualify for an annulment if the marriage was forced.
This most commonly occurs in cases where one spouse was too intoxicated to realize what was happening.
We’re not talking drunk, but intoxicated to the point of being of unsound mind. It may also apply if one person is deemed unable or unfit to make decisions of this nature.
Fraud may also render a marriage voidable, though there are qualifiers. This fraud must go deep, to the very essence of the marital relationship. Misrepresentations of this nature include a variety of potential elements, including:
- The intention to never live with the other spouse.
- The promise to have children without intention to do so.
- Concealing a criminal record.
- Hiding a sexually transmitted disease.
- Covering up impotence or sterility.
- The intent to enter the marriage solely to obtain a green card.
These and others may also meet the criteria for annulment.
Divorce is by far the more common choice, even in these circumstances. The biggest reason for this is that you almost always have to meet certain qualifications to receive an annulment.
Related Reading: What is a Legal Separation?
Divorce Vs Annulment
When weighing divorce versus annulment, one of the greatest advantages annulment offers is time. Most states require a waiting period for divorce. This means you have to wait a minimum amount of time between filing the paperwork and your divorce becoming final.
Yet again, this varies from state to state; some are longer, while others are relatively short. For example, Washington has a 90-day wait, though in Oregon it can be as little as 14 days.
In California, this waiting period for divorce is six months. When it comes to annulment, however, there is no such waiting period. You are legally divided the day the court rules on your annulment.
This is a big draw for many people.
Another advantage is that courts often look kindly on people seeking legitimate annulments. These may be cases where one party has been misled, lied to, or wronged in one way or another. This can lead to favorable rulings for the person filing for annulment.
If you seek an annulment on fraud or other particularly moving factual situations, you may find the court more likely to rule in your favor.
This is an important piece to consider.
Contrary to popular belief, annulment doesn’t necessarily erase a marriage. It cancels a marriage, and technically it never existed in the first place, but that doesn’t erase all the consequences.
Depending on the length of your relationship, the complexity of the situation, your shared marital property, and other obligations, you may still be required to pay some form of support. If you have children, you still must go through the process of establishing custody.
When facing a choice between divorce and annulment, you have many factors to consider. But if you do meet the criteria and qualify for an annulment, it’s often to your advantage to choose that option.
Related Reading: Does It Matter Who Files First?