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Grounds For Obtaining A Civil Marriage Annulment

14 April 2015 by Louise Boyd

An annulment completely voids the original marriage contract, thus enabling both parties to legally claim that they have never been married other than having to live with being 'divorced'. As with divorce, a family lawyer will be needed to help with issues such as property division, child custody and alimony in the annulment. Here is a look at the annulment process and grounds for obtaining a civil marriage annulment.

Why get an annulment?

Though the decision of whether to get a divorce or annulment is a personal one, many spouses opt for annulment when they want to completely erase the initial marriage. Individuals who want to avoid the stigma of having been divorced, or those prohibited by their religion to get a divorce can opt for an annulment.

However, for your marriage to be annulled, there has to be sufficient grounds for it. Here is a look at what a civil annulment is, and acceptable grounds for having a marriage voided in such a manner.

Civil annulment

You can seek an annulment if you have been placed in a situation in which you should never have been legally married. For a civil annulment, you will need a family lawyer to present your annulment request in court and prove that indeed the marriage should be voided based on one of these legal grounds:

• Concealment: If your spouse hid a major fact from you when getting married, you can seek for a civil annulment. Concealed issues could include substance abuse, impotency, a mental or sexually transmitted disease, or a criminal conviction or history.
• Fraud: A spouse may misrepresent certain facts prior to the marriage, including being old enough to consent to the marriage, being a legal citizen of the U.S. or having been married previously. Should you discover that your spouse was fraudulent after getting married, you have ample grounds to annul the marriage in a court of law.
• Lack of consent: If either party was forced or threatened into the marriage, or did not have the mental capacity to consent to the marriage due to intoxication, coercion, or mental illness, then the marriage can be annulled.
• Incest: This applies to a couple that later realizes that they are too close in familial relation to be in a marriage. Close blood relatives such as siblings, first cousins, grandchildren, and nephews and nieces, or other close relatives by blood or adoption can annul their marriage legally.

For assistance, talk to a professional like Ivy Law Group PLLC.

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