Annulment of a Marriage

What is Annulment?

An Annulment is a legal declaration by the Court that a marriage was not legally valid and changes the couple’s marital status back to what it was before the marriage took place. It means, in effect, that the marriage was never valid so it is therefore different to a divorce.

Annulments are preferable to some people due to personal, religious or cultural reasons, where they may not want to be labelled as being divorced.

What are the Grounds for Annulment of a marriage?

The legal grounds for Annulment are:

One or both parties already being married or in a civil partnership
One party being under 16 years of age at the time of the marriage
Parties to the marriage are closely related
Parties to the marriage are of the same sex
The marriage has never been consummated due to one parties refusal or inability to do so
One party having a communicable sexually transmitted disease at the time of the marriage
Being forced or threatened into the marriage / lack of consent to the marriage
The wife being pregnant with someone else's child at the time of the marriage and the husband being unaware of the pregnancy

What is the process for Annulment of a Marriage?

The annulment process is in some ways similar to that of a divorce. One person must petition the other party for an annulment on one of the above grounds.

The petitioner to the divorce will attend Court and give evidence, after which a Judge will decide if the marriage is legal or void.

Please contact us for more information.