Divorce Annulment

Divorce and annulment are two different ways of ending a marriage. The key distinction is that unlike divorce, annulment voids a marriage, meaning that in the eyes of the court, the marriage is legally invalid. Another difference is that you do not have to be married for one year before applying for an annulment, but that you could petition for nullity within a reasonable time period. However, annulments are quite rare in England and Wales, and in order to apply for one it is necessary to show that the marriage should not have taken place or that one party to the marriage was not lawfully allowed to marry. This could be shown by one of the following examples:

  • One party was already married
  • One party was under the age of 16 at the time the marriage was conducted
  • Non-consummation of the marriage
  • One party was pregnant by a third party at the time the marriage was conducted and this was not known by the other party prior to marriage taking place
  • Consent to the marriage was not valid, and was only given (for example) under duress
  • One party has a sexually transmitted disease and this was not known by the other party prior to marriage taking place

Another ground in which an annulment could be brought is that the procedural requirements of a marriage by law did not take place. This could be that the parties did not fill out the necessary legal forms either at all or did so incorrectly. In order to petition for an annulment you must make an appearance at court. This again differs from a divorce which can be done purely by paper form.

If you would like to obtain advice on annulment or divorce, then Contact Law can put you in touch with local divorce solicitors that specialise in these areas. Please call us on 0800 1777 162 or complete the web-form above.

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