Most people know what it means to get a divorce, but an annulment is not so common.  What makes them different from each other? As you may know, the result of a divorce or an annulment is that the two spouses are no longer legally married.

The biggest difference is that an annulment declares the marriage to be invalid and voided. This means that in the eyes of the law, the marriage never existed.

A divorce yields a different result. A divorce does not undo the marriage, but rather it puts a legal end to the marriage.

Now that the difference is clear, how do you know which is most applicable to you? Lucky for you, the court lays out when you may pursue an annulment. The option for divorce is the default for ending a marriage while you must meet specific criteria to qualify for an annulment.

Generally, to terminate your marriage to your spouse, you will need to file for divorce. That is, unless you qualify for an annulment.

Annulments occur when one of the spouses lacked the ability to enter the marriage.  This may happen if a person was too young at the time of marriage and lacked the court’s consent or lacked consent from a parent or guardian.

Additionally, one may qualify for an annulment if either party or both parties were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of marriage; if either party was under duress or being forced to take part in the marriage; or if either party has a mental illness in which the other party did not know about at the time of the marriage.

If a person is under the age of 18 at the time of marriage and lacked proper consent, they are only eligible for an annulment so long as they have not gone back and ratified the marriage after turning 18 years old and so long as either party has requested an annulment within 60 days of the date of marriage.

The above is similar if a party was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the marriage. They have 60 days from the date of marriage to seek an annulment. If the parties decide to split up following these 60 days, they will no longer be eligible for an annulment but they will need to file for divorce.     

*Disclaimer: the advice provided is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal advice.  It should not be relied on, nor construed as creating an attorney-client relationship.