An Overview of Annulment

What is an annulment?

Annulment is a way of bringing a marriage to an end without the need to enter into formal divorce proceedings. You may annul your marriage at any time, unlike a divorce where you are required to wait one year before issuing a divorce petition. Annulments may be preferable for religious reasons where you wish to avoid obtaining a divorce.

In order to obtain an annulment an application needs to be made to Court and you will need to provide substantive evidence, which may include medical evidence, to establish the grounds for annulment.

How is a marriage annulled?

A marriage can be annulled on the following grounds:  

Void marriage

A marriage might not be legally valid if you and your spouse are closely related, one of you is under the age of 16 years old or one party was already married or in a civil partnership at the time of your marriage. In such cases, the law states that the marriage is not legally recognised and therefore void.

Voidable marriages

A marriage is considered to be defective and can be annulled for the voidable reasons that it was not consummated, not properly consented to or at the time of the marriage the other person had a sexually transmitted disease or was already pregnant by another man.

How we can assist you

The procedure involved in annulling a marriage is complex and can be stressful, as you will need to provide evidence to the Court to establish a valid ground for annulment, as well as adhering to the Court’s strict protocol. The process itself can take several months especially if your spouse contests your application. Our family lawyers have a wealth of experience in this area of law and can lead you through this process ensuring your matter is resolved as smoothly and quickly as possible.