Untying the Knot: Understanding the Difference Between Divorce vs Annulment

Beyond worrying about the breakup of an important, established relationship and the loss of a designated life partner, people going through the termination of a marriage are also tasked with choosing an appropriate method of dissolution. If you are weighing the various pros and cons of divorce vs annulment, you can save yourself a great deal of hassle and anxiety by reading the brief overview that follows.

What Is a Marriage Annulment?

As both a term and a concept, divorce is quite well-known and widely encountered in American society today. A marriage annulment, however, is far less common and often misunderstood.

To pursue an annulment, at least one spouse must have sound reasons to contend that the marriage never should have occurred in the first place. In the eyes of the government and law, an annulment goes beyond a simple dissolution of a marriage to declare that marriage “null and void” on the grounds that it has always been unlawful and illegitimate.

Contrary to popular belief, an annulment doesn’t mean that the union never actually happened. In fact, official marriage records for the couple will remain on file along with additional records that declare the marriage invalid.

It is important to note that any religious definitions of “annulment” may or may not align with the secular and civil definition of the word. A religious annulment certainly does NOT equate to a legal dissolution of a marriage.

The Difference Between Divorce and Annulment

Although both legal processes end with the official dissolution of a civil marriage, divorce and annulment operate on completely different grounds and yield different outcomes. Unlike individuals seeking an annulment, individuals seeking divorce don’t need to assert that the marriage was never valid. A divorce puts an end to a marriage regardless of its validity, simply dissolving that marriage and allowing the spouses in it to amicably or inimically split.

The law in some states facilitates the division of property in an annulment in much the same way as a divorce. However, other states fail to apply the legal presumption of “marital property” to an annulment because the marriage is considered retroactively null and void from its very start. Therefore, you should check the established property division rules and regulations for your particular jurisdiction.

You should also check local annulment rules and regulations regarding alimony child support, and child custody matters. However, these matters are typically regulated quite similarly for both annulments and divorces, tending to concentrate on the best interests of all involved children.

What Are the Two Common Grounds for Annulment?

Legally speaking, annulments generally fall into one of two categories based on their fundamental grounds: void marriages and voidable marriages. Grounds for void marriages include cases or bigamy/polygamy, incest and coercion; while voidable marriages include cases of misrepresentation, mental incapacity and lack of consummation. For more information about annulments and the legal documents that they require, contact the experts at First Class Signing Service today.