Coming to the decision that it is time to end your marriage can be extremely overwhelming and frightening. When you begin looking into your options, you will find that there are two primary ways to terminate your marriage, a divorce (dissolution of marriage), or an annulment (nullity of marriage).

The criteria necessary for an annulment is quite different from that of a traditional divorce as your aim is to prove to the court that your marriage or partnership either is invalid or was invalid at the time of your marriage. If you are looking into filing for an annulment, you should speak with a legal representative that has a strong foundation in family law. At Fair Cadora, our family law attorneys have over 25 years combined experience handling these cases and can provide you with the knowledge and guidance you deserve. 

Some of the legal justifications for an annulment include:

• Physical Incapacity: If one party was unable to engage in intimate relations upon entering into the marriage or domestic partnership, there may be grounds for an annulment.

• Fraud: Cases in which one party entered the marriage by providing false information or purposefully deceived their partner may be grounds for an annulment.

• Force: If one party was forced into the marriage against their will, there may be grounds for an annulment.

• Bigamy or Prior Existing Marriage: If one party is already married or is in a domestic partnership with someone outside of the marriage, there may be grounds for an annulment.

• Incestuous Marriage: If the parties are related by the second degree, i.e., parent/grandparent, child/grandchild, siblings, aunt/uncle or first cousin, there may be grounds for an annulment.

• Age: In the state of California, the required age for consent for marriage without parental consent is 18. If one party was under age when entering into a marriage, there may be grounds for an annulment.  

The party that files for the annulment is required to provide evidence that proves the legal justification as to why the marriage or domestic partnership should be annulled. Unlike a divorce or legal separation, there is a statute of limitations placed upon annulments, which is why it is extremely important to speak to a family law attorney prior to filling your claim. This is not’t a situation you should handle on your own, contact one of our attorneys and let us handle your case.