What Are The Grounds For An Annulment?

Both divorce and annulment involve dissolving a marriage but they are different in their methods of doing so. The basic difference is that in an annulment the marriage gets deleted from the records altogether as if it never existed in the first place. It is mainly for paper or record keeping purposes and for legal reasons. Annulments are far less popular than divorces yet people who have had them still acknowledge their former partner as their ex-spouse.  

Reasons or Grounds for Annulments

• Annulments are sometimes used for religious reasons
• One of the partners was already legally married
• One of the partners was not fully mentally competent to enter the marriage
• One of the partners was legally underage and had no parental consent.
• One of the partners was influenced by drugs or alcohol or some other factor which altered their decision making capability when the marriage took place
• One of the partners is incarcerated and will be serving a  life long sentence
• One of the partners was forced or defrauded to get married by the other partner
• The couple is blood related. As an example, marrying a second cousin is legal, but not a first.
• Murder of a previous spouse
• Adultery with special circumstances
• Insanity
• No intentions of remaining faithful to the other partner
• One of the partners was physically unable to get married which as a general rule involves not being able to participate in sexual intercourse for a long period of time.
• One partner committed fraud on the other about a significant personal habit or situation by withholding the information.  Examples of this might be concealment of some physical condition, drug addiction, or unknown deviant criminal history.

If You Are Considering Annulment

An annulment is a detailed legal process and needs to be done correctly and with precision. If you are in the Charlotte County area and are considering getting an annulment, you should consult with a Punta Gorda family law attorney to help you. At the Fritsch Law Firm, we are experienced with both divorce and annulments and can guide you through the process to successful completion so you can move forward with your life.  

Contact a Punta Gorda annulment lawyer in our office for a free consultation and we will go over the details of your marital situation in confidence.