Annulment – what does it mean and who is eligible to use it?

An annulment is a declaration by a court that your marriage was not legally valid, or had become ‘void’ in some way. This is the crucial difference between annulment and divorce.

In order to legally marry in England and Wales, certain conditions must be met and rules followed. An invalid marriage, one eligible for annulment, is one where:

• The couple are closely related
• One person was already married or in a civil partnership with someone else
• One person or both was under the age of 16.

If the marriage goes ahead but any of the above apply, you can apply for annulment. You can do this within the first 12 months of marriage, which is different to applying for divorce, or any time after this. However, if you discover the marriage wasn’t valid, it’s important to apply for an annulment as soon as possible or the court may ask you why you waited.

‘Voidable’ marriages

Another way that a marriage can be annulled is if it becomes voidable. Reasons for this include:

• One person was forced into the marriage – they didn’t properly consent
• The marriage hasn’t been consummated – where the married couple haven’t had sex since the wedding
• One person was pregnant with another person’s child at the time of the wedding
• One person had a sexually transmitted disease at the time of the wedding
• One person is currently transitioning to a different gender.

All of the above apply to marriage, but you’ll need to check the rules around annulling a civil partnership.

Key differences between divorce and annulment

An annulment recognises a problem with the legality of the marriage, or a reason why the couple should not have been married in the first place. For example, if they married their spouse without knowing a major piece of information about them, such as being pregnant with another person’s baby.

Divorce is quite different. Instead of focusing on the technical legalities of the marriage itself, divorce is a process designed to legally separate couples whose relationship has irretrievably broken down.

These two processes do have something in common, in that the marriage remains valid in the eyes of the law until the court gives its declaration. Even if you believe your marriage was invalid or voidable, you still have to go through the annulment process to get this legally recognised.

Need help with annulment or divorce? Get in touch with Liverpool divorce solicitor Tracey Miller Family Law and her team for practical, straightforward advice to help you make the right choices. Call 0151 515 3036 or contact us online.