Annulment

An annulment is when a court finds that your marriage or domestic partnership is legally invalid. Invalid marriages or domestic partnerships are either “void” or “voidable” by order of the court. A marriage or domestic partnership is void if there is incest or bigamy. Incest is marriage with a close blood relative. Bigamy is when an individual is already married to someone else at the time of the marriage at issue. A marriage or domestic partnership may be voidable under several narrow, specific circumstances, including fraud, force, physical incapacity, unsound mind, age at time of marriage or registration of domestic partnership, or due to a prior existing marriage or domestic partnership.

Obtaining an annulment, as opposed to a dissolution of marriage, can have an enormous impact on your rights and obligations with regard to spousal support, the characterization of property, and the division of assets and debts. Accordingly, the attorneys at Youngman Reitshtein, PLC will carefully analyze both possibilities for our clients who are seeking an annulment, in order to assist them in making a fully informed decision on how best to proceed.