Annulment vs. Divorce: What’s the Distinction?

How the Processes Work

Each annulment and divorce are authorized proceedings in state courtroom that end result within the termination of a wedding. The principle distinction  is that if you annul your marriage, it voids the marital transaction and it’s as if the wedding by no means occurred. The wedding could also be “erased”; nonetheless, bear in mind that there shall be courtroom data within the jurisdiction the place the continuing was filed, as annulment sometimes ends with a decree signed by a decide. As soon as your marriage is annulled, so long as you weren’t already beforehand married, you might be as soon as once more thought of “single.”

Whenever you divorce, not like annulment, you aren’t contesting the validity of the wedding; you might be as an alternative asking for judicial intervention to dissolve it. Information of your divorce shall be searchable within the jurisdiction the place you filed. As soon as you might be divorced, your marital standing is labeled as “divorced.”

It must also be famous that annulment from a authorized standpoint is completely different from annulment from a non secular standpoint. A civil annulment refers back to the course of during which your marriage is deemed null and void by the federal government. A spiritual annulment, which additionally could also be often called a declaration of nullity, is the method by which your marriage is deemed null and void by the non secular denomination that carried out the wedding.

Whereas the grounds for each could overlap in some methods, the faith may have its personal standards that should be met, and it’s a wholly separate course of out of your civil annulment. If you need your marriage annulled within the eyes of your faith, you’ll need to seek the advice of somebody from that individual non secular establishment to start that course of.

Grounds for Annulment

Grounds for annulment embody:

• Fraud or coercion: These parts should have been materials within the different partner’s consent to marry; for instance, mendacity about being pregnant to coerce marriage.
• Power or duress: One celebration was pressured to provide consent to marry by the opposite.
• Bigamy: One of many events was married to another person on the time of the wedding.
• Underage: The consenting celebration was under the age of consent to marry and lacked correct parental consent, the place relevant.
• Lack of capability (together with madness): A celebration was unable to grasp the character, impact, and penalties of marriage due to psychological incapacity or, in some jurisdictions, if a celebration turns into incurably insane for a statutorily required time period. Additionally, can apply to the truth that one celebration was bodily unable to have intercourse on the time of the wedding.
• Incest: Completely different guidelines in several states will decide what relationship is taken into account incestuous; nonetheless, sometimes it’s relations with whom you share direct blood (siblings, half-siblings, mother or father, uncle/aunt and niece/nephew, and so forth.).

States may require that the annulment be requested inside a sure time period after the wedding or upon studying of the grounds. A celebration’s continued cohabitation with the opposite celebration after discovery of the grounds may hamper their potential to acquire an annulment.

As a result of marriage is presumed to be legitimate, the burden of proof falls on the celebration shifting for the annulment, so the petitioning celebration should be ready to point out that one of many relevant grounds exists.

Grounds for Divorce

Grounds for divorce embody “fault.” A divorce for “fault” sometimes consists of merciless and inhuman therapy, abandonment, and adultery:

• Merciless and inhuman therapy can embody bodily or emotional abuse.
• Abandonment implies that your partner left with out your consent, with out intention to return, and has been gone for a time period set out by the state legislation.
• “Fault” may embody the long-term incarceration of one of many events.
• Adultery has apparent which means; nonetheless, assembly the standards required by state legal guidelines to show adultery could be fairly troublesome as a third-party witness is usually wanted to testify in regards to the adultery.

So as to get a judgment based mostly on a “fault” floor, the celebration looking for the divorce has the burden of proof to point out the existence of such grounds.

A “no-fault” divorce could be sought on the grounds that the events live aside as a part of a separation settlement or separation decree issued by a decide. It additionally consists of irreconcilable variations and irretrievable breakdown of the wedding:

• A separation settlement is an settlement between the events to stay individually without end. It ought to handle the monetary facet of separating, baby custody and help, and must be filed with the courtroom.
• A separation decree could be granted by a decide, typically based mostly on “fault.” 
• Having a decree of separation could permit the celebration to maneuver for no-fault divorce sooner or later.
• Irretrievable breakdown, also referred to as irreconcilable variations, permits one celebration to unilaterally transfer for divorce if they’ll show that the connection has damaged down, and has been damaged down for a sure time period, and that every one marital property distribution, baby custody, and baby help points had been resolved by the events or by the courtroom.

Sometimes, solely the events within the marriage have standing to petition the courtroom for dissolution of the wedding by annulment or divorce, however there could also be circumstances the place a 3rd celebration has such standing. This can be true significantly when one of many events is a minor or is incompetent and there’s a authorized guardian in place.

Division of Property

As a result of most annulments happen pretty early on within the marriage, division of property could be fairly easy. In these circumstances, the concept is to return every celebration to their premarital monetary state. The events preserve the property which are titled in solely their names, and any joint property shall be divided pursuant to that state’s legal guidelines. If property was acquired through the marriage, nonetheless, the distribution of property could be tough. 

Additionally relying on the grounds for annulment, a courtroom could order division of property if at the least one partner was a putative partner, which means they believed the wedding was authorized.

With respect to divorce, your property shall be distributed as directed by state legislation until you’ve got a legitimate prenuptial, postnuptial, or separation settlement. Sometimes, every partner’s separate property will stay with the person partner, and all property acquired through the marriage shall be distributed following the relevant settlement (if legitimate), or by state legislation. Seek the advice of with an legal professional to search out out in case your state makes use of the ideas of equitable distribution or group property.

It’s potential that prenuptial agreements can embody provisions that eliminate property even within the occasion of an annulment as nicely.

Little one Assist

A baby born into a wedding that’s ultimately dissolved by divorce or annulment continues to be thought of a “legit” baby, and as such, a non-custodial mother or father should still be required to pay baby help. Little one help is paid to the custodial mother or father and is usually based mostly on a proportion of whole parental revenue.

Annulment or Divorce: Which Is Proper for Me?

Within the state of affairs in which there’s a putative partner and an annulment could void a prenuptial or postnuptial settlement for any cause (together with an absence of language within the settlement), then it’s potential that the putative partner might obtain a monetary windfall they could in any other case not be entitled to.

Moreover, if a partner looking for an annulment lives in a jurisdiction the place marital property shall be distributed following the phrases of contract and actual property legislation, not the foundations of equitable distribution or group property, they could understand extra of a monetary profit if such marital property is titled solely of their identify. Nonetheless, it’s crucial to talk to an legal professional in such jurisdictions as a result of it’s extremely unlikely that the courtroom would permit property to be distributed in any method that’s grossly unfair.

Widespread Misconceptions Round Annulment Versus Divorce

Annulment Is Higher for Quick-Length Marriages Than Divorce

The grounds for annulment are completely different from divorce. In case your state of affairs doesn’t meet the statutory standards to void the wedding through annulment, then it’s essential to break up. Length of the wedding isn’t all the time related, though there are specific circumstances and statutes of limitations that will decide completely different grounds for annulment.

Annulments Value Extra Than Divorce

To check prices between the 2 and state that one prices greater than the opposite is wrong. A easy, uncontested divorce during which the companions agree on the distribution of property (or if there are few property to distribute) might value far lower than an annulment of a wedding that lasted a few years however ended as a result of it was found that one partner was already married, as an example. Within the latter state of affairs, you possibly can see the way it could also be extra advanced, and thus extra pricey.

You Can Higher Shield Your Belongings in an Annulment Than in Divorce

The idea which you could higher defend your property in an annulment in contrast with a divorce is wrong. Many courts will nonetheless use the identical ideas of distribution for property acquired through the marriage as they’d in a divorce. Moreover, your prenuptial or postnuptial settlement should still be legitimate even when your marriage is annulled. Most necessary, courts are inclined to skew from ordering outcomes which are unconscionable or grossly unfair.

Continuously Requested Questions (FAQs)