Annulment

An annulment of marriage is when a court determines the marriage/domestic partnership is not legally valid. When a marriage is annulled, it’s almost like it never happened, because it was never legal.

Annulments are rare.  If you ask to have your marriage or domestic partnership annulled, you will have to go to hearing with a judge. Bakersfield Divorce can help you with the documentation needed for an annulment, but we are not attorneys, so you will go to court yourself. We can also recommend attorneys if you one.

An annulment may be available to you in a case involving:

  • Incest (between close blood relatives), or
  • Bigamy (when a spouse is already married to, or in a domestic partnership with someone else).

Marriages can also be declared invalid because:

  • One of the parts was under 18 years old at the time the marriage ceremony was held.
  • One of the parts entered a marriage/domestic partnership as a result of force or fraud or while physically/ mentally incapacitated.

To be granted an annulment, the party who files must prove that one of these reasons is true in their case. Unlike in a divorce or a legal separation, “irreconcilable differences” cannot be cited as a cause to get an annulment.

Getting an annulment does not depend the length of the marriage. Even in cases of short-timed marriages, it is necessary to prove that the case has valid legal reasons for marriage annulment.