Annulment
A Judgment of Nullity erases the marriage as if it never happened. The circumstances for an Annulment are rare. Incest, Bigamy, Lack of informed consent to the marriage, fraud, unsound mind, force, and incapacity to consummate the marriage. Courts are reluctant to grant annulments and are quite rare.
Petitioning for a judgment of nullity (rather than marriage dissolution) should be considered only where the validity of the marriage is in doubt. This is because marital dissolution and nullity of a marriage are premised on contradictory assumptions: A dissolution action is maintained to terminate a valid marriage on grounds arising after the marriage.
On the other hand, a nullity proceeding is maintained on the theory that, for reasons existing at the time of the marriage, no valid marriage ever occurred. In other words, whereas a dissolution action seeks to terminate marital status, a nullity action seeks to inquire whether any such status ever existed. However, a marriage valid from its inception may be judicially dissolved only by an action for marriage dissolution.
A marriage may be invalid from its inception because of irregularities in statutory formalization procedures (ordinarily, license, solemnization and authentication; or because of other legal impediments that, notwithstanding proper formalization, render the marriage void or voidable (incestuous, bigamous, induced by fraud or force, party under age of consent, etc.
Although some marriages, though defective, are simply “voidable” rather than “void” (e.g., because of minority, fraud or force). A voidable marriage (unlike a “void” marriage, which is invalid per se) is valid unless and until adjudged a nullity; and it may be terminated by judgment of dissolution unless the party entitled to have it annulled raises the issue of nullity. In such cases, counsel should advise the client of the pros and cons of the alternative legal remedies.(1) [2:6]
The grounds for a judgment of nullity—particularly where the grounds urged go to a voidable (rather than void) marriage—are likely to be more difficult and costly to prove.