While a divorce legally terminates a marriage, an annulment voids it, making it as if the marriage had never occurred. To obtain an annulment, a marriage must be deemed invalid. In a void marriage, the union was unlawful from the very beginning, and an annulment is immediately granted, and a voidable marriage is still a legal marriage until the court makes its decision to annul. Marriage laws vary by state, but some conditions are generally accepted as grounds for an annulment.
Fraud
A marriage can be annulled if one party misrepresented herself before the marriage. For an annulment to be granted, the fraud must have been a deciding factor when entering the marriage, which may be difficult to prove.
Fraud can occur if one participant lied about or failed to disclose information that is vital to the marriage. For example, one party may not have informed her spouse about a past criminal history, an infection with a sexually transmitted disease, an ongoing relationship outside of the marriage or a pregnancy at the time of the marriage. Fraud can also occur if a party entered the marriage solely to acquire residency in the United States, and had no intention to live with her spouse or consummate the marriage.
Lack of Consent
An annulment may be granted if one or both parties were unable of incapable of consenting to it. This may occur if one of the participants was below the legal age of consent in the state in which the marriage took place. A marriage can also be annulled due to mental incapacity, because of a permanent condition or due to temporary circumstances, such as the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Duress
A marriage that takes place under duress, such as when force is used or one party has been threatened with harm if she does not go through with the marriage, is also grounds for an annulment.
Incest
A marriage between blood relatives that violates the state's marriage laws is considered void. This would include marriages between a parent and child, grandparent and grandchild and brother and sister. Each state's laws will detail the specific relationships that are disallowed.
Bigamy
A marriage is also void if one of the participants has a living spouse from a marriage that was not terminated before the second marriage. In states that recognize domestic partnerships, a marriage is void if the relationship with the domestic partner was not legally terminated.
