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Here we will explore all things annulment and answer the question, ‘what is an annulment?’.
You can apply for an annulment at any time after the wedding, unlike in a divorce where you have to wait at least a year. To get an annulment you need to show that the marriage was not valid in the first place, or that it is void for one of the following reasons:
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A marriage is not legally valid if:
- You are closely related
- One of the parties was under 16 at the time of marriage
- One of the parties was already married or in a civil partnership (bigamy)
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The marriage is void if:
- The marriage was not consummated – you have not had sexual intercourse since the wedding. This does not apply to same sex couples as sexual intercourse is defined in English law as being between a man and a woman
- One of the parties did not fully consent to the marriage for example if you were drunk at the time of the wedding or were forced into the marriage
- One of the parties had a sexually transmitted disease when you got married
- The female party was pregnant by another man at the time of the wedding
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Applying for annulment
Applying for an annulment is effectively the same as for a divorce; you will need to fill in the appropriate “Nullity Petition” forms and send these off to the court with the applicable fee (see divorce costs).
Once the other party has responded to the nullity petition then you can apply for the conditional order and 6 weeks later the final order.
It is possible to do all this yourself, however as there are complexities to the whole process we would recommend seeking independent legal advice to help guide you through the whole journey, especially if children or complex financial issues may exist.
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I got married in Las Vegas, does this count in the UK?
This depends on the circumstances. If you did not consent to the marriage or were unable to, for example, because you were drunk, then you may be able to apply for an annulment. If however, you were fully aware of what you were doing, just because this was a Vegas wedding does not mean it is not valid.
Provided the officials present were qualified and all paperwork was complete, the marriage would be recognised in the UK. You may need to apply for a divorce. Get in touch to discuss jurisdiction issues with us.
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My husband was married to someone else when we married, what are my options?
Usually in this instance you are able to apply to have the marriage annulled because the marriage was never legally valid. You will need to show evidence of the pre-existing marriage to the court and apply using the Nullity Petition.
My wife is pregnant, I’m not sure it’s mine. Can I get our marriage annulled?
The only way you could have the marriage annulled is if you know your wife was pregnant during the wedding and that the baby is not yours. If your wife fell pregnant after the wedding then the marriage was valid. In this case you may need to file for divorce. If however you can show that the pregnancy happened before the wedding day and there is supporting evidence to show the child is not yours, then you may be able to apply for annulment.
We have been married for over a year but never had sex. Can I get a divorce?
If you have never had sexual intercourse (man and woman) then the marriage is void and you can apply for an annulment. If the annulment is contested, the burden of proof may be on you to prove that you have never had intercourse with your spouse. However you should be able to apply for an annulment. Even after over a year you can still apply for annulment but there may be some cases where a divorce would apply.
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