My Marriage was so Short – Can it be Annulled?
When a marriage ends almost as quickly as it began, it is natural for spouses to ask if they can get an annulment instead of going through a divorce. However, an annulment is not a “quick divorce.” It’s a legal ruling that the marriage was never valid in the first place.
In the eyes of the state of California, the parties are treated as though no marriage had ever taken place. This means, in California, that the community property rules regarding division of property will not apply. Neither spouse will have vested a right to claim community property.
A California divorce, on the other hand, dissolves what is deemed to have been a valid marriage. This will require a division of assets and debts, and orders for child custody, child support, and spousal support, if applicable.
Many people would love to by-pass the potential complications that arise in a divorce – but very specific criteria must be met for a marriage to qualify for an annulment and the process may take much longer than a divorce.
Void and Voidable Marriage
To qualify for an annulment, a marriage must be either “void” from the beginning, or “voidable.”
A void marriage is one that was never legal in California in the first place. A marriage is void if it is based on incest (marriage between close blood relatives) or bigamy (one spouse was still married to another).
A voidable marriage, on the other hand, is a marriage that was valid until one of the parties proves that the marriage or consent for marriage occurred along with:
- Fraud or deceit,
- Coercion or force,
- Underage spouse (younger than 18 years old),
- Inability to consummate the marriage due to incurable physical incapacity,
- Unsound mind, or
- Genuine belief that a former spouse had died.
If any of these circumstances above may apply to you, it is important to consult with a family law attorney as there are filing time limits for some of the circumstances.
Contact Cardwell Steigerwald Young, LLP
Anyone who is considering what their options are as they consider leaving a marriage needs to carefully assess the details of their own case in order to understand what their best course of action might be. The experienced San Francisco divorce attorneys at Cardwell Steigerwald Young, LLP, can help you to understand which path is most advantageous to you. Contact our office today to begin discussing your circumstances with our team.
Source:
selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/divorce-california/annulment#:~:text=A%20very%20short%20marriage%20is,judge%20can%20annul%20a%20marriage
