In the sixth of our short films we look at annulment and whether you can have a marriage annulled
If you have any further questions, or would like to arrange an appointment to discuss any issues, please do contact us.
To see other films, in which members of our Family team answer the top ten questions we are asked on divorce, financial settlement, cohabitation and civil partnership, follow this link.
https://youtu.be/iuRqVYUD1x8
There may be religious reasons why you would want to annul your marriage or it could be you have only been married a short while and wish to end the marriage immediately as you cannot divorce within the first year of a marriage.
In order to annul a marriage, you have to prove to the Courts satisfaction that it is either void, or voidable. The difference in proceedings between annulment and divorce is you actually have to go to court, there has to be a hearing in open court which can mean additional expense and additional complexity.
If you proceed on the basis that that marriage is void you do have specific grounds to choose from. You may have to show that the other party was unable to consummate the marriage either wilfully or due to lack of capacity. Another reason would be lack of valid consent to the marriage such as through duress or even mistake or lack of mental capacity. You could also seek to petition for annulment on the basis its voidable because the other party was suffering from a venereal disease, a sexually transmitted disease or the other party, the wife, was pregnant by another person
