grounds for annulment
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
grounds for annulment
I got married on Dec 17, 2016 and I wish I hadn’t.
It was about 3 months before the wedding when I realized I didn’t want to marry him, but I felt like it was too late. My parents had spent so much money and I didn’t want to disappoint them. I was previously engaged and ended that once I found out he was cheating on me so I felt like cancelling the wedding would make people think I was just that type of person.
I didn’t want my character to be tarnished and I really didn’t want to hurt anyone. But now I am so miserable and I don’t know what my options are/ if I have any. I looked up grounds for annulment and don’t know if that would apply.
Asked on January 5, 2017 under Family Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Nothing you describe is grounds for annulment: not wanting to get married, regretting getting married, getting married so as to not hurt or disappoint others, etc. are not reasons for annulment. Annulment is when the marriage was legaly invalid (not merely undesirable or bad) from the beginning, such as due to--
Lack of consent: one party was under the legal age to marry; one party was mentally incompetent and could not consent
Fraud: one party lied about about one of two fundamental things--either that they only wanted to get married for immigration reasons (but did not disclose that there was no real intention to marry at all) or that they did not want and would never have children, or that they cannot have children, but lied about that (since procreation is one of the prime purposes of marriage)
One of the parties was currently married at the time of the wedding, since you can only marry one person at a time in this country.
Other than as the above you cannot get an annulment, though you may well be able to divorce.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.