Is my Marriage Eligible for an Annulment?

You might have heard about celebrities like Britney Spears or Dennis Rodman filing for an annulment and wondered why they would seek an annulment instead of filing for divorce. Most people do not begin their marriages with the expectation that it will end (except by death do us part). When most people seek to end their marriages, they usually do file for divorce. In rare and limited circumstances, however, an annulment may be the more appropriate resolution. Annulment is a legal process that declares the marriage never existed because the marriage contract was not valid to begin with. Most marriages will not be eligible for annulment, but there are some that will be.

What are the grounds for obtaining an annulment of your marriage?
North Carolina grounds for annulment (N.C.G.S. § 51-3):

• Incest. Any marriage between people who are too closely related is an invalid marriage and can be annulled. In North Carolina, you can marry someone who is as closely related to you as a first cousin (should you so choose). There is one exception to being permitted to marry your first cousin and that is you may not marry your “double first cousin.” A “double first cousin” is a cousin resulting from two brothers marrying two sisters, then the resulting progeny are first cousins through both their mothers’ sides and their fathers’ sides of the family.
• Under the age of consent to be married. If you were under the age of 16 when you were married, your marriage would be invalid and annulled because you could not legally give consent to marriage. If you were married between the ages of 16-18 without parental consent, your marriage is also invalid and can be annulled.
• Bigamy. If one spouse was still legally married to someone else at the time of your marriage, your marriage is invalid and can be annulled.  
• Impotence. If you were impotent (not sterile and unable to have children, but physically unable to consummate a marriage) on the date of your marriage, then your marriage is void and can be annulled.
• Lack of consent. If one spouse was forced, under duress, or tricked into marriage, or lacked the legal capacity to consent to marriage (for instance, did not have the mental capacity to consent), then your marriage could be annulled.
• Mental illness. If one spouse has a serious, debilitating mental illness that was not disclosed before the wedding, then the other spouse can request the marriage be annulled. 
• Mistaken belief of pregnancy. If the wedding took place because the wife mistakenly believed she was pregnant, the marriage is “voidable” (but the parties also have to have separated within 45 days of the wedding and a child was not born within 10 months of the wedding date). Voidable means that the marriage will be presumed valid until declared void by a court.

South Carolina grounds for annulment:

• Incest (S.C. Code Ann. § 20-1-10). Any marriage between people who are too close of blood relatives is invalid and can be annulled. In South Carolina, you can marry someone as closely related as your first cousin.  
• Bigamy (S.C. Code Ann. § 20-1-80). If you married someone while you or they were legally married to someone else, your marriage is invalid and can be annulled.
• Under the age of consent to be married (S.C. Code Ann. § 20-1-250). If you were under the age of 16 at the time of your wedding, then your marriage is invalid and can be annulled. If you were between the ages of 16 and 18 and entered into marriage without written parental consent, then your marriage is invalid and can be annulled.
• Fraud. If one spouse misrepresents or lies about themselves or their circumstances when entering into marriage, then the marriage is not valid and can be annulled. The misrepresentation must be intentional and about something essential to the marriage, like impotence, sterility, or serious mental health issues.
• Duress. If a spouse was forced or pressured into marriage by fear of bodily harm or violence, then your marriage may be annulled.  
• Never cohabitated with your spouse (S.C. Code Ann. § 20-1-530). A marriage contract may be declared invalid and annulled where the parties never lived together and did not consummate the marriage.

​What’s the difference between a divorce and an annulment?
The annulment of a marriage means that legally speaking, the marriage never existed because the marriage contract was invalid at the time it was entered. A divorce legally dissolves a valid marriage. If your marriage is annulled, you do not have a claim to equitable distribution (in North Carolina) or equitable apportionment (in South Carolina) because there was not a valid marriage, so there were never any “marital assets” or “marital debts” that could be distributed upon the dissolution of the marriage.

​If you believe you may be eligible for an annulment or want to know more about your options for divorce, please call our office or click the button below to schedule a consultation.    
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