Annulment In New York 2024 Guide – Forbes Advisor – Technologist

Annulment is a method of ending a marriage that does not dissolve the union but instead declares it was never legally valid to begin with. The marriage is declared null and void. You are not divorced from your spouse; instead, the court essentially declares that you never had a valid marriage at all.

What Is Annulment?

In New York, Chapter 14, Article 9 of the Domestic Relations Code defines circumstances in which an action can be brought to annul a marriage.

As New York Consolidated Laws, Domestic Relations Law Section 7 explains, the court can annul certain marriages if they are voidable. A voidable marriage will be declared invalid upon a request from one of the spouses, but the marriage is not automatically void absent legal action.

Under New York’s domestic relations laws, certain other marriages are void, not voidable. That means the marriage was never valid and cannot ever be valid, regardless of the wishes of the parties.

New York Consolidated Laws, Domestic Relations Law Section 6 explains that a marriage is void if it is bigamous, while Section 5 makes clear that a marriage is void if it is incestuous.

When the court declares a void or voidable marriage invalid, that is an annulment.

It is important to understand that a legal annulment is different from a religious annulment. Your religion may have its own annulment process, and that is completely separate from a legal annulment.

Legal Grounds for Annulment in New York

In New York, a marriage is void if:

• It is incestuous. New York Consolidated Laws, Domestic Relations Law Section 5 defines an incestuous marriage as one between an ancestor and descendent, between a brother and sister or between an uncle and niece or aunt and nephew.
• It is a bigamous marriage. New York Consolidated Laws, Domestic Relations Law Section 6 says a marriage is “absolutely void” if someone who enters into the marriage already has a living husband or wife and that original marriage hasn’t been annulled or dissolved.

A marriage is voidable under New York Consolidated Laws, Domestic Relations Law Section 7 if:

• Either party was under the legal age of consent (age 18) at the time of the marriage.
• Either party was incapable of consenting to a marriage because they could not understand the implications.
• Either party was not capable of entering into the married state as a result of physical causes.
• Either party entered into the marriage only because of force, duress or fraud.
• Either party has been incurably mentally ill for at least five years.

Your marriage must be void or voidable on the basis of one of these grounds in order for it to be annulled.

Not wanting to be married anymore, irreconcilable differences or other problems in the marriage are not grounds for annulment. If one of the above grounds does not apply to your marriage and you wish to end it, you will need to get a divorce.

Distinction Between Annulment and Divorce in New York

Annulment and divorce are very different.

Virtually anyone can get divorced in New York. You simply must comply with New York divorce laws related to residency and choose from a variety of grounds for divorce including abandonment, adultery, separation, imprisonment, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and cruel and inhumane treatment.

Divorce does not mean your marriage was never valid. Under the law, you’re still classified as having been married in the past. Divorce also requires settling many more potential issues. For example, you may have to deal with issues such as alimony and property division in a divorce case but not during annulment proceedings.