Texas Annulment Rules

 Posted on August 29, 2013 in Divorce

Often, the question of how a divorce differs from an annulment arises. Put simply, a divorce is a legal process that results in the marital bonds being severed. An annulment, on the other hand, is a legal process that results in the marriage being invalidated, as though it never existed in the eyes of the law.

In today's society, divorces are by far the more common method of terminating a marriage. With divorce, however, there is a presumption that the marriage was valid and any assets acquired during the marriage belong to the marital estate, which means that the judge will divide the assets equitably between the parties

If the judge grants an annulment, however, the marriage was not valid from the beginning, which means that there never was a marital estate, and the parties may get to keep their respective assets.

Another purpose of marriage annulment is to make up for mistakes that underage children make by allowing parents, guardians and friends to file for an annulment when the person getting married is under 18 years old and there was no valid parental consent or court order.

When it comes to adult annulments, a court may issue a decree declaring the marriage invalid if:

1. One party was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and they have not cohabitated since sobering up.
2. One party is unable to have sexual relations, the other party did not know about it and they have not cohabitated since the impotence became known.
3. One party can show fraud, duress or force in bringing about the marriage and the parties have not continued cohabitating since then.
4. One of the parties did not have the required mental capacity to consent to the marriage.
5. The marriage is fewer than 72 hours old.
6. One party concealed being divorced for fewer than 30 days.

Independently of the grounds, annulments are usually fact intensive petitions that require the involvement of an experienced Texas family law attorney.