Annulments of marriage are rare in today's society, but the procedure is still available if the required legal grounds for annulment are present. The legal theory underlying annulment is that the marriage was never valid to begin with -- meaning that the marriage never existed in the eyes of the law. In legal terms, marriages subject to annulment are classified as "void" or "voidable," and are sometimes called "nullified" marriages. An action for an annulment must be started by a certain time. The time limit depends on the type of marriage entered into and the state in which you live. 

Annulment or Divorce?

Annulment is distinct from divorce in that a divorce terminates a previously valid marriage. Remember that the key to an annulment is that the marriage was never a valid one in the eyes of the law. As in divorce, however, in annulment cases the court may award custody of children of the marriage and require payment of child support and support of a party.

Legal Grounds for Annulment

Courts will order that a marriage be annulled if one of the following situations can be established:

• Mental Illness, Insanity or Retardation: If a person is married while mentally ill, insane or so mentally retarded that he or she could not knowingly and willingly consent to marriage, then the marriage may be annulled. Here, annulment would be granted on the theory that marriage is a consensual relationship, and most mentally ill, insane, or retarded people are considered incapable of giving legal consent.

• Temporary Insanity: If temporary or periodic insanity is claimed, the affected person's condition at the time of marriage governs whether or not his or her possessed the legal capacity to marry. A marriage will not be annulled if it was entered into during a "lucid" interval between episodes of temporary insanity.

• Fraud: If one of the parties did not tell the truth, or misrepresented information in order to induce the other party to enter into the marriage, then the marriage may be annulled because of fraud.