Annulment in Virginia: Is it possible?

A major misconception about annulments is that they’re easily granted when the marriage has only lasted a short period of time.  A marriage of a few hours – or even a few weeks or months – doesn’t necessarily qualify for an annulment.  By contrast, even, a longer term marriage could, potentially, qualify for an annulment if the right circumstances existed.

Still, it’s probably important to note: in fourteen years as a family law attorney (as of the date of this writing), I have not done a single annulment.  In fact, I can’t think of a t ime that any attorney in my office actually did handle an annulment.

Why?  Because the specific conditions required are so specific.  Not only that, but a no fault divorce – especially after only a very short marriage – is relatively quick and inexpensive to obtain by comparison.

An annulment would require litigation, meaning that you’d have to go to court to make your case and the judge would have to decide to grant your annulment.  An annulment is not like a divorce because an annulment basically erases the marriage.  It becomes as though the marriage never legally existed.

A divorce, on the other hand, dissolves an otherwise valid marriage.  Because the marriage was valid, we can divide the assets and handle things like child custody and child support, that we wouldn’t handle in an action for an annulment.

What are the 3 situations where an annulment can be granted?

1. When there is a defect in the marriage itself

If there’s a defect in the marriage, then your marriage was never valid.  So, either you got married too young, you didn’t record the marriage properly, your celebrant was not authorized to perform marriage ceremonies in Virginia, your spouse was already married, or for some other reason you were not in a position to get a valid legal marriage.

In this case, you couldn’t get a divorce, because you didn’t have a valid marriage anyway.  You would have no option other than to get an annulment.

2. When your spouse withheld a critical piece of information

It’s kind of complicated, but withholding critical information  can also be grounds for an annulment, but only certain kinds of information is legally considered critical.  You actually might feel differently about what qualifies as critical information, but, unfortunately, the law is fairly narrowly tailored here.  Only four types of information are deemed “critical”:

1. If your husband was convicted of a felony
2. If your husband is unable to have children
3. If your husband was a sex worker
4. If your husband fathered a child outside of your relationship within ten months of your marriage

Just the fact that one of these four circumstances exist isn’t enough; you have to also prove that this information was withheld from you and you did not know it before you got married.  Even finding out on your wedding day is not enough; if you found out and still walked down the aisle, you’d lose access to the right to use any of these as grounds for annulment.

3. Where there is fraud

In order to prove fraud, you’d have to meet all the prongs in a four part test:

1. Your spouse lied or misrepresented something to you.
2. The lie or misrepresentation was intentional.
3. You relied on the lie or misrepresentation.
4. You were hurt by the lie or misrepresentation.

Compared to the other circumstances under which an annulment might be allowed, fraud seems wider reaching, but the four part test would likely complicate matters.

And … that’s it.  If you don’t meet one of those specific exceptions, you would not qualify for an annulment and would have to get a divorce instead.

That’s not a terrible thing, though.  In general, a no fault divorce is going to be easier to get than an annulment anyway.  I know – you wanted the marriage to disappear, like it never existed.

The law doesn’t make it easy, though, and for good reason.  Though you may not feel protected right this minute, being married is a protection.  It protects your right to division of the assets, for one thing; no division of any asset (or liability!) is handled in an annulment, since it makes it as though the marriage never occurred.

It may be, especially if yours is a very short marriage, that there’s nothing to divide anyway.  That’s still good news, because it means there’s less to fight about and things are even easier to resolve. If you don’t have minor children in common and you have a signed separation agreement, you would be eligible to end your marriage after just six months of separation.

I know it isn’t perfect and this isn’t what you planned.  But whether we’re talking about an annulment or a no fault divorce, talk to a licensed family law attorney in your area to come up with the best plan for how to resolve things as quickly and efficiently as possible.

For more information or to schedule a consultation, give our office a call at 757-425-5200 or visit our website at hoflaw.com.