Annulment is a very unusual remedy. With the exception of bigamy and not meeting the minimum age requirement for marriage, it is rarely granted. A marriage can be declared null and void if certain legal requirements were not met at the time of the marriage. If these legal requirements were not met then the marriage is considered to have never existed in the eyes of the law. This process is called annulment. It is very different from divorce in that while a divorce dissolves a marriage that has existed, a marriage that is annulled never existed at all.

There are several legal grounds for annulling a marriage.

If you were married while you are under the legal age in Tennessee, without the legal consent of at least one of your parents or a guardian, your marriage may be annulled. This ground may apply to marriage partners who are married in secret or eloped without the knowledge or consent their parents. After reaching the age required for marriage in Tennessee, an annulment in this situation will depend on the facts of the case, and the court can find that the parties are still legally married.

If either spouse was still legally married to another person at the time of the marriage then the marriage is void and no formal annulment is necessary. It may be a good idea to seek some legal advice about the necessity of a formal court decree to set out the rights of the parties.

If the court finds that either spouse did not have ability to understand the nature of the marriage contract or the duties and responsibilities of the marriage contract, then there may be grounds for an annulment. However, if the spouse who did not have the ability to understand the contract gains the capacity to understand it and freely lives with the other spouse, then this ground does not apply. This particular ground most often applies to someone who has been mentally ill or who has suffered from mental or emotional disorder.

If the consent to the marriage contract was obtained either by fraud or force, then there are grounds for an annulment. Fraud is simply not telling the truth in order to induce the other party to enter into the marriage contract. Whether the failure to tell the truth will be grounds for annulment depends of the facts of the case. Force implies the use of or threat of the use of physical violence to make a person get married. The person who has been threatened or deceived about the marriage contract continues to live with the spouse after the discovery of the fraud or the deception or after being forced into the marriage, it is possible that this ground will not apply.

If either spouse was physically incapable of entering the marriage at the time of the marriage, usually because of a lack of ability to have sexual intercourse, and if this inability appears incurrable or if the spouse refuses to take any action to cure the inability, there are grounds for an annulment. The inability must continue and must exist at the time of suit.

Of course, marriage between brother and sister or parent and child or other close relatives are also void and like bigamist marriages, need not be formally annulled. Once again, it may be wise to seek a formal decree of the rights of the parties.

Finally, if the wife is pregnant with someone else's child at the time of the marriage and husband does not know about it the husband has grounds for an annulment.

Annulling a marriage simply erases it from the records, as if it never took place. Children however will not become illegitimate just because the marriage was annulled.

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The information available through TBALink LawBytes is basic legal information and is not a substitute for legal advice. LawBytes is provided by the Tennessee Bar Association as a public service and for general information only. It should not be considered legal advice. You should consult your attorney if you have questions concerning any specific situation. If you do not have an attorney, may we suggest that you contact your local bar association's referral service. The topics covered through TBALink LawBytes will provide basic information and should make it easier for someone with a problem to decide whether they need professional help from a lawyer or if another agency could provide them with assistance.