Attorney & Counselor At Law
Private Mail Box PMB-556
24331 Muirlands Boulevard, Suite D4
Lake Forest, California 92630
Telephone: (949) 206-9900
Call Toll-Free
1-877-77-DIVORCE
(1-877-773-4867)
An annulment is a court ruling that a marriage was never legally valid. Some people may prefer to seek an annulment for religious reasons (although it is not always necessary to obtain a civil annulment in order to qualify for a religious annulment) or because the marriage caused a party to lose spousal support from an earlier marriage.
In California an invalid marriage may be "void" or "voidable." An incestuous marriage or a bigamous marriage is "void" from the beginning. In effect it never existed. A marriage is "voidable" and may be adjudged a nullity, based on the petitioner's age at the time of the marriage, prior existing marriage, unsound mind, fraud, force, or physical incapacity. There are specific conditions and time limits for initiating the annulment of a voidable marriage, depending upon the basis being alleged.
Issues of custody, support, or property division may also be addressed by the court as part of an annulment proceeding, if one of the parties is found to be a putative spouse.
Consult a lawyer to help you decide whether or not you may qualify for an annulment, and to help you through the steps of obtaining one.
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