Annulment and Divorce Law in Florida

Not everyone who decides to get married stays married. If you fall into this unfortunate circumstance where your marriage is heading for failure, then you have a few remedies. The remedies for an ending marriage are different depending on when the end occurs. In Florida, a marriage can be ended in one of two ways: Annulment or Divorce.

An annulment is a court decree that a marriage is void. In other words an annulment basically states that a legal marriage never actually took place. Since there are very specific guidelines to seek annulment in Florida, it is most often times more practical to seek a divorce. For purposes of this blog, we will focus on the requirements of a Florida Annulment.

A marriage that was created by fraud or duress will provide grounds for annulment. If one or both of the parties are underage and have not obtained the consent of their parents will also allow for a marriage to be annulled by one or both of the parties. Florida courts may sometimes even allow the parents of the child to seek an annulment in some circumstances. Other grounds for annulment include:

• Incapacity,
• Marriage under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs
• Bigamy
• Incest

As mentioned above, when a couple annuls their marriage, the court makes it so that the marriage never existed. Ultimately, an annulment stems from contract law, since marriage is a contract in common law. A marriage contract that is annulled is done so based on the concept of voidable contracts. Voidable contracts are contracts that are valid and enforceable, however, they can be terminated by the innocent party without triggering breach of contract.

Seeking an Annulment?

Hire a knowledgeable divorce attorney. The Ticktin Law Group offers complimentary consultations to assess whether you qualify for an annulment. If you do, to file annulment paperwork with the county court where you live. Contact our attorneys today by calling (561) 232-2222 or by completing our contact form here.