While rare, annulments provide an alternative to divorce for people who find themselves in unusual circumstances related to marriage. The Michigan family law attorneys at Bebout, Potere, Cox & Bennion, P.C., know when and how to use annulment proceedings to untie the knot and restore married parties to their single lives.
Annulment vs Divorce and Separate Maintenance
There are three different but related types of domestic actions between spouses:
- Divorce
- Annulment
- Separate Maintenance
Of these, divorce is the most common. In this suit, the Michigan family court dissolves the bonds of legal matrimony, allowing each person to continue life as single individuals, severing their legal and financial ties, and allowing them to marry again, should they choose. Divorce ends a marriage, which remains valid from the date of the marriage until the entry of the judgment.
In order to obtain an annulment, the marriage must be “void” or “voidable” due to the status of the parties or the circumstances they find themselves in at the time of the marriage. A marriage is void if it could not have been legally entered in the first place. An Order of Annulment for a void marriage will be set aside from the start. A marriage that is voidable if the parties could consent to excusing the problem with the marriage. It remains valid until one spouse seeks to have it annulled.
The third type of action, a Separate Maintenance is different than both the others because when the final judgment is entered the parties remain married. A judgment of separate maintenance dissolves the parties' shared property interests, and can establish an order for child custody, parenting time, child support, and even spousal support. However, it does not dissolve the bonds of matrimony. This allows the parties to continue to enjoy certain benefits unavailable to ex-spouses such as shared insurance or military veterans' benefits.
When a Marriage is Void
A marriage is presumed to be legal once it is entered, just like children born within a marriage are presumed to be the children of both spouses. If you are seeking an annulment, it will be up to you and your Michigan family attorney to prove that the marriage is void. Michigan law says that a marriage is void if:
- Consanguinity – where parties are too closely related (including first cousins)
- Affinity – where the parties are too closely related by marriage
- Incapacity – where one of the parties lacks the legal capability to enter into a marriage contract, most often due to mental or physical health
If the marriage is void due to one of these circumstances, it can be challenged at any time, even during probate court estate administration proceedings after one or both parties.
What Makes a Marriage Voidable
While some marriages are necessarily illegal, others can be set aside if one party wishes it.
- Minority – where a spouse was too young at the time of the marriage
- Bigamy – where one spouse was already married at the time of the wedding
- Fraud – where one party mislead the other into entering the marriage, such as by hiding an inability to have children or substantial debts
- Duress – where one party could not reasonably have declined to marry, such as so-called “shotgun weddings.”
Unlike void marriages, a voidable marriage can only be set aside while both parties are alive, and only at one of the spouses' requests.
What the Courts Do in Annulment Cases
When a marriage is annulled as either void or voidable, it is up to the Michigan family courts to establish why the marriage may be undone. Then the Court will resolve the parties' property interests, most often by restoring each party to the property they owned before the marriage. Spousal support awards are rare, but if the parties have children in common the Court can enter a custody, parenting time, and child support order.
Legal vs Religious Annulments
There are some religious sects and faiths that require their believers to have their marriages annulled, rather than condoning divorce. It is important to note that a Judgment of Annulment is not the same as a religious annulment. If you are a follower of one of those faiths, you will need to pursue that process through your church, temple, or religious order, instead or in addition to the civil courts.
Get Help Obtaining an Annulment from a Michigan Family Lawyer
At Bebout, Potere, Cox & Bennion, P.C., we care about you and your family. We help individuals and families in Rochester Hills, Rochester, Troy, Lake Orion, Oxford, Oakland County, Macomb County and throughout Southeast Michigan. We can help you determine if you are eligible for an annulment and proving the necessary grounds to the Michigan family courts. Call us at 248-651-4114 or contact us here to speak to an attorney.