An annulment can be either a legal or religious process, and some people pursue both. Sometimes when a couple no longer wishes to be married but their religion doesn’t support divorce, they can take steps within their religion to annul their union. This won’t legally end their marriage, though.

It’s also possible to get a legal annulment. This involves petitioning the court to declare the marriage invalid. There must be a specific reason to ask the court to do this, and not everyone can meet the strict requirements to be eligible.

What Is Annulment?

A legal annulment occurs when a court declares your marriage null and void. It does not dissolve your marriage, as divorce does. When you divorce, you’re viewed as having been married in the past but no longer married. When your marriage is declared void, in the eyes of the law you were never actually legally married at all.

A marriage can be declared invalid by a court if it was void from the start, which means the union was never legal under any circumstances and never could be made legal even if you wanted it to be. One common example of this is bigamy. You cannot, by law, be married to two different people at the same time. So if you were already married and got married again, the new marriage is invalid from day one.

There are also voidable marriages that can be annulled. These are marriages that can be declared invalid if one of the parties petitions the court, but they also can continue as legal marriages if that never occurs.

A marriage must be either void or voidable in order for one of the spouses to successfully petition to have it annulled.

Legal Grounds for Annulment in North Carolina

If the couple lived together and had a child together, the marriage cannot be declared void after the death of one of the parties except in the case of bigamy.

Distinction Between Annulment and Divorce in North Carolina

Divorce dissolves a valid marriage. Since the state recognizes no-fault divorce, it’s possible for essentially any couple to get a divorce in North Carolina as long as the state’s residency requirements are met.

Annulment declares a marriage invalid. The couple is viewed as never having been legally wed. This is possible only in very limited circumstances when there are specific grounds for invalidating the marriage.