Understanding Annulment vs. Divorce
Hi, my name is Clint Hastings. I’m a Tulsa Dads.Law attorney here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I focus on fathers’ rights.
Today, I want to talk about the difference between an annulment and a divorce. Sometimes people use these two terms interchangeably, but they are legally very different.
Annulling a Marriage
An annulment is when a marriage is declared null and void, meaning it was never valid to begin with. A divorce, on the other hand, is the legal end of a valid marriage.
An annulment can be granted in specific situations—for example, if one spouse committed fraud or was never divorced from a previous spouse. In those cases, the other spouse can ask the court to declare the marriage void, and the spouse who committed the fraud would not have the same legal rights they would in a valid marriage that ends in divorce.
Grounds for Annulment
Other grounds for annulment might include one party being a minor at the time of the marriage, making the marriage legally invalid, or even cases where the parties later discover they are related by blood, even if they didn’t know it at the time of marriage.
If you think any of these situations might apply to you, talk to your attorney about whether an annulment is possible in your case.
Reach Out for a Consultation
Please look through our site, and let us know if you have any other questions or if you’d like us to make a video about your question. You can also reach out to us directly at 918-962-0900 for a consultation. I’m Tulsa men’s divorce attorney Clint Hastings.
