A judge can still decide divorce-related issues during an annulment case just as if you had been married, such as child custody, visitation, child support, maintenance, and property division. Children born out of annulled marriages are considered legitimate. They have the same rights as children from valid marriages. Legitimate children have the right to be financially supported by both parents and inherit from either parent.

Your marriage may be eligible for annulment if you can show any of the following:

Incest – spouses are related, closer than first cousins.

Bigamy – either you or your spouse is in another marriage that wasn't terminated before your own marriage.

Underage – one spouse was under the legal age to get married.

Intoxication – one spouse was too intoxicated during the ceremony to consent to marriage.

Impotence – one spouse is permanently unable to have sexual intercourse.

Fraud – one spouse lied about or hid something essential to the marriage.

Duress or Force – one spouse was coerced, threatened, or forced to get married.

There are various restrictions to the above qualifications. A spouse who has a husband or wife at the time of marriage can still have a valid marriage if the earlier marriage is dissolved and the spouses of the later marriage continue to live together. When this happens, the marriage can’t be annulled and divorce may be the more appropriate avenue. When a spouse is underage, a parent or guardian can file for the annulment on their child’s behalf. The legal age to get married in Texas is 18, or 16 with a parent’s consent or court order. Once an under aged spouse is 18, that spouse can’t file for an annulment based on being underage. A Texas court won’t grant an annulment based on intoxication if the spouses continued living together after the spouses were no longer intoxicated. If an annulment is based on impotence of one of the spouses, the impotence has to be permanent. Also, the spouse requesting an annulment must not have known about the impotence at the time of marriage, or must not have voluntarily lived with the impotent spouse after learning of the impotence. In these instances, the court won’t grant an annulment. When claiming fraud, duress or force as the reason for annulment, the requesting spouse cannot continue living with the offending spouse. A Texas court won’t grant annulment in these instances if the spouses continued to live together after the fraud was discovered or the duress or force was no longer present. When your marriage is annulled, it is like the marriage never existed. Legally, you can say you were never married to your former spouse. Schedule an appointment below and Mr. King will discuss your particular situation along with possible solutions.