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In the vast majority of circumstances, people who are considering getting a divorce will not be eligible for an annulment. You will likely only be eligible for an annulment if the marriage was a result of fraud, if your spouse was already married at the time, or if your spouse cannot consummate the marriage or produce children (and even then, only in certain circumstances).
So when you are eligible for an annulment, why opt for the annulment instead of a divorce? Here are a few examples of some of the reasons people do so.
- Social reasons: In some circles, there is still a bit of a stigma attached to divorce. Therefore, if a person in such circles wants a divorce and is eligible for an annulment, they may be able to end the marriage without having to have that stigma attached to them. This is particularly important in certain types of religions, which may frown on the idea of divorce.
- Legal effects: The legal effects of an annulment are also quite different than those of a divorce. An annulment completely cancels the marriage, so the result is as though the marriage never actually occurred. An annulment will not affect the legitimacy of any child born during the marriage, but it will mean you don’t necessarily have to jump through all the same hoops you would during the divorce process.
- Benefits: An annulment can help a person receive benefits to which they may have been eligible before the marriage. So if, for example, you were receiving spousal support, you can have those benefits restored after an annulment, whereas that would not be allowed to happen if your marriage ended in divorce.
For more information about the benefits of an annulment (when eligible), contact an experienced divorce lawyer in Minneapolis at Appelhof, Pfeifer & Hart, P.A.
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