What are grounds for Annulment?
The Court may grant an annulment based on one of the following grounds:
- Marriage of Person Under Age 14 – before the person is 14 years of age.
- Marriage of Person Under Age 18 – of a person 14 years of age or older but under 18 years of age that occurred without parent consent or without a court order.
- Under Influence of Alcohol or Narcotics – if at the time of the marriage the Petitioner was under the influence of alcoholic beverages or narcotics and as a result did not have the capacity to consent to the marriage; and the Petitioner has not voluntarily cohabited with the other party to the marriage since the effects of the alcoholic beverages or narcotics ended.
- Underage Annulment Barred by Adulthood – after the age of 18.
- Discretionary Annulment of Underage Marriage – The Court will consider the pertinent facts concerning the welfare of the parties to the marriage, including whether the female is pregnant.
- Impotency – If either party, for physical or mental reasons, was permanently impotent at the time of marriage; the petitioner did not know of the impotency at the time of the marriage; and the petitioner has not voluntarily cohabited with the other party since learning of impotency.
- Fraud, Duress, Force – If the other party used fraud, duress, or force to induce the petitioner to enter into marriage; and the petitioner has not voluntarily cohabited with the other party since learning of the fraud or since being released from the duress or force.
- Mental Incompetency – If at the time of the marriage the petitioner did not have the mental capacity to consent to marriage or to understand the nature of the marriage ceremony because of mental disease or defect; and since the marriage ceremony, the petitioner has not voluntarily cohabited with the other party during a period when the petitioner possessed the mental capacity to recognize the marriage relationship.
- Concealed Divorce – If the other party was divorced from a third party within the 30-day period preceding the date of the marriage ceremony; at the time of the marriage ceremony the petitioner did not know, and a reasonably prudent person would not have known, of the divorce; and since the petitioner discovered or a reasonably prudent person would have discovered the facts of the divorce, the petitioner has not voluntarily cohabited with the other party. A suit may not be brought after the first anniversary of the date of the marriage.
- Marriage less than 72 hours after Issuance of License – The court may grant an annulment of a marriage to a party of the marriage, if the marriage ceremony took place in violation of Section 2.204 during the 72-hour period immediately following the issuance of the marriage license. A suit may not be brought under this section after the 30th day after the date of the marriage.
Contact Us
For more information or to schedule an initial consultation with one of our Arlington attorneys, contact us via e-mail or call our office at 817-226-1100. We are conveniently located between Dallas and Fort Worth, off of I-30 at the intersection of Cooper and Abram, near the University of Texas at Arlington.
We accept all major credit cards.
