I WANT AN ANNULMENT!

                You are fed up with your marriage. Your spouse lies. You do not have a lot of property to divide, or you do not care to divide it. You just wish the marriage never took place. Can you seek an annulment to undo your marriage quickly, a la Brittney Spears?

                Probably not.

                A legal annulment is an annulment is a judicial determination that a valid marriage never took place. MCL 552.1. It is the appropriate means of dissolving two kinds of marriages—those that are void ab initio and those that are voidable. If a marriage is void ab initio, it is deemed never to have taken place since it was void from the beginning.  If a marriage is voidable, it is valid until one of the parties brings an action to have it annulled. The action must be brought while both parties are living, and until a court declares the marriage annulled, it is legally binding.

                The grounds for an annulment are limited. There are two statutes in Michigan setting the grounds that invalidate a marriage. Under MCL 552.1, the grounds that make a marriage “absolutely void” are

•a bigamous marriage,

•a marriage prohibited by the relationship of the parties, or

•a marriage with a person who is not capable in law of contracting.

This means, the law treats the marriage as if it never exists.

                A marriage is voidable if either of the parties is under the age of consent or consent was obtained by force or fraud. MCL 552.2.

To obtain an annulment, either party may file a petition or complaint for an annulment in the family division of the circuit court in the county where at least one of the parties resides. MCL 552.3. Jurisdiction for annulment, unlike divorce, does not depend on a specific length of residence. A resident of another state or country may file a petition as long as one party to the marriage is a resident of the county where the petition is filed. Hill v Hill, 354 Mich 475, 93 NW2d 157 (1958).  The petition and subsequent proceedings are the same as in a divorce proceeding. MCL 552.3. Generally speaking, this means there will be a trial if the grounds for annulment are disputed, as well as times to exchange witness lists, exhibit lists, trial briefs, etc., and discovery into the allegations. Child custody, parenting time and child support terms will be set, and property may still be divided.

                Thus, an annulment is not a quick way to undo a marriage. It may, however, be appropriate for religious purposes or to confirm a later marriage (in the event of alleged bigamy).

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS FOR LEGALLY ENDING MY MARRIAGE?

There are three distinct ways to legally end a marriage relationship in Michigan: divorce, separate maintenance and annulment.

In a separate maintenance action, the parties are still technically married, but the court has already divided their property and debts and awarded spousal support, if any; these actions are usually maintained for health insurance or religious reasons, and they are rare. If the other party requests a divorce, the court will hear the divorce action instead.

In an annulment action, the court issues an order stating that the marriage never legally occurred. The grounds for an annulment include bigamy, fraud, insanity and attempted marriage of a minor. Like separate maintenance actions, annulment actions are also rare. In either action, child custody and child support proceed just as if the action were a divorce.

People seeking a divorce are often confused about the concept of fault as used in Michigan law. Michigan is a no-fault divorce state. The complaint for divorce need only allege that there has been a breakdown in the marriage relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no reasonable likelihood of reconciliation. This does not mean, however, that Michigan does not consider fault. Fault is relevant in some instances in child custody, spousal support and property distribution.

Read our detailed legal summary of Michigan including groups, residency, custody, child support, spousal support, and property to learn more.