Legal Topics > Divorce & Family Law >

Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary

Need Professional Help? Talk to a Lawyer
Enter Your Zip Code to Connect with a Lawyer Serving Your Area

Annulment: A court procedure that dissolves a marriage and treats it as if it never happened. The most common reason for a person to want an annulment instead of a divorce is for religious purposes. Annulments are rare since the advent of no-fault divorce but may be obtained in most states for one of the following reasons: misrepresentation, concealment (for example, of an addiction or criminal record), misunderstanding, and refusal to consummate the marriage.

Need Legal Help?
Get Informed	Check out our thousands of free articles on everyday legal topics--they're accurate, up to date, and written in plain English.
Do It Yourself	With Nolo's easy-to-use books, legal forms, online services, and software, you can handle many routine legal tasks yourself.
Talk to a Lawyer	Just enter your zip code to connect with a lawyer serving your area.

Get Informed