Last Updated on: 24th June 2025, 07:13 pm

New York City Divorce Lawyer: Understanding Marriage Annulment vs Divorce in NYC

Legal Separation Options in Manhattan: Choosing Between Divorce and Annulment

Deciding that it is time to legally separate from your spouse can be a traumatic experience that is often fraught with challenges, which is why it’s vital that you hire an experienced New York City divorce lawyer to help guide you through these difficult times. When you do decide to call it quits from your spouse, one of the first things you’ll need to determine is whether to seek a simple divorce or an annulment.

Divorce vs. Annulment Statistics and Trends

Although the number of annual divorces in the United States has been steadily declining for the past decade, the percentage of marriages that end in divorce or annulment is still quite high. The vast majority of marriages that end are ended in divorce. Even if it’s no longer true that 50% of all marriages end in divorce, it is still important to know that you’re not alone in what you’re going through and that there is help out there to guide you through the process.

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, divorce rates of women age 15 and older declined from 9.8 per 1,000 in 2012 to 7.1 per 1,000 in 2022.

What is Marriage Annulment? Legal Definition and Effects

However, in certain cases you can take things one step further by having the marriage annulled. This essentially means that a court declares the marriage to be void or invalid. By having your marriage annulled, you can potentially avoid the stigma that comes with being divorced as an annulment makes it like the marriage never happened—at least in legal terms.

Manhattan Annulment Laws: Strict Requirements Under New York State Law

Like most other places, New York annulment laws are quite strict and can only be granted under certain conditions. This means that, in order to have any chance of having your marriage annulled, you’ll need to provide evidence that it meets one of the following conditions:

• Your marriage consent was obtained through coercion, fraud or distress.
• You or your spouse was under the age of 18 at the time of marriage.
• You or your spouse did not possess the mental capacity to provide legal consent.
• You or your spouse suffered from an incurable mental illness for at least five years.
• You or your spouse is unable physically to have sexual relations.

Exceptions and Limitations to NYC Annulment Grounds

While all of these conditions may be sufficient grounds for an annulment, there are a number of exceptions that may still affect your ability to have it granted.

For instance, if you and your spouse continue to willfully live together after you turn 18, the marriage cannot be annulled on the grounds that you were under 18 at the time of marriage.

Similarly, in the case of an incurable mental illness, if you or your spouse suddenly have a period of ‘sound mind’ and continue to cohabitate throughout this period, you cannot have the marriage annulled on the grounds of the prior mental illness.

Similar rules are also applied to marriages where consent was obtained under duress or force. Although being forced or coerced into marriage is grounds for annulment, New York law prohibits an annulment from being granted should you voluntarily live with your spouse after the marriage.

Fraud follows the same basic rules, meaning that you have no grounds for an annulment should you continue to voluntarily live with your spouse for a certain period of time after discovering the fraud. In this case, the statute of limitations is five years, which means that you will need to file for annulment within five years of discovering the fraud.

Filing for an Annulment: Legal Process in Manhattan

If you think that you have grounds for an annulment, the very first thing to do is to discuss your case with a Manhattan annulment lawyer to ensure that your case meets the legal requirements.

Going through the annulment procedures can be either quite straightforward or quite complicated depending on whether your spouse agrees with or opposes your petition. In cases where your spouse agrees to the annulment, it is often as simple as having your attorney fill out a few forms.

However, should your spouse oppose the annulment, it will then be necessary to have the case heard in court. In this case, it will be up to a judge to hear the evidence and determine whether the marriage meets any of the grounds for annulment. Since the case could end up being your word against your spouses, it is essential that you hire a qualified Manhattan annulment attorney in order to give yourself the best chances for success.

The Effects of Having Your Marriage Annulled in New York

If the court ends up agreeing with you and voids the marriage, it essentially means that the marriage was never legal and thus never technically occurred. However, this doesn’t mean that an annulment erases all history of your marriage.

In fact, both your original marriage documents and the annulment will remain a matter of public record, which means that anyone can look them up. In terms of children and assets, annulments work in basically the same way as a traditional divorce and the court decision will also include information related to:

• Division of assets
• Custody arrangements
• Child support payments

Whether the result is divorce or annulment, ending a marriage is never an easy process. Therefore it is recommended that you seek the assistance of a reputable New York City divorce lawyer to guide you through the process and help make it as painless as possible.

NYC Marriage Annulment Basics: Requirements and Qualifications

Annulling a marriage in the State of New York can only be done under a very strict set of circumstances and it’s essential that you have a qualified Manhattan annulment lawyer at your side when embarking on this process.

Annulment differs from divorce in a variety of ways and only certain types of marriages can qualify for an annulment. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position in which a marriage annulment is deemed necessary, review these basics of the annulment process in New York and then contact a skilled Manhattan annulment attorney right away.

Key Differences Between Annulment and Divorce

While a divorce ends a marriage but the marriage is determined by law to have at one point been valid, a marriage annulment in the State of New York essentially erases any traces of the marriage as if it never existed.

This situation only occurs in extreme cases and the vast majority of marriages are not qualified for annulment. Yet in certain situations, the law in New York holds that the marriage should never have existed in the first place, and therefore it should not only be ended but also stricken from the record.

Grounds for Annulment in New York: Comprehensive List

There are a number of reasons why a marriage may be considered qualified for annulment. One of the more unfortunate circumstances is when a marriage is determined to be incestuous. According to New York State law, the State of New York determines a relationship to be incestuous that exists between:

• An ancestor and a descendant, meaning between a parent and a child or a grandparent and a child
• Between brother and sister
• Between a niece or nephew and their uncle or aunt

A marriage in New York can also be annulled if:

• Either spouse was under 18 at the time of the marriage
• Either spouse was unable to consent to the marriage due to a diminished mental state
• One of the partners of the marriage is not physically able to have sexual intercourse

A marriage can also be annulled if either spouse has been mentally ill for at least five years or if the marriage was obtained under coercion.

Bigamy and Invalid Marriages: Automatic Grounds for NYC Annulment

Under no circumstances does the State of New York hold a marriage to be valid if either spouse was already married to another living person at the time of the marriage. This is called bigamy and is one of the more common grounds for annulment.

Lastly, if the marriage was performed by someone not recognized by the State of New York as having the authority to perform this rite, the marriage can also be annulled. While the types of officials recognized under the law as being capable of performing marriages vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, this authority is generally limited to ministers, members of clergy, judges, and various other officials.

Determining if a marriage can be annulled is often a tricky process, so soliciting the services of a knowledgeable Manhattan annulment lawyer is strongly advised.

The Annulment Process in New York State

The process of annulling a marriage in the State of New York is generally quite simple because, according to the law, the marriage never existed in the first place. While in some cases a declaration of nullity is not required or desired, submitting this document to the court system can sometimes be prudent if any one of a number of circumstances is at play.

If you and your partner have any children, submitting a declaration of nullity is recommended. A declaration of nullity may also be required if:

• You feel that you are entitled to alimony
• You need to separate jointly owned property

If you feel that filing a declaration of nullity is warranted, it’s best that you and your partner sit down with separate Manhattan annulment lawyers immediately. It may also be necessary to gather evidence that the marriage is null and void before the contents of a declaration of nullity can be agreed upon by both parties.

Once the declaration of nullity has been agreed upon by both parties, your attorney will generally submit it through the proper channels.

After the declaration has been submitted, a court date will be set for both you and your partner to appear before a judge. At this point, the marriage will be annulled and the stipulations of the declaration will be ordered by the court. Throughout the process of annulling your marriage, having a qualified Manhattan annulment lawyer at your side will make all the difference.

Can Our Marriage Be Annulled If It Was Never Consummated?

As many people learn the hard way, marriage is not a guarantee that couple will be together for the rest of their lives. At times, situations take place that make it in the best interests of both parties to split. Under the right circumstances, an annulment can be obtained rather than have to go through a divorce.

Physical Impairment as Grounds for Annulling a Marriage

While laws vary from one jurisdiction to another, it would be hard to find any judge who would deny an annulment if the reason had to do with what’s known as physical impairment. Simply put, this means that one or both of the spouses are not physically capable of consummating the marriage.

There are multiple ways that physical impairment could have an impact on the ability to consummate the legal union:

• A male with a chronic illness like type 1 or type 2 diabetes may be unable to achieve or sustain an erection long enough to manage penetration.
• A woman with any condition that causes severe fatigue or makes it impossible to enjoy any type of touching would also be considered to have a physical impairment.

Keep in mind that physical impairment does not generally rule out the possibility that the couple can and possibly has engaged in some type of intimate play designed to compensate for whatever condition exists. The focus is on the fact that the couple has not been able to include conventional intercourse in that play.

Can Fraud Also Be Named Along With Physical Impairment?

There is also the matter of when the partner with the physical impairment chose to reveal the fact to the other party. If the information was not shared prior to the wedding ceremony and the subsequent signing of the marriage license, a judge could determine there was a deliberate attempt to mislead the party seeking the annulment.

Given that part of the marriage contract includes a reasonable expectation for physical intimacy to take place, the other party is not given all the information needed to provide an informed answer to the proposal. In this scenario, it is possible that the judge would allow dual grounds of impairment and fraud.

Why Seek an Annulment Instead of Divorcing?

When consummating the marriage is not possible, seeking an annulment makes sense for more than one reason. One has to do with simplicity. Since the judge is ruling that the marriage was never legitimate in the first place, many of the rules and procedures that apply to a divorce do not apply. Instead, it’s as if the marriage never took place.

This is important, since it means the each party can walk away and still retain whatever assets they held before the marriage took place. Laws related to community property don’t generally apply when a union is annulled.

Learning that a partner is incapable of engaging in what many consider to be a key element in any marriage can be emotionally crushing. When there is no way to salvage the situation, choosing to move on and hopefully find someone new is the only practical thing to do. Talk with an attorney and find out more about how an annulment can be obtained in the local jurisdiction. Doing so will be the fastest and least complicated way to end things and start looking to the future.

Legal Requirements and Procedures for NYC Marriage Annulment

The conditions to be met for an annulment are much stricter than those applicable for a divorce. An annulment of a marriage also requires legal actions and the use of a lawyer. However, any marriage that does not respect the legal conditions required for a marriage is invalid.

Remember, an annulment will remove the legal effects of a marriage for the bona fide spouse and the children. Petitions for annulment are therefore often brought by a prosecutor’s office, especially to obtain the annulment of simulated marriages for the sole purpose of acquiring US nationality. The annulment of such a marriage is therefore possible for the injured spouse, but the procedure is long.

Consequences of Bad Faith Marriages

The bad faith spouse will lose all the matrimonial benefits and liberties obtained during the marriage. In addition, the injured spouse may request:

• The introduction of a compensatory allowance if their income is lower than their spouse
• The payment of damages in the case of the fault of their spouse

In a case of a bad faith marriage, a non-retroactivity will only benefit the spouse in good faith.

Know also that the bad faith spouse is liable to imprisonment. Articles provide that the fact of contracting a marriage solely for the purpose of obtaining, or having obtained, a residence permit or the benefit of protection against expulsion, or for the sole purpose of acquiring US nationality shall be punishable by up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, or both.

A marriage is fraudulent when it is concluded not to found a home, but to benefit from the benefits conferred by law to married couples. Also, view this link for more detail.

Fraudulent Marriage: Monetary and Professional Purposes

A fraudulent marriage can also have a monetary purpose or be contracted for professional reasons. In the case of such an annulment, only the spouse who considers themselves aggrieved has the right to request the annulment of the marriage, except when the marriage has been contracted without the free consent of both spouses or one of them.

In other cases, anyone in the marriage may take action to request the annulment of the marriage. Also, view this link for more data.

For example, for the marriage consent of the spouses, the consent must be given freely and with full knowledge of the facts. Remember, the annulment of the marriage carries special consequences: the marriage is deemed never to have taken place, the partners will be in the same situation as if they had never been married. Also, marriage can only be annulled in certain cases provided for by law.

Financial and Legal Consequences of Marriage Annulment

The annulment of a marriage has several consequences, both legally and financially. For example, the effects of the annulment of a marriage are retroactive, unlike divorce whose effects only concern the future.

Also, remember that it is impossible to contract a marriage without having dissolved the first. However, case law considers that, in the case of successive marriages, the second marriage is valid when the first marriage has been annulled, the nullity of the first marriage resulting in its disappearance retroactively.

An annulled marriage is, unlike a divorce that stops the marriage, considered as never having existed.

Child Custody and Support in Annulment Cases

The annulment of a marriage will have effects with regard to the children and the judge will rule on:

• The modalities of the joint parental authority
• The habitual residence of the children
• If the children retain their name and their nationality
• The organization of the rights and the respective duties of the parents

It is, therefore, the judge who will take charge of your file and complete the necessary formalities to complete the annulment procedure.