Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

Re: annullment

Many times I am asked about this alternative by clients. My answer is usually "unless there is a compelling religious reason for getting a 'legal' annulment, go the divorce route." In Michigan there is no fault divorce. An annulment action requires allegations that are generally unpleasant and distasteful. Specifically, a spouse would allege incest, mental illness, frigidity, etc. The idea is to convince the court that the marriage was never consummated or that the persons should not be considered to have given assent to marry. In all other respects it is identical procedure to divorce. A spouse can always countersue for divorce, so it may end up as a divorce anyway. I always highly recommend that if you determined to leave a marriage, pursue a divorce. It is ultimately easier and is potentially less ugly. This is especially true if there are children involved. For more info, please contact my office at (248)851-3171.

Re: annullment

Annulment is very difficult to get. The only grounds are fraud in the inception of the marriage. Something major. For example, if a person was led to believe that the spouse was one sex instead of the other. Or that the spouse was truely homosexual and covered it up. It is very rare. I believe that another ground is if the marriage was never "consumated", meaning, no sex. Most judges frown on granting annulments. You can always get divorced. William S. Stern