Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: Annulment from a Convict

Not sure you would qualify for an annulment. However, you surely could obtain a divorce. If no children or property involved, I suggest you file for divorce and serve him in prison. Odds are that he will not answer and you will be able to obtain default judgment for divorce in sixty days. You can try and do this yourself by obtaining forms from local law library. Every law school and the main courthouse have one. Else, try legal services or a free legal clinic to obtain pro bono legal services.

Good luck

Re: Annulment from a Convict

You must have certain grounds for an annulment. I don't see from your post that you would qualify for any of them except perhaps Fraud, Duress, or Force, and then only if the fraud was before the marriage. For example, in your case, if he had had a previous child sex abuse conviction that he did not tell you about, then you might claim fraud.

You do not have children together (apparently) and it is unlikely that you have acquired much community property since the marriage, so it should not be too difficult to obtain a divorce. The only difference is that with an annulment you could claim that you were never married to him, which would possibly be important to you.

Regardless of whether you want a divorce or an annulment, you must file a petition with the court clerk and have it properly served on him. If he does not answer by the 60th day after filing, you may obtain a default divorce. For that you must appear before a judge, answer a few simple questions and the order will be granted.

If he answers the divorce petition, then you must deal with proper notice of hearings and such matters.

Since you don't want to make a mistake about this, you need to find an attorney to take care of all of the filings and service. Call your local county bar association and ask if there is a volunteer lawyer group or a legal services organization to handle this for you for no charge or a reduced charge. You do not want to think that you are divorced and later find out that you are not.