Reply to What's the point of getting an annulment?

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[quote=Anonymous]An annulment does not erase the marriage, it says the marriage wasn't valid.

In essence, this is a contractual view of marriage.  Contracts generally are not valid if, for example, someone was not of age or otherwise not eligible to enter into the contract, someone was not of sound mind at the time it was contracted, someone was forced to enter into the contract under duress etc.  It does not mean the contract did not exist, just that it was not validly executed.

In some countries today they are annulments granted on grounds almost everyone in the US would agree with: a woman forced into a marriage by her parents, when she was under age and the groom was rich but a known psychotic.  (or any one of those three.)

Obviously, in the US such extreme cases are quite rare, but they show why a process like annulment is necessary.  In the US, as I understand it--my knowledge is a bit dated--I believe the main reason for an annulment is that one of the two parties says, with witnesses, that he or she did not love the spouse at time of marriage, but owing to family or social pressure felt obliged to go through with the marriage.

Another grounds could be mental health of a spouse that could prevent him or her from truly understanding the nature of the contract being entered into, and the marriage partner was unaware. For example, a partner could have emergent schizophrenia that became obvious only after the marriage.

Annulment does not make the children illegitimate.  The parents were married, it's just that the marriage wasn't valid.  Annulments are also granted of civil marriage for the same sorts of reasons (minus perhaps I didn't love him/her reason).[/quote]

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