Annulment

If one spouse wants to seek a Texas annulment but the other is not in agreement, it is not a requirement for both spouses to sign off on an annulment to declare the marriage void.

However, it is not as simple as asking for one either. In an annulment situation where a spouse agrees, you will still need to provide reasons why your marriage is void or voidable and convince a presiding judge in a court of law why those reasons are valid.

Annulments can also be contested. In other words, your spouse (the respondent) can dispute your request for an annulment, which can create a sticky legal scenario. An experienced Texas annulment lawyer can help you through this or another type of situation that impacts your ability to file for a successful annulment.

Annulment in Texas is not an automatic process nor is it necessarily easy to do. Even if you wish the marriage never occurred, you cannot simply ask for it to go away. You may or may not be eligible depending upon the circumstances that led to the marriage, events during the marriage, and whether or not your marriage fits the legal criteria to be granted an annulment. The difficulty of getting an annulment in Dallas will directly depend upon your specific circumstances.

Most people in Dallas find it more efficient to hire an attorney who is experienced with successfully navigating Texas annulments. However, if you choose to forego pursuing legal advice with an attorney about your annulment, you will have to do the paperwork yourself, which can be complex. To start, you will need to:

• File with the district court for your jurisdiction (this will be the same as divorce court)
• Check your residency to see if you are eligible (this is not the same as divorce requirements). To be able to file for an annulment, either:
  • One of the spouses must live in Texas OR
  • The spouses were married in Texas
• Determine your eligibility to file — you or the other party must have lived in Texas for at least six months and in the county where you file for a minimum of 90 days.

Either a judge or a jury will be deciding your trial when you seek to receive an annulment in Texas. If you have an attorney by your side, you increase your chances for success because they will know exactly what to file and how to structure your grounds.

Under the Texas Family Code Section 7.002, it is permittable for Texas courts to distribute any marital property in an annulment in any matter they deem just and right. When determining property division, the court will take into account the rights of each party, the income of both parties, and any children born in the marriage.

Division of community property may or may not work in your favor — it is best to have your proverbial legal ducks in a row before your case goes in front of a judge or jury. Seeking the advice of a Dallas family law attorney who is well-versed in Texas annulment law can help to get you a potentially more favorable court order outcome.

In Texas, if any children are either born to or adopted by the spouses, this does not delegitimize them in the event of an annulment. However, there will need to be the inclusion of a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) which is a child custody suit, along with the annulment request. Connecting the annulment case with the SAPCR allows the court to establish custody, visitation, child support, health insurance, and other relevant decisions typically decided in family law matters.

If you are going to pursue the annulment process, understand it can be quite complex. To succeed, everything has to be in proper order. An attorney will assemble the proper evidence needed when you make your court appearance. Your attorney will also make sure you are being treated fairly during the court process and can help increase the chances that the annulment request will not be denied.

How long you have to annul your marriage in Texas depends on the reason you are getting it annulled, though most cases do not have a time limit as long as both people involved in the marriage are still alive. Still, it is important to understand the exceptions in the Texas Family Code.

• If the annulment is based on one spouse hiding the fact that they were divorced in the past, you have until the one-year anniversary of the marriage to get an annulment.
• If the annulment is based on one spouse being underage, you have until that spouse turns 18 to annul the marriage.
• If the annulment is based on the waiting period being violated, you have 30 days from the marriage to get an annulment.

It is typically faster to get an annulment than a divorce in Texas if you have qualifying grounds, but it is not easier. For an annulment, you will have to get a judge to declare that the marriage was never valid to begin with, and this requires appearing before a judge and making a case for it.

An annulment can affect your immigration status in some circumstances. If you were in the process of naturalizing as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, you would no longer be able to do so unless the naturalization application had already been filed. Even so, your unique circumstances could compromise your chance to get a permanent residency card.

It is best to speak with an attorney to see how an annulment would impact your unique situation. Still, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services generally understands that relationships sometimes do not work out and are not always fraudulent. Put simply, how your annulment will affect your immigration status depends on which part of the immigration process you are in.

A religious annulment is distinct from a legal annulment in that a religious annulment allows for a member of a particular religion to remarry within their religious institution. Within religions that do not recognize divorce, a religious annulment is the only way for members to remarry. Religious annulments do not void marriages in terms of legal status. A religious annulment is solely a matter between members of a religion and their church leadership.

The cost of an annulment in Texas can vary quite a bit based on the circumstances of the marriage and whether or not it is contested. An annulment on the lower side of the range can cost a few thousand dollars, but others can cost up to $20,000. The cost largely depends on how many assets are involved in property division and whether or not it is contested. In many cases, one party in the marriage asserts that there was a problem with the marriage, while the respondent argues that the marriage was legitimate.

In terms of simple processing, you must pay a filing fee to get an annulment, which is about $350, depending on which district court you file in. The rest of the cost comes from court fees and divorce lawyer fees, which add up quickly if the annulment is contested. An annulment in which alimony, child custody, or child support are involved will also be more expensive.