Is Annulment Worth It in Texas? Understanding Your Options

A divorce ends a valid marriage. An annulment declares that the marriage was defective from the start and should be set aside. Texas allows annulment only on specific grounds listed in Chapter 6, Subchapter B of the Family Code, and several of them carry short deadlines.

Grounds for Annulment

  • Underage marriage (§ 6.102) — a marriage of a person 16 or older but under 18 that occurred without parental consent or a court order. The suit may be brought by a parent, next friend, or managing conservator, and a next friend’s suit is barred unless filed within 90 days of the marriage. Under § 6.103 a parent, managing conservator, or guardian may not file after the person turns 18, and § 6.104 makes the annulment discretionary with the court, sitting without a jury.
  • Under the influence of alcohol or narcotics (§ 6.105) — the petitioner lacked the capacity to consent and has not voluntarily cohabited since the effects ended.
  • Impotency (§ 6.106) — either party was permanently impotent at the time of the marriage, the petitioner did not know, and there has been no voluntary cohabitation since learning of it.
  • Fraud, duress, or force (§ 6.107) — the other party induced the marriage improperly, and there has been no voluntary cohabitation since the petitioner learned the truth or was released from the duress or force.
  • Mental incapacity (§ 6.108) — either party lacked the mental capacity to consent or to understand the nature of the ceremony because of a mental disease or defect, subject to the cohabitation limits in the statute.
  • Concealed divorce (§ 6.109) — the other party was divorced from someone else within the 30 days before the ceremony and the petitioner neither knew nor reasonably should have known. Suit must be brought within one year of the marriage.
  • Marriage less than 72 hours after the license (§ 6.110) — the ceremony took place during the 72-hour period following issuance of the marriage license. Suit must be brought within 30 days of the marriage.

Under § 6.111, a marriage subject to annulment generally may not be challenged in a proceeding brought after the death of either party.

Annulment Is Not Easier Than Divorce

Clients often assume annulment is the quick option. It usually is not. You must prove a statutory ground, several grounds are lost if the spouses voluntarily lived together after the problem was discovered, and two carry hard deadlines — one year for a concealed divorce, 30 days for the 72-hour license ground. A short marriage, by itself, is not a ground. One thing that is faster: under § 6.702(b), the 60-day waiting period that applies to divorce does not apply to an annulment or a suit to declare a marriage void.

Property and Children

An annulment can still require the court to sort out property and, if there are children, a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. Children of an annulled marriage are not illegitimate, and the presumption of paternity is not erased by the annulment.

Annulment, Void Marriage, or Divorce?

These are three different remedies. An annulment addresses a voidable marriage — valid until a court sets it aside. A void marriage, such as bigamy or a marriage between close relatives, was never valid at all. If neither applies, divorce is the route. Choosing wrong wastes months, so this is worth analyzing before anything is filed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is annulment faster than divorce in Texas?

Not usually. You have to prove a specific statutory ground, and contested annulments can take longer than an agreed divorce.

Can I annul a marriage just because it was short?

No. Length of the marriage is not a ground. Texas requires one of the grounds listed in Chapter 6, Subchapter B.

Does living together after I found out hurt my case?

It could. Several annulment grounds are unavailable if the spouses voluntarily cohabited after learning of the problem.

Texas Statutes Referenced

Related Pages

Talk With a Texas Divorce Attorney

Find out in one conversation whether annulment is actually available to you. Call 713-955-6182 or contact The De Leon Law Firm.