Annulment
[1] Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place.
[6] In the canon law of the Catholic Church, an annulment is properly called a "Declaration of Nullity", because according to Catholic doctrine, the marriage of baptized persons is a sacrament and, once consummated and thereby confirmed, cannot be dissolved as long as the parties to it are alive.
The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that "makes the marriage".
The consent consists in a "human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other": "I take you to be my wife" – "I take you to be my husband."
The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external fear.
In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged.
Lack of any of these conditions makes a marriage invalid and constitutes legal grounds for a declaration of nullity.
For annulment, proof is required of the existence of one of these defects, since canon law presumes all marriages are valid until proven otherwise.
An invalid marriage may be subsequently convalidated, either by simple convalidation (renewal of consent that replaces invalid consent) or by sanatio in radice ("healing in the root", the retroactive dispensation from a diriment impediment).
"[12] Examples in which annulments were granted by the Anglican Church included being under age, having committed fraud, using force, and lunacy.
[13][14] Methodist Theology Today, edited by Clive Marsh, states that: when ministers say, "I pronounce you husband and wife," they not only announce the wedding—they create it by transforming the bride and groom into a married couple.
To divorce, he can simply invoke Talaq and part with the dower he gave her before marriage; alternatively, he can invoke the Lian doctrine in case of adultery, either by bringing four witnesses who saw the wife committing adultery or by self-testifying and swearing by Allah four times.
[3][16] Also, Sharia does grant a Muslim woman simple ways to end her marital relationship and without declaring the reason.
In each of these cases, the wife must provide four independent witnesses acceptable to the Qadi (religious judge), who has the discretion to declare the evidence unacceptable.
[16] In Sunni Maliki school of jurisprudence (fiqh), cruelty, disease, life-threatening ailment and desertion are additional Sharia approved grounds for the wife or the husband to seek annulment of the marriage.
[26] In France, a country of Roman Catholic tradition, annulment features prominently in law, and can be obtained for many reasons.
[29] This contrasts to a declaration of nullity, where a marital union is rendered a void marriage or never valid from the beginning.
[29][30] Annulments granted by religious institutions including the Roman Catholic church, the majority Christian denomination in the Philippines, does not legally void marriages.
[33] In Arizona, a "voidable" marriage is one in which there is "an undissolved prior marriage, one party being underage, a blood relationship, the absence of mental or physical capacity, intoxication, the absence of a valid license, duress, refusal of intercourse, fraud, and misrepresentation as to religion.
[40] The cause of action for annulment of a voidable marriage in New York State is generally fraud (DRL §140 (e)).
The misrepresentation must be substantial in nature, and the Plaintiff's consent to the marriage predicated on the Defendant's statement.
There may be effects of marriage such as a property settlement and even maintenance if the court finds it equitable to order such relief.
[44] In Wisconsin, the possible requirements for annulment include: bigamy, incest, or inducing the bride to be married under duress (see Shotgun marriage).
[48][49][50][51] These marriages were to Catherine of Aragon (on the grounds that she had already been married to his brother—although this annulment is not recognized by the Catholic Church); Anne Boleyn[51] (not wishing to execute his legal wife, he offered her an easy death if she would agree to an annulment); and Anne of Cleves[52] (on the grounds of non-consummation of the marriage and the fact that she had previously been engaged to someone else).
Because of this, on November 22, 1541, it was proclaimed at Hampton Court that she had "forfeited the honour and title of Queen," and was from then on to be known only as the Lady Catherine Howard.
