What is an annulment and how does it differ from a divorce? In simple terms, the granting of an annulment renders a marriage null and void and of no legal consequence to the parties.
In many states, such as in Nevada, marriages are void ab initio, meaning from the very beginning of the marriage, so from a legal standpoint, it’s as if the parties had never married in the first place.
In some states, marriages are annulled from the time of the granting of the decree of annulment instead of from the beginning of the marriage. This is especially true when there are issues such as community property, debt, children alimony, tax or retirement issues which may cause complications or prejudice. In such cases, judges, even in Nevada, might be inclined to grant an annulment as of the time of the Decree.
Granting an annulment from the time of the decree instead of from the beginning of the marriage recognizes a legal relationship between the parties for the duration of the marriage, just as in a divorce.
Some marriages are automatically null and void – such as when one of the parties was already married to someone else at the time of the marriage being annulled – however, an annulment must still be filed to legally establish the fact that the marriage was null and void. Otherwise, it’s just say so and it will regarded as a bigamous marriage.
Some religious bodies, such as the Catholic Church, do not recognize a civil annulment, so the parties must still go through the process of annulling their marriage through their church if they wish to remarry in the Church. For instance, catholic annulments follow Cannon Law and not Civil Law. A marriage obtained through a church, such as the Catholic Church must still be legally dissolved through a civil annulment or a divorce.
If you need a divorce or more information about obtaining a Nevada divorce please go here: http://nevadadivorce.org
If you need an annulment or more information about obtaining an annulment in Nevada please go here: http://nevadaannulment.org.
Author: Attorney James E. Smith — http://nevadadivorce.org/about_nevada_divorce.htm
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