I should not have gotten married. I want an annulment.

First, we must determine that you meet the requirements for an annulment.  The purpose of an annulment is to declare that, because of some disability or defect that existed at the time of the marriage ceremony, a valid marriage never took place or a valid marriage relation never existed between the parties.  This differs from a divorce, in that, a divorce dissolves a valid marriage that is admitted to exist.

In Florida, a marriage may be annulled for any cause that has prevented the parties from contracting a valid marriage.  A marriage that can be annulled is either void or voidable.  A void marriage is one that was never valid.  A marriage is void if:

• one party was already married at the time of the marriage ceremony,
• the spouses were too closely related to legally marry, or
• one spouse permanently lacked the mental ability to understand and consent to the marriage.

A voidable marriage is one that is considered to be legally valid until it has been annulled.  A marriage is voidable if:

• one or both spouses temporarily lacked the ability to consent to the marriage, e.g. because of being intoxicated or having a serious temporary mental problem,
• one spouse used fraud to trick the other spouse into marriage. The fraud must go to the essence of the marital relationship. For example, lying about a health condition would not be sufficient, but never intending to consummate the marriage would be sufficient fraud,
• one or both spouses entered the marriage because of duress, meaning extreme coercion or force,
• one spouse is underage and did not have a parent or guardian’s consent,
• one spouse is impotent and the other spouse was unaware of this at the time of the marriage, or
• one or both spouses got married as a joke.