Annulment is a declaration by the court that a marriage was not legally valid or had become legally invalid.
Under English law an annulment may be granted for any of the following reasons:
- If either party was already married at the time of your marriage
- If either party didn’t or was unable to give valid consent to the marriage
- If you or your spouse was under 16 at the time of the wedding
- If you weren’t a fully male/female couple
- If you and your spouse were related (this is complex and needs some consideration by an experienced lawyer)
- If your spouse had a communicable form of a sexually transmitted disease when you got married
- If your spouse was pregnant with someone else’s child and you didn’t know about it
- If you didn’t conform with the proper legal requirements – i.e. not filling in forms properly
These grounds are not always straight-forward and you will need to discuss your particular circumstances in detail with a family lawyer who specialises in this area of law.
You must apply to the court to annul the marriage by presenting a 'Nullity Petition' within a reasonable period of time, and in many cases this will be within three years of the marriage. There is no requirement to have been married for 12 months before applying.
How long does it take and how much does it cost?
If you are eligible and the case is uncontested (ie both parties agree to the annulment) it will take between six to eight months to process.
Unlike divorce, which, if it is uncontested is usually done on paper and requires neither party to attend Court, for an annulment you will have to make a court appearance.
In a case which is uncontested and will be heard in a Court local to a Woolley & Co, lawyer we can arrange an annulment for a fixed fee of £1,921.50, inclusive of our fees, VAT on our fees and the Court fee of £300. Book a fixed fee annulment here .
In some cases other party can oppose the annulment – this can sometimes result in your lawyer needing to obtain and produce for court of lot of additional evidence and in some instances the court case is long and involved too. In these circumstances talk to Woolley & Co, solicitors about handling your case on an hourly rate basis.
Our lawyers charge from £195 per hour plus VAT for the time they spend working on your case or appearing in Court. There will also be Court fees to pay of £300. In a few cases, complicated medical, evidential or similar issues arise and experts may have to provide reports at a fee. Your lawyer will discuss these costs with you and provide an estimate of how much your case is likely to cost.
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