Illinois does not “annul” a marriage; instead, the Court must find it “invalid”.  With the addition of no-fault divorce, “annulments” have all but ceased to exist.

Before a Judge can find your marriage to be invalid, you must prove that one party: lacked capacity to consent to the marriage; one party was induced by force, duress, or fraud “essential to the marriage”; one party lacked physical capacity to consummate the marriage; one party was age 16 or 17 and lacked parental consent; or the marriage is prohibited.

As you can see, there are very few reasons to invalidate a marriage.  The few grounds that do exist are difficult to prove.  In my experience, Judge’s are reluctant to enter a Judgment that invalidates a marriage.  That isn’t to say if your case fits one of the grounds that you shouldn’t pursue it, just that before you invest substantial time, energy, and money trying to invalidate your marriage, talk with an experienced attorney about what your options really are.

Call me: 630.409.8184 or e-mail: mmw@divorcelawyerdupage.com