Utah Annulments: The Necessary Details

Alex Curran
By Alex Curran
3 Min Read

A divorce officially ends a marriage in law, but some spouses may be able to have their marriage declared null and void. The marriage is dissolved and treated as though it never happened if you get an annulment. Certain conditions must be met for a marriage to be eligible for annulment.

It is advisable to consult with an experienced Lehi family law attorney if you need specific answers about your legal options.

Can You Explain the Requirements for a Nullification?

If you want your marriage officially dissolved, you need valid reasons to file for one. A divorce petition must be filed if grounds for an annulment cannot be shown. Utah law (Utah Code 30-1-17.1) specifies the following situations under which an annulment is permissible:

  • If a couple’s parents are first cousins or closer, they may be committing incest.
  • Marriage between minors (those under the age of 18) without parental or legal permission to wed; “bigamy,” or the practice of having more than one spouse at a time; (and the marriage was not legally ended)
  • Because one partner suppressed or lied about important information that might have protected the marriage from harm, this category includes incidents of misrepresentation and fraud.
  • To be impotent means that a partner either cannot or will not engage in sexual activity with their partner.
  • It doesn’t matter what you’re basing your claim on, you’ll need to back it up with evidence. It’s possible that your partner will counter the grounds with proof of their own.

Fraud or misrepresentation often makes it difficult to grant a request to annul a marriage. Proof of fraud requires showing that the other spouse would not have entered into the marriage had they been aware of the alleged forgeries.

To constitute misrepresentation, a spouse must have been deceived about the state of affairs. Once upon a time, a Utah lady was able to get an annulment because her husband had lied to her about his felony record. Haacke v. Glenn, 814 P.2d 1157, 1157, 1159 (Utah Ct. App. 1991) states that he misrepresented his restitution payments as child support.

In Utah, how long do you have to wait to have married annulled?

An annulment can be granted regardless of how long you were married. Furthermore, there is no stipulated deadline for submission.

Instructions for Obtaining a Dissolution of Marriage

An annulment can be initiated by filing a Complaint for Annulment at the district court of the county in which either you or your spouse has resided for the preceding ninety days (or longer).

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