Marriage annulment is a legal procedure for nullifying a marriage that is determined voidable. The grounds for marriage annulment may vary according to the area of jurisdiction, but generally include marriages that involve underage parties, blood relationship, or the absence of mental or physical capacity. Other grounds for marriage annulment include intoxication, duress, refusal of intercourse, misrepresentation as to religion, or concealment of prior marital status.

The result of a marriage annulment is a decree that the marriage never existed. Now that no-fault divorce is readily available, marriage annulment is not very common. To have a marriage annulled, the jurisdictional requirements are similar to those required for dissolution or divorce: one of the parties must live in the state where the marriage annulment is filed for a continuous ninety-day period, or if in the armed services, stationed in the particular state for ninety continuous days.

Similar to a divorce filing, a marriage annulment case proceeds with a filing, petition, summons, and ancillary documents. The grounds for marriage annulment are stated in the petition. Many times, annulments occur after very short marriages, so there is no need to divide assets or debts or decide custody of children produced by the marriage.

In the case of a longer marriage that is annulled, the court will divide the property of the parties. The court also has the ability to establish rights and obligations related to the children. Children from an annulled marriage are legitimate. The history of marriage annulment goes back to the days of Henry VIII, who had four of his six marriages annulled.

In the case of the Catholic Church, a member who wishes to remarry after a failed marriage or to marry a non-Catholic person who has been divorced must have the prior marriage nullified. This process is not a legal process in any form, but rather a religious process. The nullification process of the Catholic Church examines the attempted marriage to see if it was actually a valid Christian marriage as understood by the Catholic Church. If a valid marriage did not exist, then the person is still free to marry. The list of grounds for nullification of a marriage by the Catholic Church is quite lengthy.