Differences Between Annulments and Divorces Action Marriage Existed Short Time to File - 1-2 Years Children Considered

Legitimate Division of Property Alimony Difficulty Level Legally Grounds Specific Marital Status Result Afterwards Witness and Proof Required No Yes - Usually Yes No No Yes - High Yes Single or Unmarried Yes Annulment Yes No Yes Yes Possible Usually No No Divorced No Divorce

Divorce dissolves, terminates, ends a legally valid marriage. Annulment erases a marriage by declaring the marriage null and void and that the union was never legally valid. However, although the marriage is erased, the marriage records remain on file. Summary 1. Annulment is a procedure by which a marriage is completely erased, declaring that such a marriage never existed technically or had any validity. 2. Divorce is the process of ending a valid marriage, which gives both the husband and the wife a single status. 3. In the case of divorce, factors such as alimony, child custody and property division are taken into account. But in the case of annulment, no such factors are taken into consideration. 4. An annulment has to be filed within a specific time after the issuance of a marriage certificate. However, a divorce petition can be filed at any point of time. 5. An annulment can just take a couple of weeks whereas a divorce can take a couple of months or even a year. 6. An annulment is less messy when compared to divorce.