So maybe you have been married for a short time, and things aren’t working out. Perhaps you thought that maybe you could get an annulment. An annulment is certainly less complicated. According to Florida law, with an annulment, it’s like the marriage never existed and there is no property settlement to discuss.

However, it’s not as easy as you think to get an annulment. You had a 3 day waiting period, and you made a valid contract in front of witnesses. In Florida, to get an annulment, you have to have grounds for an annulment.

It is possible, though difficult and unusual, to get an annulment in Florida.

The grounds for annulment of marriage must have been existing at the time of marriage, and include bigamy, lack of parental consent, insanity, fraud, duress, impotence, and serious and incurable sexually transmissible disease. As you can see, these grounds are complicated, and are not normally present when you just merely change your mind.

Your best shot is probably fraud. If you trump up some sort of assertion of fraud, the spouse may not dispute your allegations, and your judge might be sympathetic.

In Florida, marriages voidable because of fraud can be “ratified” (made valid) by the mere act of sexual consummation after the injured party becomes aware of the fraud, duress, or temporary lack of capacity which led to the marriage. You have to prove that as soon as you found out the fraudulent circumstances, you let the marital home. You can’t hang around for a while, and then decide to go for an annulment.

You should discuss all this with an experienced family law attorney. Ty Zdravko practices law as a divorce attorney, and family law attorney in Palm Harbor, Clearwater and the surrounding area.

For more information, visit our website at www.divorceboardcertified.com
or call (727) 787-5919.