Divorce ends a valid marriage. Annulment declares that there was never a valid marriage to end.
What Annulment Requires
OCGA 19-4-1 is narrow: “Annulments of marriages declared void by law may be granted by the superior court, except that annulments may not be granted in instances where children are born or are to be born as a result of the marriage.”
Two limits are built into that sentence. The marriage has to be one the law declares void, not merely one you regret. And if there are children of the marriage, or a child on the way, annulment is off the table entirely.
You May Have a Choice
The grounds overlap more than people expect. The first five grounds for divorce in OCGA 19-5-3 all describe problems that existed when the marriage was formed, such as mental incapacity, impotency, or force, menace, duress, or fraud in obtaining the marriage.
OCGA 19-4-2 addresses that overlap directly. Parties to a marriage “declared void by law” may file “[a] petition for annulment” or “[a] petition for divorce, if grounds for divorce exist.”
The Result Is Similar, With One Difference
Under OCGA 19-4-5, an annulment decree “shall have the effect of a total divorce between the parties of a void marriage and shall return the parties thereto to their original status before marriage.”
Procedure is largely the same. OCGA 19-4-4 provides that service, jurisdiction, residence, and pleading follow the divorce rules, except that an annulment decree may be entered at any time where personal service was had at least 30 days beforehand and nobody contests it.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!