Annulment (Voidable Marriage)

What is an annulment?

In some states, courts will grant an annulment of a marriage which declares that a marriage was never valid. In Alaska there is no court action called an annulment, but a court may declare a marriage void for any of the following causes:

• One of the parties is already married to someone else
• The parties are more closely related to each other than third cousins
• One of the parties was a minor and their parents or guardian did not consent to the marriage
• Either party was of unsound mind
• One party caused the other party to fraudulently consent to the marriage
• One party caused the other party to consent to the marriage by force
• Failure to have sexual relations

But if the parties voluntarily lived together as spouses after

• the minor party reached the legal age, or
• the party's mental state improved, or
• the party learned of the fraud, or
• being forced to get married, or
• had sexual relations

there would not be grounds to ask the court to declare the marriage void. However, if you don't want to be married anymore, you can file a complaint for divorce.

Are there forms to declare a marriage void?

There are no court forms to ask the court to declare a marriage void. You need to consult with an attorney if you want to file a case to void a marriage.

Is a void marriage different than a divorce?

Yes. If a court declares a marriage void, there is a judicial statement that there never was a marriage. This means the parties were never united in marriage as spouses.

If people get divorced, everyone recognizes that a valid marriage existed, but it is now over and the parties are no longer spouses.

Can I get an annulment through my church?

Some religions have different methods to get a church annulment so that people can remarry in the church. Church annulments are not recognized under state law. This means that a church annulment does not affect anything that is determined by civil law such as child custody, visitation rights, division of property and debt, spousal support, restoring a maiden name, etc. To deal with these issues, the marriage must be ended legally by the court in either a dissolution, divorce or a case to declare that that the marriage is void.

Rev. 4 October 2018 © Alaska Court System www.courts.alaska.gov Contact Us

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