Annulment vs. Divorce

An annulment is a legal procedure, which causes a marriage to be as if it had never existed. The most common reason that a marriage is annulled is fraud. This might mean a failure to disclose some important fact to the spouse like a communicable disease, an inability to have children, a previous divorce or a criminal past. Other common reasons are bigamy, incest, or duress. Most people do not get annulments unless they have some legal, financial or religious reasons to avoid a divorce.