To get an annulment in California, you have to prove to a judge that your marriage had a specific legal defect when it took place, file a Petition for nullity of marriage in superior court, serve your spouse, and appear at a hearing with evidence supporting your ground.1California Courts. Annulment An annulment is not the same as a divorce. A divorce ends a valid marriage; an annulment declares that the marriage was never legally valid in the first place. That difference is what makes annulments hard to get: you cannot qualify just because the marriage was short or unhappy.
Do You Have a Legal Ground
California splits invalid marriages into two categories. Void marriages were never legal under any circumstances. Voidable marriages are treated as valid until a court declares otherwise.
Void Marriages
Two kinds of marriage are automatically void. The first is a marriage between close blood relatives, including parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren at any generational distance, full or half siblings, and aunts or uncles with nieces or nephews.2California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2200 The second is a bigamous marriage, meaning one spouse was already legally married to someone else when the second marriage took place.3California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2201 Either spouse can file at any time while both are alive.
Voidable Marriages
California recognizes five grounds for voiding a marriage.4California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2210
- Underage marriage. One spouse was under 18 and did not have a judge’s permission to marry. The underage spouse, a parent, or a guardian can seek the annulment.
- Unsound mind. One spouse lacked the mental capacity to understand marriage and its obligations. If that spouse later regained capacity and voluntarily kept living with the other, the right to annul is lost.
- Fraud. Agreement to marry was obtained through deception about something central to the marriage itself, such as hiding an inability to have children or concealing a major aspect of identity. An ordinary lie will not qualify.
- Force. One spouse was coerced or threatened into marrying.
- Physical incapacity. One spouse was permanently unable to consummate the marriage at the time of the ceremony.
For fraud, force, and unsound mind, California law explicitly cuts off the annulment if you freely continued living with your spouse after the problem came to light or was resolved. This is the most common trap in annulment cases. If you think you have a ground, acting quickly matters.
Filing Deadlines
Each voidable ground has its own deadline. Miss it and your only option is divorce.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2211
- Underage marriage: the underage spouse must file within four years of turning 18. A parent or guardian can file any time before the minor turns 18.
- Unsound mind: no fixed deadline, but the case must be brought while both spouses are alive. A relative or conservator can file on the affected spouse’s behalf.
- Fraud: within four years of discovering the fraud.
- Force: within four years of the marriage.
- Physical incapacity: within four years of the marriage.
Void marriages (incest and bigamy) have no deadline so long as both spouses are alive.
Forms, Fee, and Filing
Two forms open the case: the Petition (Form FL-100) and the Summons (Form FL-110). On the Petition, check the box for “nullity of marriage” and identify your specific legal ground.6California Courts. Start an Annulment Case Both forms are free on the California Courts website.7California Courts. Petition – Marriage/Domestic Partnership (Family Law) If you and your spouse have any children under 18, you also file a Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (Form FL-105), which gives the court the background it needs before making custody orders.8California Courts. Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)
Before you fill out the forms, gather full legal names and birth dates for both spouses, the date and location of the marriage, information about any children, and a list of property and debts acquired during the marriage.
File the originals plus at least two copies at the superior court in the county where you or your spouse lives. The filing fee is $435 in most California counties.9Superior Court of California. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties add a local courthouse construction surcharge. If you cannot afford the fee, apply for a waiver using Form FW-001; it is available if you receive public benefits, have low income, or cannot cover both basic needs and court costs.10California Courts. Request to Waive Court Fees
Once the court stamps your paperwork, your spouse must be formally served. You cannot do it yourself. A third party at least 18 years old and not involved in the case, such as a professional process server or a friend, must personally hand the filed Petition and Summons to your spouse. Your spouse then has 30 days to file a written response.11California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 412.20
The Hearing and Your Evidence
Every annulment case requires a hearing in front of a judge, even if both spouses agree the marriage should be annulled.1California Courts. Annulment You have to explain why the marriage was never legally valid and back it up with evidence. The kind of evidence depends on the ground: medical records for physical incapacity; witness testimony about threats or coercion for force; financial records, messages, or other documentation of the deception for fraud. If the judge finds the evidence does not meet the legal standard, the annulment is denied and the marriage stands.
Property, Support, and Children
Because an annulment declares that a valid marriage never existed, California’s community property rules do not automatically apply. In theory, each person keeps what they brought in and what they earned. That becomes a problem when one spouse paid joint bills or helped build assets while believing the marriage was real.
The putative spouse doctrine addresses this. If the court finds that a spouse genuinely believed in good faith that the marriage was valid, the court must declare that person a putative spouse.12California Legislative Information. California Family Code 2251 Property that would have been community property in a valid marriage is then treated as “quasi-marital property” and divided the way a court would divide it in a divorce. The court can also order spousal support. The hurdle is good faith: a spouse who knew about the defect from the start, such as someone who knew their partner was already married, will not qualify.
Children are treated the same way they would be in a divorce. Custody, visitation, and child support are decided based on the children’s best interests regardless of whether the marriage was valid, voidable, or void. If parentage is in question, the court can resolve it inside the annulment case.
Tax and Immigration Side Effects
An annulment reaches back into your tax history. Because the IRS treats the marriage as though it never existed, you cannot have filed as married filing jointly for any year the marriage was supposedly in effect. You will need to file amended returns on Form 1040-X for every affected year still open under the statute of limitations, changing your filing status to single or, if you qualify, head of household.13Internal Revenue Service. Filing Taxes After Divorce or Separation The IRS generally allows amended returns within three years of filing the original or two years after paying the tax, whichever is later. Switching from joint to single filing often raises the tax bill for at least one former spouse, so plan for the possibility of owing more tax, interest, or penalties.
If either spouse’s immigration status depends on the marriage, an annulment creates complications. A non-citizen spouse holding a conditional green card based on the marriage will typically need to file a waiver with USCIS (Form I-751) and show the marriage was entered into in good faith, even though it was annulled. Joint bank statements, shared leases, and children’s birth certificates can help. Without enough proof, the non-citizen spouse may lose the ability to continue the green card process. Federal law carves out one protection: a former spouse of an abusive U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident can self-petition under the Violence Against Women Act, so an annulment does not automatically close the door to immigration relief in abuse situations.14USCIS. Policy Manual Volume 3, Part D, Chapter 2 – Eligibility Requirements and Evidence