Colorado Annulment Requirements: Grounds, Deadlines, and Filing

To meet Colorado annulment requirements, your marriage must fit one of seven grounds listed in Colorado Revised Statutes § 14-10-111, you must file within that ground’s specific deadline, and you must meet the state’s residency rules. Colorado calls the process a “declaration of invalidity” rather than annulment, and the decree treats the marriage as though it never legally existed.¹ A short marriage or deep regret is not enough.

The Seven Grounds That Qualify

Colorado courts will declare a marriage invalid only in these situations.

Lack of Mental Capacity

One spouse could not meaningfully consent at the ceremony because of cognitive impairment, mental illness, or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.¹ The question is whether the person understood they were getting married at that moment. A spouse who was blackout drunk has a much stronger case than one who felt pressured.

Physical Incapacity

One spouse physically cannot consummate the marriage through sexual intercourse, and the other spouse did not know about the condition before the wedding.¹ If you knew beforehand and married anyway, this ground is unavailable.

Fraud

The deception must go to the essence of the marriage itself. Concealing a prior undissolved marriage, hiding a permanent inability to have children, or lying about immigration status to obtain marriage benefits are the kinds of misrepresentations courts take seriously.¹ Lying about income or past relationships generally will not qualify.

Duress

Threats, coercion, or extreme pressure forced you into the marriage. The duress can come from the other spouse or a third party, and it does not matter whether the other spouse knew about it.¹ Courts look at whether you had a genuine choice. Family expectations alone are usually not enough; there needs to be a credible threat.

Marriage as a Jest or Dare

Both parties treated the ceremony as a joke or entered the marriage on a dare, neither intending to be married.¹ If one person genuinely intended to be married and the other was joking, the aggrieved party can still petition, but the burden of proof shifts significantly.

Underage Marriage

You must be at least 18 to marry in Colorado without special approval. A 16- or 17-year-old may marry only with judicial approval from a juvenile court finding the minor capable of handling the responsibilities and that marriage is in the minor’s best interests.² Parental consent alone is not enough, and marriage under 16 is flatly prohibited. If a minor married without the required court approval, the underage spouse, a parent, or a guardian can petition for invalidity.¹

Marriages Prohibited by Law

Some marriages are void outright: bigamous marriages where one spouse was still legally married to someone else, and marriages between close relatives (parent and child, siblings including half-siblings, uncle-niece or aunt-nephew). A marriage void where it was originally performed also falls here.¹ These marriages can be challenged at any point during either spouse’s lifetime, and the challenge can come from either party or from a public official with a legitimate interest.

Filing Deadlines by Ground

Missing a deadline is one of the most common ways people lose the ability to annul. The clock runs differently for each ground.

Mental incapacity, fraud, duress, or jest: six months from learning about the condition that makes the marriage invalid.¹
Physical incapacity: one year from learning about the condition.¹
Underage marriage: 24 months from the date of the marriage.¹
Bigamy or incest: any time during both spouses’ lifetimes, by either spouse or a public official with standing.¹

No declaration of invalidity may be sought after the death of either spouse, with a narrow exception for prohibited marriages where a surviving spouse or certain other parties may still have standing. Once your deadline passes, divorce becomes the only way to end the marriage.

Residency and Where to File

If the marriage took place in Colorado, you can file immediately in a Colorado district court with no waiting period. If the marriage happened in another state or country, at least one spouse must have lived in Colorado for a minimum of 30 days before filing.³ Residency is typically shown with a lease, utility bills, a Colorado driver’s license, or similar documentation.

File in the district court of the county where either spouse lives. If one spouse is out of state, Colorado courts can still hear the case as long as the other spouse meets the residency rule.

How to File and What It Costs

Start by submitting a Petition for Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage to the district court.⁴ You and your spouse can file jointly as co-petitioners, or you can file alone and name the other spouse as respondent. When filing alone, you also need to submit a summons.

The filing fee is $260.⁵ Fee waivers are available if you demonstrate financial hardship.

The petition must be formally served on the other spouse. The respondent then has 21 days to file an answer. If the respondent lives outside Colorado or was served by publication, that deadline extends to 35 days.⁶ If no answer is filed, the court may enter a default judgment.

Expect added costs in a contested case. A private process server generally runs $40 to $200. Attorney fees vary widely. If the court orders mediation, private mediators generally charge $100 to $500 per hour.

Annulment cases have no mandatory waiting period, unlike divorce. Once the paperwork and any response are in, the court sets a hearing where both sides can present evidence, call witnesses, and testify. The judge decides whether you have met the burden of proof for the specific ground you raised.

What the Decree Changes (and What It Doesn’t)

A Decree of Invalidity of Marriage legally establishes that the marriage never existed. That is a different outcome from divorce, and the practical consequences reach into property, children, benefits, and immigration.

Property and Debts

Because the marriage is treated as though it never happened, Colorado’s equitable-distribution rules for divorce do not automatically apply. Assets and debts generally stay with whoever acquired them. Courts can step in if strict separation would be unjust, especially when one spouse made significant financial contributions to property held in the other’s name, and the court may enforce written agreements the parties made about sharing assets.

Children and Spousal Maintenance

Annulment does not affect the legal status of children born during the relationship. Custody, parenting time, and child support are handled under the same Colorado family law rules that apply in any other case. Spousal maintenance is generally not available after an annulment, because the court has declared no valid marriage existed.

Putative Spouse Protections

Colorado protects people who genuinely believed they were in a valid marriage. A “putative spouse” is someone who lived with another person in the good-faith belief that they were legally married, and that status lasts until the person learns the marriage is not valid.⁷ A putative spouse gains the same rights as a legal spouse, including the right to maintenance. If both a legal spouse and a putative spouse exist, the court divides property, maintenance, and support among the claimants based on what is fair.

Health Insurance

If you were covered under your spouse’s employer-sponsored health plan, an annulment will almost certainly end that coverage. Federal COBRA rules list “divorce or legal separation” as qualifying events that trigger the right to continue coverage for up to 36 months.⁸ Annulment is not explicitly listed, which creates a gray area; some plan administrators treat it the same as divorce and others do not. Contact the plan administrator as soon as you file, and start looking at marketplace or employer-based alternatives.

Social Security

Divorce lets a former spouse collect Social Security benefits on the other’s record if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. Annulment wipes out the marriage, so those years do not count toward the 10-year threshold. If you were receiving benefits as a spouse before the marriage, the Social Security Administration may reinstate the earlier benefits as of the month the annulment decree is issued, provided you file a timely application.⁹

Immigration

An annulment can jeopardize immigration status obtained through the marriage, because the government may view the basis for a green card or visa petition as eliminated. Victims of domestic abuse have some protection under the Violence Against Women Act: a self-petitioning spouse can still be eligible for VAWA benefits after an annulment, but must file within two years of the annulment and show the termination of the marriage was connected to the abuse.¹⁰ That two-year deadline is strict with no extensions. If immigration status is a factor, talk to an immigration attorney before finalizing the annulment.

1
Justia. Colorado Code 14-10-111 – Declaration of Invalidity
2
Colorado General Assembly. HB19-1316 – Modernizing Marriage Laws for Minors
3
Colorado Judicial Branch. Annul or Cancel a Marriage
4
Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 1600 – Instructions for Declaration of Invalidity of Marriage
5
Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees
6
Colorado Judicial Branch. Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 12
7
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 14 – 14-2-111
8
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers
9
Social Security Administration. Social Security Handbook – 1853 Reinstatement of Benefits When Marriage Terminates
10
USCIS. Policy Manual – Effect of Certain Life Events