To annul a marriage in Pennsylvania, you file a Complaint for Annulment in the Court of Common Pleas, prove that your marriage falls into one of the grounds Pennsylvania recognizes as void or voidable, and obtain a decree from a judge. An annulment is different from a divorce: a divorce ends a valid marriage, while an annulment declares that the marriage was never legally valid in the first place. Some grounds carry a 60-day filing deadline, so acting quickly can matter.
Who Can File and Where
At least one spouse must have lived in Pennsylvania for six consecutive months immediately before the case is filed.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S.A. 3104 – Jurisdiction There is one exception: Pennsylvania courts can annul a void or voidable marriage that took place outside the state even if neither spouse currently lives here.
You file in the county where your spouse lives. If your spouse lives outside Pennsylvania, file in the county where you live.
Grounds That Make a Marriage Void
A void marriage was never legal. It has no force even without a court order, but getting a decree creates a clean record and lets the court resolve related issues like property and custody. A marriage is void when:2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3304 – Grounds for Annulment of Void Marriages
- One spouse was already married to someone else, and that earlier marriage had not been ended by divorce or annulment.
- The spouses are related as first cousins or closer, including parent-child, siblings, aunt-nephew, and uncle-niece.
- One spouse could not meaningfully consent because of a serious mental disorder, insanity, or a similar lack of capacity, or did not actually intend to consent.
- Either party to a claimed common-law marriage was under 18 at the time.
Void grounds generally have no filing deadline. There is a catch, though: if the couple kept living together after the impediment was removed (the earlier spouse died, or the prior divorce came through), the marriage may be treated as confirmed and can no longer be voided.
Grounds That Make a Marriage Voidable
A voidable marriage is legally valid until a court declares otherwise. Either spouse can bring the action, but once one spouse dies without the marriage having been challenged, no one can challenge it afterward.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3305 – Grounds for Annulment of Voidable Marriages The grounds are:
- Either spouse was under 16 and the marriage was not authorized by a court. Pennsylvania now sets 18 as the minimum marriage age, so this ground applies mostly to older marriages or marriages from other jurisdictions.
- Either spouse was 16 or 17 without parental or guardian consent (or court authorization) and has not ratified the marriage after turning 18. You must file within 60 days of the ceremony.
- Either spouse was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the ceremony. You must also file within 60 days.
- Either spouse was naturally and incurably impotent at the time of the marriage and remains so, unless the other spouse knew about the condition beforehand. No specific deadline applies.
- One spouse was tricked or forced into the marriage by the other. This ground disappears if the deceived or coerced spouse voluntarily kept living with the other after learning the truth or being freed from the coercion.
The 60-day windows for underage-consent and intoxication claims are the ones people miss. If either deadline passes, divorce becomes your only option for ending the marriage.
What Counts as Fraud
The statute does not define fraud, and Pennsylvania courts read it narrowly. The lie has to go to something fundamental about the marriage. Courts have historically focused on misrepresentations about the ability or willingness to have children, concealed pregnancies by another partner, or hidden conditions that make a marital relationship impossible. A lie about a job title or income, while dishonest, is unlikely to support an annulment. You also have to show you actually relied on the false information when you decided to marry.
Filing the Complaint
The document that starts the case is a Complaint for Annulment. You file it with the Prothonotary’s office at the Court of Common Pleas in the appropriate county and pay a filing fee. Fees vary by county; Berks County, for example, charges $250 as of 2026. Call the Prothonotary before you file to confirm the current amount. Many county courts publish complaint forms on their websites, and you can also pick one up in person.
The complaint has to include the full legal names and addresses of both spouses, the date and place of the marriage, and a clear statement of the legal ground you are relying on. Be specific. If you are alleging fraud, describe what was misrepresented and when you discovered it. If you are alleging intoxication, explain what happened at the ceremony. Vague allegations will not hold up if your spouse contests the case.
If you want the court to divide property or address custody or support, raise those issues in the complaint. Otherwise, the court may not address them in the annulment proceeding.
Serving Your Spouse
After filing, you have to formally deliver the complaint to your spouse through service. Pennsylvania’s domestic relations rules give you a few options:4Justia Regulations. Pennsylvania Code 231 Pa. Code Rule 1930.4 – Service of Original Process in Domestic Relations Matters
- Personal service by a sheriff or any competent adult (18 or older, not a party to the case), who hands the complaint to your spouse. If your spouse is not available, it can go to an adult family member at their home or to someone in charge at their workplace.
- Service by certified mail restricted to the addressee with return receipt requested, sent alongside regular first-class mail. Service is complete when the return receipt shows your spouse’s signature, or when delivery is confirmed and the first-class mail is not returned within 15 days.
- Service by commercial carrier such as FedEx or UPS, again paired with first-class mail. The carrier has to provide a return receipt showing the date, address, and recipient.
If you cannot find your spouse and none of these methods work, you can ask the court for permission to serve by another method, such as publication in a newspaper. That takes a separate court order.
What Happens After Service
Once your spouse is served, they have 20 days to file a written response. If they do not respond, you can ask the court for a default judgment. If they contest the annulment, the case moves to a hearing.
At the hearing you present evidence for your ground. That might mean testimony from witnesses to the ceremony, medical records showing impotence or mental incapacity, documentation of a prior marriage still in effect, or evidence of the fraud or coercion. The judge reviews the evidence and either grants or denies the annulment. A granted case ends with a final decree.
Children, Property, and Support
An annulment does not undo the practical consequences of the relationship. Pennsylvania courts can resolve the same issues in an annulment that they handle in a divorce: property division, spousal support, child custody, and child support.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S.A. 3104 – Jurisdiction
Children born during the marriage remain legitimate regardless of the annulment. The court can order custody and child support the same way it would in a divorce. Property and assets acquired during the relationship can be divided, and one spouse may be awarded support or alimony in some circumstances. Again, you have to raise these issues in your complaint or in a counterclaim, or the court may not address them.
Tax, Immigration, and Social Security Effects
Because an annulment treats the marriage as never having existed, the IRS considers you unmarried for every year the marriage was in effect. You must file amended returns on Form 1040-X for all affected tax years still open under the statute of limitations, which is generally three years from the date you filed the original return or two years after the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.5Internal Revenue Service. Filing Taxes After Divorce or Separation On each amended return, your filing status changes from married filing jointly or separately to single, or to head of household if you qualify. That can raise or lower your bill depending on the year. If you filed jointly and received a refund based on that status, you may owe part of it back.
If you obtained conditional permanent resident status through the marriage, an annulment does not automatically end your immigration status. You can file Form I-751 to remove the conditions on your green card without your spouse by requesting a waiver of the joint filing requirement, available when you married in good faith but the marriage ended in annulment.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Removing Conditions on Permanent Residence Based on Marriage You will need to show that you entered the marriage genuinely, even though it was later annulled.
If you lost Social Security benefits because of the marriage (survivor benefits from a prior spouse, for example), an annulment can restore them. The Social Security Administration treats an annulled marriage as void from the beginning under state law, and benefits can be reinstated starting from the month the decree is issued.7Social Security Administration. Social Security Handbook – Reinstatement of Benefits When Marriage Terminates Reinstatement is not automatic; you have to apply.