How to Fill Out and File the NC Annulment Form CV-711

North Carolina annulment Form CV-711 is the civil summons that opens an annulment case in district court. Filing it tells your spouse that you have asked a judge to declare your marriage void from the start, as though it never legally existed. The summons alone does not do that work. You file CV-711 together with a separate verified complaint that states your grounds, pay the clerk’s fee, and arrange for your spouse to be formally served.

What CV-711 Does in an Annulment Case

CV-711 is a one-page civil summons. Its job is procedural: it notifies your spouse that a lawsuit has been filed and warns them that they have 30 days after service to respond or risk a default judgment.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1, Rule 4 – Process The summons does not explain why you want the annulment. That belongs in the verified complaint, which you draft separately and file at the same time.

Annulment differs from divorce in a few ways that matter at the filing stage. There is no six-month residency requirement and no required separation period, but you do need a legally recognized ground.2School of Government, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. North Carolina Trial Judges’ Bench Book A short marriage or mutual regret is not enough.

Confirm You Have a Valid Ground First

Before you touch the form, make sure your situation fits one of the grounds in G.S. § 51-3. North Carolina treats most grounds as rendering a marriage void:

  • Bigamy — one spouse was already married to someone else at the time of the ceremony.
  • Close blood relation — the spouses are nearer in kinship than first cousins, or are double first cousins.
  • Either party was under 16 at the time of the marriage.
  • Either spouse was physically impotent at the time of the ceremony.
  • Either spouse lacked the mental capacity to consent, or consented under duress or undue influence.

The statute also recognizes one explicitly voidable ground: a marriage entered into because one party believed the other was pregnant, where the couple separated within 45 days of the wedding and stayed apart continuously for at least one year, with no child born within ten lunar months of the separation date.3North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 51-3 – Want of Capacity; Void and Voidable Marriages If you stayed together past 45 days, or a child was born in that window, this ground is unavailable.

There is no fixed statute of limitations, but delay can hurt a fraud or incapacity claim because continued cohabitation suggests the defect did not actually matter to you.

What to Gather Before You Fill Out the Form

Have these items in front of you before you start writing:

  • Your full legal name and current address, and the same for your spouse. The summons needs current residential addresses for both parties.
  • The date and location of your marriage ceremony, which the complaint will reference.
  • Proof that supports your specific ground. For bigamy, that may be a certified copy of your spouse’s prior marriage certificate. For impotence or incapacity, medical records. For the pregnancy ground, a timeline establishing the 45-day separation.
  • The county where you or your spouse lives. You file there.2School of Government, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. North Carolina Trial Judges’ Bench Book

How to Fill Out Form CV-711

You can download CV-711 from the North Carolina Judicial Branch forms page at nccourts.gov or pick up a blank copy at the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where you plan to file.4North Carolina Judicial Branch. Forms Work through it in order:

  • Write the county name at the top. This is the county where you are filing.
  • Enter your name and address as the Plaintiff.
  • Enter your spouse’s name and address as the Defendant.
  • Mark the checkbox indicating a domestic civil action so the case routes to the district court’s domestic division.
  • Sign and date the form.
  • Leave the clerk’s signature block blank. The clerk signs when the summons is officially issued at filing.

Check every spelling against your spouse’s legal records. A wrong middle initial or outdated address can derail service and force you to redo it.

Draft the Verified Complaint

The summons gives notice; the complaint carries the case. North Carolina does not publish a pre-printed annulment complaint, so you draft one yourself or have an attorney prepare it. At a minimum it should include:

  • Full names of both parties, the county of filing, and your residence.
  • The date and location of the marriage ceremony.
  • A clear statement of which ground under G.S. § 51-3 applies, with facts supporting it. For a bigamy claim, for instance, state that your spouse was already married to a named person on the date of your ceremony and that the prior marriage had not been dissolved.
  • A request that the court declare the marriage void from its inception.

“Verified” means sworn. Take the complaint to a notary public and sign it in the notary’s physical presence. The notary then applies their seal and signature.5North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code Chapter 10B – Notaries Do not sign in advance; the notary must witness it.

You will also complete the Domestic Civil Action Cover Sheet, form AOC-CV-750, which the court uses to track your case.6North Carolina Judicial Branch. Domestic Civil Action Cover Sheet It gets filed alongside the summons and complaint.

File With the Clerk of Court

Bring the completed summons, the notarized verified complaint, and the cover sheet to the Clerk of Superior Court in your chosen county. File at least two copies of everything so the court keeps one and your spouse gets one.

The base filing fee for a civil action in district court is $150. Divorce filings carry an additional $75 surcharge for the Domestic Violence Center Fund, bringing those to $225.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 7A-305 – Costs in Civil Actions The surcharge statute names “absolute divorce,” so some clerks charge only $150 for annulment while others apply the full $225. Call ahead to confirm.

If you cannot afford the fee, ask about filing as an indigent using form AOC-G-106, which asks the court to waive or defer costs. If your circumstances do not fit the form’s standard categories, contact the clerk’s office in advance about what financial documentation to bring.8North Carolina Judicial Branch. Court Costs

When the clerk accepts the filing and signs the summons, your case has a file number and the clock starts on service.

Serve Your Spouse

You cannot deliver the papers yourself. Rule 4 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure sets out the authorized methods.9North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1, Rule 4 – Process The two most common are:

  • Sheriff service. Pay the county sheriff’s office (typically around $30) to deliver the papers in person. The sheriff files a return of service with the court.
  • Certified mail, return receipt requested. The signed green card is your proof of delivery.

Service must be completed within 60 days of the summons being issued. If your spouse is hard to find, do not let that deadline pass. You can request an alias and pluries summons, which is a fresh summons extending your service window, at any time within 90 days after the original summons was issued.10North Carolina General Assembly. Chapter 1A Article 2 – Commencement of Action; Service of Process, Pleadings, Motions, and Orders An endorsement on the original summons extending the service period by another 90 days is also available. Miss both routes and the case can be dismissed.

What Happens After Service

Your spouse has 30 days after service to file a written response.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 1A-1, Rule 4 – Process They can contest the grounds, agree with the annulment, or raise their own claims. If they do nothing in 30 days, you can ask the court for a default judgment.

The court will schedule a hearing either way. Annulment carries a higher evidentiary bar than an uncontested divorce because you have to prove the specific ground. Both sides can present evidence, call witnesses, and testify. Impotence or mental-capacity cases often require medical testimony. If the judge finds the proof sufficient, the court enters a decree declaring the marriage void from its inception.11North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-4 – What Marriages May Be Declared Void on Application of Either Party

Children and Taxes

An annulment does not change the legal status of children born during the marriage. North Carolina law provides that children born of a voidable or bigamous marriage remain legitimate after the annulment is granted.12North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 50-11.1 – Children Born of Voidable Marriage Legitimate Parental rights and child support survive the annulment. Either parent can pursue custody and support through the same proceeding or a separate action, with support calculated under North Carolina’s Child Support Guidelines.

Taxes are the other item people miss. Because an annulment treats the marriage as if it never existed, the IRS considers you to have been unmarried for every year it was in effect. If you filed joint returns, you will need to file amended returns on Form 1040-X for each open tax year and change the filing status to single or head of household if you qualify. The IRS addresses this in Publication 501 under annulled marriages.13Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information You can generally amend the three most recent years. Run the numbers first, because changing status can raise or lower what you owe.