In the state of Massachusetts, a court granted annulment means your marriage never legally happened. Each state’s legislative code sets specific guidelines for what constitutes an annullable marriage. Contrary to popular belief, you can’t annul a marriage based on a short duration. Massachusetts outlines seven specific grounds for annulment.

In Massachusetts, annulments require your marriage to be either void or voidable. There are three void marriage grounds: consanguinity, having a blood relation such as brother and sister or first cousins; affinity, meaning you’re related by marriage to your spouse; and bigamy which refers to either you or your spouse is legally married when the marriage in question was entered into. A void marriage is one that could not have existed in the first place because it was against the law at the time it started.

Additionally, there are four voidable marriage grounds. If your spouse concealed some important issue from you, fraud is a voidable marriage ground. Next, a duress ground means the marriage was entered into under threat or coercion. In the event, a spouse cannot perform sexually, and this knowledge was not disclosed before the marriage, the impotency ground may apply. Finally, if either you or your spouse was not capable of understanding what you were doing when you married, due to mental illness or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time the wedding took place, mental incapacity is the fourth ground for a voidable marriage.

If you think you may qualify for an annulment in Massachusetts or have any questions, please contact our office to speak with an attorney.