Do You Qualify for an Annulment in Texas

You May Qualify for a Marriage Annulment If:

  • You were married in Texas even if both spouses reside in other states; or
  • You or your spouse have resided in Texas for at least 6 weeks or move to Texas to Establish Texas Residency; or
  • You are in the military and your military state of record is Texas. In this case, we would need a copy of your LES. You may wish to check with your command officer to verify the correct state is listed on your LES.
  • It is important that we understand that in order to file an annulment you use what is known as a petition of an annulment in Texas. This is specific to each state and while this is so the information required is basically the same. It is for this reason that we have provided a copy of a petition for annulment for the state of Texas.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR ANNULMENT

A Texas annulment dissolves the marriage as though it never occurred in the first place and both spouses are returned to their prior marital status. You will need a copy of your marriage certificate for the process.

  • Unsound Mind - Intoxication/Substance Abuse, Medication/Sedation At Wedding Ceremony
  • Unsound Mind - Insanity At Time of Marriage
  • Consanguinity - Related by Blood
  • Lack of Consent of Parent Under 18, file within 1 year of marriage
  • Bigamy - Another Spouse Still Living

FRAUD

  • Explain why the conduct affected the “essential ingredients” of the marriage

MARITAL - SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP

  • Did Not Reside Together after Marriage
  • Adultery Before & After Marriage
  • Spouse’s Prior Divorce Was Based on Adultery
  • Impotence - Unable to Engage in Sexual Relations Due to Mental or Physical Incapacity
  • Sterility or Infertility
  • Concealed Pregnancy By Another Man
  • Claimed Pregnant But Not Pregnant
  • Homosexual
  • Refusal to engage in Sexual Relations or Consummate Marriage
  • Abnormal Sexual Relationship With Spouse or Another Person
  • Spouse Previously or Currently Works as Prostitute
  • Refusal to Conceive Children - Required Use of Condoms

CITIZENSHIP - GREEN CARD - DEPORTATION

  • Spouse Only Married for Green Card
    Spouse is Illegal Alien Subject to Deportation
    Breach of Prenuptial Promise to Become U.S. Citizen - Must Explain Motive

CHARACTER - DISHONESTY

  • Spouse of Poor Moral Character or Disreputable Occupation
  • Physically Abused Spouse
  • Concealed Child(ren) Born of Prior Relationship
  • Criminal History Depends on crime, if sentenced after marriage, fines imposed
  • Duress, Threats, Intimidation

FINANCIAL

  • Secure Access to Spouse’s Wealth While Engaging in Sexual Relations with Another
  • Married solely to gain access to wealth

RELIGION

  • Breach of Prenuptial Agreement to perform Religious Ceremony
  • Misrepresentations of Present Religious Conviction
  • Misrepresentation of Intention to Embrace Spouse’s Religion
  • Religion - Roman Catholic, spouse divorced

HEALTH

  • Undisclosed Health or Disease - Prove doctor bills, statement
  • Mental Illness or Institutionalized - Prove doctor bills, hospital bills/statement
  • Alcohol or Drug Addiction
  • Gambling Addiction - Amount of Loss

Typically, the fundamental issue is that there will not necessarily be a right for you to obtain an annulment. It is possible to submit to get your marriage annulled in some places, pay a significant amount of funds, proceed with the complete court procedure, correctly stick to current annulment legislations, then reach the final stages and a judge could refuse the annulment. When this occurs you will be back to where you started. The widespread end result is actually to proceed with the filing to get a divorce.

In general, the people who usually want to get an annulment of marriage will have identical issues but rarely succeed in their attempt to get this procedure done. Some of the reasons for wanting an annulment to include being married over six months, the consummation of the marriage, lived mutually as a couple for over a month, own assets jointly or start to have problems as soon as the decision is made to conclude the marriage. In case any of those factors relate to your situation, then the annulment law will definitely not be on your side.

But, there can be uncommon circumstances which might qualify your situation to get an annulment such as if you are too young, would like to have children and your spouse withheld the information about impotency or it might be even a case where your husband had a sex change to become a woman.

So, as it is highlighted above it is easy for you to understand why the actual grounds to get an annulment to seem to be overwhelming and challenging for you to fulfill. In addition, your attempt to get an annulment for marriage might consume a lot of money. However, in case your circumstance is categorized within one of the uncommon groups mentioned earlier, there might be absolutely no cause why you should not try to get your marriage annulled. Moreover, obtaining an annulment as an alternative for divorce should be very essential to you based on the possible disadvantages.

In several locations, the division of asset for an annulment will be identical to the divorce. Although presently there are very little annulment laws in many locations, the legal courts have a tendency to utilize the comparable guidelines as the procedure.

The actual procedure for the annulment will be submitted like the regular lawsuit and also the fundamental procedure is likely to be comparable to the proceedings. There is actually a request for annulment, a summons, as well as the prerequisite for a procedure server. Most times the spouse can response the annulment request and counter-claim intended to get an end to the marriage.

When this takes place, the development for the case might turn out to be practically similar to the divorce. An excellent guideline to help with the process for annulment of marriage is actually the information on the internet, as this will describe the basic steps needed for the proceedings.

Midlife Crisis in Marriage

One of the most common reasons why people get a divorce or annulment is a midlife crisis. In marriage, this will arrive in the life of the couple between the ages of 40 and 60. It has been found out to be a normal part of the growing up as well as the maturing process. At some point in their lives, many people will experience some form of emotional transition.

It is not clear to many what the exact reasons for these but for emotionally-developed persons, this is not just a thing to be shrugged off. One should find out the cause of why these things happen in order to make the necessary adjustments to save the marriage.

Transitions enable one person to make adjustments or engage in a paradigm shift when things aren’t going on as they should. Sometimes, what they have been planning all along, is not the way it is supposed to be. These transitions are needed for one to change the way things are happening that affects the way life is lived.

Some can adjust smoothly but at other times, they can’t seem to adjust themselves to most situations. It can become uncomfortable experiencing such and this can lead to depression and the need for psychotherapy.

People who have a hard time doing paradigm shift experience a lot of different feelings. They may find unhappiness in life and there are lifestyle changes provided that gave them happiness before and is not anymore applicable at this time. Boredom is felt with people, even family members, and interesting things are not anymore that exciting to them.

They feel a need for adventure and change all the time. They often find themselves questioning the choices and decisions they have made in their lives. Oftentimes, confusion about who they are and where they are going is felt. They find themselves being angry at their spouse, blame them for the marriage, and that separation is oncoming. The desire for an intimate relationship with another person is a strong urge and can lead to bigger problems in the course of the marriage.

Midlife Crisis: External Causes

Midlife crisis for most people is believed to be caused by external factors which give them a difficult time for adjustment. These are factors that can contribute to stress in life and will often lead to divorce and separation if unresolved. Transition is hardly possible especially for most people who have unresolved issues in their childhood which were not dealt with before and has come to surface at this period.

One factor that makes midlife crisis hard to pass through is debt. If you want a stress-free life, try to cut off expenses limiting only to things that are necessary or a priority.

Most people nowadays, especially for one with a big family, incur expenses that are beyond their means to pay and lead to insurmountable debts due to credit card balances that are unpaid. Financial problem is one of the major reasons for split-up between couples.

If you are in your midlife and finding it the most stressful time, finding yourself in the middle of so many debts will make you lose confidence. These will be a cause for arguments between husbands and wives and will often be the ground for the separation between them.

Death of a loved one is also a cause of stress especially when it involves a family member, particularly a parent. People often find themselves losing someone of authority and they feel they have no one to turn on and talk to in cases of big problems encountered in life.

Because of this, those afflicted of a loss in the family are often in doubt and question themselves why these things are happening to them. These can lead to depression when unresolved and can affect personal relationships between and among family members.

Transitions in midlife which cannot be accomplished will lead to avoidance of the situation or facing of the situation. When someone tends to avoid a situation, he finds himself distancing from others and may feel inadequate.

For one who bravely faces conflict, it will be a healthy sign. But for those people who cannot, processing must be done like being open to communication to resolve the issues otherwise, this may lead to deeper problems and most likely, divorce or annulment.

Tips on Hiring a Divorce Lawyer

Before putting yourself in the grilling table for that much-contested divorce proceeding, balance first the decision of hiring a divorce lawyer. If you will do the representation yourself, well and good. But if the other party is represented by a lawyer, think twice. You might find yourself in the type of situation wherein you might be laughed at having insufficient knowledge of divorce and matrimonial laws. You don’t need a second opinion when the going gets rough, before you contest your partner in a battle of wills in front of a divorce court, be prepared, hire a lawyer.

Avoid lawyers who accommodate too many clients at the same time. When lawyers are overloaded, they cannot fully attend to your needs when you need them to. Lawyers are badly needed to address critical issues and questions from clients but if this is not properly attended to, the client may lose demands or benefits in court.

Look for lawyers who can manage the case well. Filing a divorce case is not simple but would demand most of your time. It also entails a lot of expenses going back and forth to attend to requirements for accomplishment. Not to mention the time it takes for a case to be closed and done, so find one who can properly handle and manage your case without missing deadlines, and always prepared.

Hire a lawyer who answers your calls promptly. Divorce proceedings will require you to be able to answer critical issues which need to be studied and reviewed. If your lawyer is not available for discussion anytime, at least he must be open for open communication over the phone anytime.
Interview your lawyers on what to do before the procedure and during the court battles. This is what they were hired for, to answer questions you are in doubt to answer. You need to know the how’s and why’s of divorce, so go on and ask those questions from them.

Employ your own lawyer when your partner also has one. You do not want to engage yourself in battle with your partner who is represented by a lawyer. They are the most trusted ones in issues about custody, parenting, support, and division of properties and assets. You’ll find comfort and reassurance knowing you are represented by a qualified, competent and efficient lawyer.

Children and Annulment

Child Support

Child support after the dissolution of marriage is followed as an order from the court. After the separation has been deemed final, a decision has to be made as to which child should go with whom and should be based on how much both of the parents are earning monthly. The expenses of the child is compared to the earnings of a parent, whoever has the capacity in terms of earning will give support to the child until he is 16-19 years old. After this period, they start to live on their own and earn their livelihood.

Child Custody and Visitation

Most often, married couples make a dispute about which child should go to which parent even before the proceedings has even started. During the divorce proceedings, couples are still at a quandary on who will be given custody from the two of them. The court will decide whether child custody is physical or render. With physical custody, a child is separated from one of his parents and goes to the other, whereas in render custody, both of the parents take care of them. Child visitation will be agreed as to the time of visits and how often the visits will be.

Guardianship

A guardian is a person who takes care of the child until they reach 18 years of age. This person is the one in charge of taking care of the child making sure he’s not into joining bad activities or involve himself in any activity which is against the rules of the school where he is studying, a community where he lives, and the state where he belongs.

Paternity

When a woman has given birth, some person or a man should be designated as the father of the child. If the child has no known father, then the court will be the one to decide about the paternity of the child. This will involve some legality and tests like DNA are carried out to be able to decide who really the actual father of the child is.

The Engagement Ring – Who Gets It When the Wedding is Cancelled?

When a marriage proposal is accompanied by an engagement ring, and someone breaks the engagement by refusing to marry, is the recipient legally obligated to return the ring?

The usual rule is the person who breaks the engagement probably loses the ring. However, “probably” does not mean “certainly.”

In our culture, an engagement ring which accompanies a proposal is usually considered to be a gift in contemplation of marriage. The underlying assumption is a gift in the form of an engagement ring is exchanged solely for each party’s promise to marry the other.
CA Civil Code §1590 addresses this type of gift. It states: “Where either party to a contemplated marriage in this State makes a gift of money or property to the other on the basis or assumption that the marriage will take place, in the event that the donee refuses to enter into the marriage as contemplated or that it is given up by mutual consent, the donor may recover such gift or such part of its value as may, under all of the circumstances of the case, be found by a court or jury to be just.”

The language of this statute suggests the recipient must return the ring (or the value of the ring) if:

  • The recipient refuses to marry; or,
  • Both parties jointly decide not to marry.

However, the rule appears to be different if the donor subsequently refuses to marry. California courts have interpreted this statute to mean the recipient usually has no legal duty to return the ring if the donor refuses to marry.

Unfortunately, there is no certain result if the parties seek court intervention, because:

  • Even though the statute specifically applies to gifts in contemplation of marriage, legal principles of fraud and other defenses for breach of contract may apply. These principles are numerous, complicated and conflicting. One can never predict how a judge or jury will interpret and apply any of those principles.
  • One can never predict what evidence will be brought to the court’s attention. Nor can one predict how, or even whether, a judge or jury will consider or interpret that evidence.
  • The statute itself is ambiguous. It states the donor “… may recover such gift or such part of its value as may, under all of the circumstances of the case, be found by a court or jury to be just.May” does not mean “certainly.” It means “maybe.” And one can never predict what a judge or jury will “find” to be “just.”

Therefore, depending on who calls off the wedding, the rules are probably as follows:

  • Recipient refuses to marry, due to no fraud by or other fault of the donor: Recipient returns the ring.
  • Donor refuses to marry, due to no fraud by or other fault of the recipient: Recipient keeps the ring. 
  • Both parties jointly decide to cancel the marriage: Recipient returns the ring.

Deviations from tradition may substantially increase this uncertainty. Our cultural tradition usually observes males giving engagement rings to females in heterosexual relationships. There is no certainty about how, or whether, these principles might change if:

  •  A female gives an engagement ring to a male, in a heterosexual relationship; or,
  • A male gives an engagement ring to a male, or a female gives an engagement ring to a female, in a homosexual relationship; or,
  • Both parties give and receive engagement rings; or,
  • One of the parties is transgender, or both parties are transgender.

The material on this document is intended for informational purposes only, and does not constitute legal or other professional advice for any purpose. No attorney/client relationship and no confidential relationship of any kind is formed by reviewing or using this material in any way or from any direct or indirect contact with any attorney arising from that review or use. If you need legal or other professional services, consult with the appropriate, competent attorney or other professional.