Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Re: Annullment or divorce

The length of the marriage does not matter.

In VA, you can seek an annulment on grounds of fraud, duress, insufficient age, bigamy, defective licensing or solemnization, violation of kinship intermarriage prohibtions, or lack of capacity to consent to marriage because of mental incapacity or infirmity (NOT BECAUSE YOU WERE DRUNK OR ON DRUGS).

You may also file for an annulment against your spouse if: your spouse suffers from natural or incurable impotency which existed at the time of marriage; prior to the marriage one party was convicted of a felony without the knowledge to the other party; at the time of marriage wife was carrying a child of another without knowledge to the husband or the husband without knowledge to the wife had fathered a child born to a woman other than the wife within 10 months after the date of solemnization (sexual intercourse between husband and wife) of the marriage; prior to the marriage, one party had been a prostitute, without the other's knowledge; or finally, the marriage was entered into under fraud or duress.

I hope this answers your question. If not, feel free to call me (at either my MD or VA office) so that we can discuss your specific facts. Most often it is less costly and much less grief to file for an irreconcilable divorce, but again we would have to speak with one another to determine if this is true in your case.