Annulment of Marriage in North Carolina

Voidable Marriages

An annulment is a court order that declares the marriage void. That means that the marriage is considered to have never existed. The marriage is not automatically void but requires a District Court declaring it so.

• 50-4. What marriages may be declared void on application of either party
  03-04-2005

A person that has had a marriage declared void by annulment can indicate that they have never been married. In North Carolina there are only certain narrow circumstances in which a marriage can be declared void. The length of time married is not a determining factor to request an annulment. One of the six following criteria must be proven in District Court to have a marriage declared void.

• All marriages between any two persons nearer in relationship than first cousins.
• All marriages between double first cousins
  • 50-4. What marriages may be declared void on application of either party
    03-04-2005
• All marriages between a male person under 16 years of age and any female with the exception of a court order as a result of a pregnancy when between the ages of 14 and 16
  • 51-2.1. Marriage of certain underage parties
    03-04-2005
• All marriages between a female person under 16 years of age and any male with the exception of a court order as a result of a pregnancy when between the ages of 14 and 16.
• All marriages between persons either of whom is at the time physically impotent.
  (Impotence must be medically diagnosed by a doctor.)
• All marriages between persons either of whom is at the time incapable of contracting due to want of will or understanding is not automatically void. The test for determining mental capacity of someone to enter into a contract to marry is the ability of the person, at the time of the marriage, to understand the special nature of a contract of marriage, and the duties and responsibilities which it entails. Such a determination is made on a case-by-case basis. Ivery v. Ivery , 258 N.C. 721, at 732. 3-4-2005
  • 51-2. Capacity to marry
    03-04-2005
  • 51-3. Want of capacity; void and voidable marriages
    03-04-2005

No marriage, except for a *bigamous one, which is followed by cohabitation and the birth of a child shall be declared void after the death of either of the parties. No marriage by persons either of whom maybe under 16 years of age, and otherwise competent to marry, shall be declared void when the girl shall be pregnant, or when a child shall have been born to the parties unless the child at the time of the action to annul shall be dead.

A marriage contracted under the representation and belief that the female partner to the marriage is pregnant, shall be voidable unless a child has been born to the parties within 10 lunar months of the date of separation if the parties separate within 45 days of the marriage and the separation has been continuous for a period of one year.

Void Marriages:

*In North Carolina only a bigamous marriage is automatically void and does not require court action to make it so. A bigamous marriage is a marriage between persons either of whom already has a husband or wife living at the time of such subsequent marriage. This differs from the voidable marriage above that that requires a court order.

• 51-1.2. Marriages between persons of the same gender not valid
  03-04-2005
• North Carolina Bar Association - Marriage (pdf)
  03-04-2005
• North Carolina Bar Association - Divorce (pdf)
  03-04-2005

This is general information about Annulments and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice as it relates to your particular situation. Consult with our office to discuss how your particular facts relate to the law.