Last Name.

It started off “Hey cutie, where you from?”
And then it turned into “Oh no! What have I done?”
And I don’t even know my last name….
-Carrie Underwood

Annulments are rare. In approximately 20 years of practice, we’ve done one annulment. One.

When an annulment is granted, it is as though the marriage never existed. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,  at least one the allegations must be proven for an annulment to be granted:
1. Bigamy;
2. Consanguinity;
3. Fraud;
4. Duress in the inducement to get married;
5. Impotence or known lack of ability to have children (with a representation to the contrary);
6. Mental incapacity , which can include being excessively intoxicated:

7. Being under age at the time of marriage.

Where an annulment voids a marriage, it is possible that an individual can represent themselves as never married. We are always curious whether people who get a marriage annulled even disclose their previous situation to a future spouse.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Do you agree with the idea of annulment in principle? Do you think that a person should have to list an annulled marriage on an application for a future marriage license?