When a marriage collapses, partners may consider options other than divorce, such as legal separation or annulment. For people of certain religions, such as the Roman Catholic Church, an annulment may be a particularly attractive alternative. If remarriage after divorce is not accepted in your belief, an annulment may allow you to follow a valid religious and civil remarriage. An important difference between annulment and divorce is that, in an annulment, the partners are treated as if they had never been married before. For instance, your legal status on the forms will be single instead of divorce after an annulment. If you have offspring from a marriage that you have annulled, those children will be considered legitimate, but in the eyes of your religion, they will not be considered legitimate. This can be a major question to consider when determining whether revocation is appropriate for your circumstances. However, couples looking for annulment are usually not married enough to have children together.
The annulment of the marriage contract can be described as the legal practice by which the marriage itself is declared null and void. Certain legal requirements must be met for a marriage to be considered valid and enforceable. These conditions are the minimum requirement for marriage. The requirements for a valid marriage are wide-ranging and can be categorized as Legal requirements for Shariah or Muslim marriage and Non-Muslim marriage. For a Muslim marriage to be recognized as a valid marriage in the UAE, certain important legal requirements must be met. A marriage contract can be nullified by a court if it violates public policy or Sharia law (for example, if the parties married in the absence of the female’s guardian or if a Muslim female married a non-Muslim male) so it is always a great idea to seek legal advices from a well-experienced family lawyer. A contract can be declared void under the Personal Status Law if the following conditions are met; in the absence of the wife’s guardian, a marriage is formed. The spouses are separated if the marriage has been consummated. (Article 39), if a woman is permanently or temporarily barred from seeing a guy (Article 40) or if the marriage contract is declared null and void by the court, the marriage is annulled and the parties revert to their previous status. However, the court corrects the nullity at its own discretion, to safeguard the children, if any, from the serious impacts of a nullified marriage contract. The original marriage may be declared null and void by the court, allowing the parties to enter into a legitimate marriage contract. For different reasons, annulment of a marriage is rarely granted in the UAE courts. When annulment is permitted it could be due to the reasons such as, when the minimum age of marriage is not reached, or proper consent did not occur at the time of the marriage.
Difference between annulment and divorce
Annulment is a legal proceeding that declares a marriage null and void in both secular and religious legal systems. In comparison to divorce, it is frequently retroactive, which means that an annulled marriage is deemed invalid from the start, almost as if it never happened.
