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To put it simply a divorce differs from an annulment in that it serves to dissolve a marriage whereas an annulment is used to invalidate the marriage. To put it another way, couples that become divorced were still once married and there will be a record of this whereas those that have their marriages annulled were, technically, never married at all. Additionally, whilst a couple will need to have been married for one year before they may file for a divorce, they can file for an annulment at any time.

Whilst there are a selection of grounds for divorce such as adultery and unreasonable behaviour, there are also acceptable grounds to have a marriage annulled, though these fall under two separate headings: void marriages and voidable marriage.

Marriages are deemed to be void if a ground is identified which effectively means that it was not legal for the marriage to take place in the first instance. Examples of this would include one party being married to another person, the parties being closely related or one party being under the age of 16. Alternatively, a marriage is deemed to be voidable if it is deemed to be defective because it has not yet been consummated (i.e. the parties have not had sex with one another following them having married), one or both of the parties were unable to consent to the marriage (if they were intoxicated, for example) or forced into the marriage.

Should the above circumstances apply, then the process of filing for and requesting that the courts grant you an annulment is similar to that which must be followed in order to file for and request a divorce.

For example, in order to start proceedings one party will need to file two copies of a Nullity Petition to a county court along with a court fee of £550 (though assistance is available to those in receipt of benefits or low incomes).

Following this, provided the Respondent agrees to the annulment, then the process is again identical to the remainder of the divorce process, the only exception being that the Petitioner should file a statement in support of annulment instead of a statement in support of divorce.

The procedure following this is again identical to applying for a divorce as, following a Decree Nisi having been granted, the Petitioner can apply for a Decree Absolute to finalise the annulment six weeks and one day from this date.