Annulment in Minnesota

What is an annulment? When Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney split up just months after their marriage, Renee insisted upon getting an annulment. To try to stay in Renee’s good graces, Kenny went along with the plan. But later he regretted it.

Many people believe that annulment is common for short marriages, and that it is a proceeding that is easier and less expensive than divorce. Actually, annulment is more complicated than divorce. Annulment is a procedure to establish that a marriage was entered into improperly. For example, if a person was still married to someone else at the time of a marriage, the second marriage would be void. Other grounds for annulment are: the marriage was entered under fraud or duress, or under the influence of substances; one of the parties to the marriage was underage; or one of the marriage partners is incapable of having sexual relations. There are often strict time requirements as well. So in an annulment proceeding, a hearing is required to prove that the marriage should be nullified, whereas in divorce without children, no hearing is required unless the parties are in dispute. Minnesota Statutes 518.02, 518.01. Different considerations apply when a religious annulment is sought through a church.

In her court filings, Renee claimed Kenny committed fraud, although the nature of the fraud was never made public. This fostered speculation about Kenny that caused him great stress. However, in order to get an annulment, Renee had to claim one of the available legal grounds, even if it was just a situation where the marriage didn’t work out. For some people, saying they were never married sounds better than being divorced. In Minnesota, one can successfully petition for annulment, but it is rare. When a marriage fails, a divorce is usually appropriate, even if it lasted only a few months.