annulment

(noun)

Legal term for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that this kind of marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place. They are closely associated with the Catholic Church, which does not permit divorce, teaching that marriage is a lifelong commitment which cannot be dissolved through divorce.

Related Terms

Examples of annulment in the following topics:

  • The Power of Judicial Review

    • Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority.

  • The Anglican Church

    • By the late 1520s, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled.
    • In 1527 Henry asked Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage, but the Pope refused.
    • According to Canon Law the Pope cannot annul a marriage on the basis of a canonical impediment previously dispensed.
    • In 1529 the king summoned Parliament to deal with annulment, thus bringing together those who wanted reform but who disagreed what form it should take; it became known as the Reformation Parliament.

  • Child Custody Laws

    • Residence and contact issues typically arise in proceedings involving divorce, annulment, and other legal proceedings where children may be involved.
    • Residence and contact issues typically arise in proceedings involving divorce, annulment and other legal proceedings where children may be involved.In most jurisdictions the issue of which parent the child will reside with is determined in accordance with the best interests of the child.

  • Marriage and Responsibility

    • Marriages are perpetual agreements with legal consequences, terminated only by the death of one party or by formal dissolution processes, such as divorce and annulment.

  • The Holy Experiment

    • The Lenape tribe fought for the next 19 years to annul the treaty, but to no avail.

  • The Glorious Revolution in America

    • He had already dispatched, to previous colonial governor Simon Bradstreet, a letter containing news of a report (prepared before the revolution) that the annulment of the Massachusetts charter had been illegal, and that the magistrates should "prepare the minds of the people for a change. " Rumors of the revolution apparently reached some individuals in Boston before official news arrived .

  • Pennsylvania and Delaware

    • The Lenape tribe fought for the next 19 years to have the treaty annulled but was forced into the Shamokin and Wyoming Valleys, which were already overcrowded with other displaced tribes.

  • George H.W. Bush Abroad

    • In May 1989, Panama held democratic elections, in which Guillermo Endara was elected president; the results were then annulled by Noriega's government.

  • Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

    • Anne's marriage to Henry VIII was annulled and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate.

  • The First Stuarts and Catholicism

    • Based on Henry VIII's desire for an annulment of his marriage, it was at the outset more of a political affair than a theological dispute.