FAQs ~ Some Frequently Asked Legal Questions

Most people do not qualify for an annulment. Even if you have been married for a few weeks, you will probably have to file a divorce complaint to end your marriage. A religious annulment and a legal annulment are not the same. A legal annulment is a very limited statutory proceeding (O.R.C. 3105.31) and has specific time limits (O.R.C. 3105.32).

The procedure is similar to a divorce. You have to file a complaint for an annulment and there has to be a hearing.

O.R.C. 3105.31 lists the following as grounds for an annulment:
(A) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage annulled was under the age at which persons may be joined in marriage as established by section 3101.01 of the Revised Code, unless after attaining such age such party cohabited with the other as husband or wife;
(B) That the former husband or wife of either party was living and the marriage with such former husband or wife was then and still is in force;
(C) That either party has been adjudicated to be mentally incompetent, unless such party after being restored to competency cohabited with the other as husband or wife;
(D) That the consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(E) That the consent to the marriage of either party was obtained by force, unless such party afterwards cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(F) That the marriage between the parties was never consummated although otherwise valid. 

In Ohio we have both a "no-fault" and "fault" grounds for divorce.

The "no-fault" grounds include "incompatibility" and "living separate and apart without cohabitation for one year".

There are nine "fault" grounds in Ohio.

• another spouse living at the same time of marriage (bigamy)
• willful absence of a party from the marital home for one year
• adultery
• extreme cruelty
• fraudulent contract
• gross neglect of duty
• habitual drunkenness
• imprisonment of the adverse party in a state or federal institution at the time of filing
• an out-of-state divorce

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