Void marriages

You can apply for an annulment of your marriage on the grounds that it is void if any of the following apply:

• You and your spouse are too closely related (i.e. within the prohibited degrees of relationship)
• You or your spouse were under 16 at the time of the marriage
• You and your spouse intermarried and certain formal legal requirements for the marriage ceremony were not followed
• At the time of the marriage one of you was already lawfully married or a civil partner
• In the case of a polygamous marriage entered into outside England and Wales, one of you was at the time of the marriage domiciled in England and Wales

Void civil partnerships

You can apply for an annulment of your civil partnership on the grounds that it is void if any of the following apply:

• At the time you entered the civil partnership you were not eligible to register because:
• One of you was already a civil partner or lawfully married
• One of you was under 16
• You were within the prohibited degrees of relationship
• At the time of the civil partnership you both knew that:
• Due notice of the proposed civil partnership had not been given
• The civil partnership certificate had not been duly issued
• The civil partnership document was registered after the end of the time allowed for registering in terms of the law
• The place of registration was a place other than that specified in the notices (or notice) of the proposed civil partnership and in the civil partnership document
• A civil partnership registrar was not present
• The civil partnership was between a child and another person

Voidable marriages and civil partnerships

You may apply for an annulment of your marriage or civil partnership on the grounds that it is voidable if any of the following apply:

• One of you was incapable of consummating the marriage (i.e. having sex) or your spouse intentionally refused to do so (not applicable to opposite-sex or same-sex civil partnerships, or same-sex marriages)
• One of you did not give valid consent, whether because you were forced, not of sound mind or otherwise
• At the time of the marriage or civil partnership, one of you, although capable of giving a valid consent, was suffering from a mental disorder that made you unfit for marriage or civil partnership
• At the time of the marriage your spouse was suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form (not applicable to civil partnerships)
• At the time of the marriage or civil partnership one of you was pregnant by someone else
• After the time of the marriage or civil partnership, an interim gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 has been issued to one of you
• One of you is someone whose gender at the time of the marriage or civil partnership had become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition Act 2004