Annulment In Colorado

The Marriage Zone: Annulment in Colorado
By Christopher C. Meyer
© February 2009


Under what circumstances can you get your marriage annulled in Colorado? In Colorado an annulment is referred to as a “declaration of invalidity”. Your marriage can be invalidated only under extremely limited circumstances.

There is a popular misconception that you can get your marriage invalidated if you only have been married for a short period of time, such a less than 90 days. Actually, the duration of your marriage has nothing to do with your eligibility for an annulment. There is no “get out of jail free card” just because you have been married for only a few months.

Colorado statutes set out the requirements for invalidating marriages. One of the parties has to have to have been domiciled in Colorado for at least 30 days. The requirements for invalidating a marriage basically involve: lack of meaningful consent to be married (I was so drunk I didn’t know I was getting married.); marriage to an ineligible person (the proverbial redneck jokes – your sister, a twelve year old, etc.); the marriage involves a fraud that goes to the essence of the marriage (my wife didn’t marry me because she loved me, she married me to get my money and she lied about her circumstances to get me to marry her.).

Children born of an invalidated marriage are legitimate. Property, support and child custody issues are determined on the same basis as if the parties had a valid marriage.

Marriage is serious business. There is no easy way out. You can’t get an annulment just because you have been married for a few days or months.

Good luck to you if you are contemplating an exit from the marriage zone, and keep in mind that you are going to have to get a divorce to do it unless your circumstances fit the limited requirements for an annulment.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice about your case.

Chris Meyer is an attorney practicing family law in northern El Paso County. Chris’ law practice is limited to domestic relations cases. Chris has been practicing law since 1977. He is a former prosecutor and is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Florida, California and Wisconsin. Chris can be contacted at 719-488-9395. Chris’s website (www.cmeyerlaw.com) has additional divorce and family law information including links to 25 other articles he has written.