In Illinois, an annulment is called a "declaration of invalidity of marriage." It is a court order declaring that a marriage is invalid, and should not be recognized by Illinois or any other state. An annulment is different from a divorce because a divorce is a legal declaration that a valid marriage has ended whereas an annulment means that the marriage never occurred. In Illinois, there are four reasons or "grounds" for having a marriage annulled: (1) one of the parties to the marriage did not have the capacity to consent to the marriage because she or he suffered a mental disability; was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time the marriage occurred; or entered into the marriage by force, duress or fraud; (2) one of the parties is not capable of sexual intercourse and at the time of marriage this was not known to the person asking to have the marriage annulled; (3) one of the parties is a minor and did not have the consent of his or her parents or guardians; or (4) the marriage was prohibited by law. A marriage will be prohibited by law if it occurred while one of the parties was still married to someone else; if it occurred between individuals who are closely related by either blood or adoption; or between a couple of the same gender.

One of the main reasons for having a marriage annulled instead of getting a divorce is to avoid the financial responsibilities that a court could impose as part of the divorce decree. A divorce decree could force a married couple to divide their property or for one spouse to pay maintenance to the other. A person need not obtain a formal court order declaring a marriage as "void" if the marriage was one prohibited by law. However, to obtain an annulment under one of the other three grounds, one party will be required to file a petition with the court. Prior to filing an annulment petition, a party must be aware of the timing requirements for that filing. The amount of time a person has to obtain an order declaring a marriage as invalid depends the reason or "grounds" for the annulment. An individual must file their annulment petition within ninety (90) days from the date of marriage if an annulment is sought for the following reasons: (a) one of the parties was under the influence of drugs or alcohol; (b) one of the parties was mentally impaired at the time of the marriage or (c) was forced into the marriage by coercion or duress. When a marriage is entered into by a minor, that minor's parents can annul the marriage at any time prior to the minor reaching the age of 18; once the child is no longer a minor he/she will have been deemed to have "ratified" the marriage.

A person who completes a marriage ceremony in good faith and believes he or she is a validly married becomes a "putative spouse." The court will give a putative spouse the same rights as a legal spouse. Children born to or adopted within a marriage that is later annulled are deemed to be legitimate children. These children will possess the right to financial support from both parents and will be allowed to obtain property at the death of either parent as an heir regardless of whether their parents' marriage was valid.

For additional information about annulments in Illinois, or for any other family law related issue, please contact Amil Alkass at LAVELLE LAW, LTD. at aalkass@lavellelaw.com or (847) 705-7555.