By the Family Law Team at Boyer Law Firm, P.L. Reviewed by Francis M. Boyer, Managing Attorney · Licensed in Florida · Serving Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami · Updated June 10, 2026
Summary: The annulment vs divorce question usually has a harder answer than people expect. A divorce ends a marriage the law treats as valid. An annulment says the marriage was never legally valid at all. Most people who want an annulment qualify only for divorce, and that difference changes everything about your property, support, and timeline.
Key Takeaways:
- Different starting points: A divorce ends a valid marriage; an annulment declares the marriage was never legally valid.
- Annulment is narrow: Florida grants annulments only on specific legal grounds, not because you regret the marriage or it was short.
- Most people get a divorce: If your marriage was legally valid when it happened, divorce is your real path.
- The effects differ: Property, alimony, and prenups can disappear in an annulment but are decided by the court in a divorce.
- Your kids are protected either way: Florida courts handle custody and child support the same, whether the case is an annulment or a divorce.
You want this marriage over. Someone told you an annulment is cleaner than a divorce, maybe faster, maybe with less paperwork. Now you’re trying to figure out whether you even qualify, and the answers online keep contradicting each other.
Florida treats the two paths very differently. Divorce runs on a detailed state statute with set rules for who qualifies. Annulment has no such statute at all, so judges decide each one under common law. That gap is why annulments are so much harder to win.
What’s the Difference Between an Annulment and a Divorce?
A divorce legally ends a marriage that was valid. An annulment declares that the marriage was never legally valid in the first place. Divorce closes a real chapter. Annulment says the chapter was never legally written.
That distinction drives every other difference. Divorce runs on Florida statute, with set residency rules and grounds. Annulment has no governing statute, so a judge weighs the facts and decides. When people compare divorce vs annulment, this is the split that matters most.
The table below lays the two side by side.
| Annulment | Divorce | |
| Legal effect | Marriage treated as never valid | Valid marriage legally ended |
| Grounds needed | Specific legal ground (void or voidable) | Marriage “irretrievably broken” |
| How common | Rare, harder to win | The standard path |
| Property | Generally none divided | Equitable distribution |
| Alimony | Generally none | Possible, based on need |
| Children | Custody and support still decided | Custody and support decided |
| Prenup | Can be invalidated | Generally enforced |
Read across any row and the pattern holds. Annulment tries to rewind to before the wedding. Divorce sorts out a marriage everyone agrees existed.
When Can You Get an Annulment in Florida?
You can annul a marriage only if it was legally void or voidable from the start. Not one you simply regret, and not one that ended badly. The ground has to exist at the moment you married. You file in the circuit court for the county where you live, and the judge decides on the facts.
Florida groups annulment grounds into two buckets. The Florida Courts family law self-help resources point to the same split that judges apply.
Marriages that are void from the start
A void marriage was never legal, even without a court order. Bigamy is the clearest example: one spouse was already married. Incest between close relatives is another. So is a marriage where one person lacked the mental capacity to consent, through serious intoxication or incapacity.
These cases are the strongest. The marriage was barred by law from the beginning, so a court is confirming what was already true.
Marriages that are voidable
A voidable marriage is valid until a court undoes it. Fraud that goes to the heart of the marriage counts, as does duress, being underage without consent, or a hidden inability to have sex. Here timing matters.
If you keep living as spouses after learning the truth, a judge may rule you ratified the marriage and deny the annulment. That single point sinks more annulment petitions than people expect.
How a Florida Divorce Works, and Why Most People End Up Here
Divorce in Florida is no-fault. You don’t have to prove your spouse did anything wrong. You only have to show the marriage is irretrievably broken under Florida’s dissolution law. That’s it.
Before you file, one of you must meet Florida’s six-month residency requirement. After your spouse is served, they have 20 days to respond. From there the path depends on how much you two agree on.
A simplified or uncontested divorce moves fast when you’ve settled the major issues. A contested divorce, where you fight over money, property, or the kids, takes far longer. Either way, you’re dissolving a marriage the law accepts as real.
In our practice, most people who come in asking about an annulment end up filing for divorce. Once we walk through the grounds, the divorce vs annulment decision usually makes itself: a valid marriage that went wrong is a divorce, not an annulment.
Annulment vs Divorce: Which One Is Right for Your Situation?
For most people, the honest answer is divorce. Annulment vs divorce isn’t really a free choice. Annulment is only available on narrow legal grounds, so the facts of how you married decide which door is open to you.
You may have grounds for annulment if the marriage was bigamous, incestuous, built on fraud, forced, or entered when one of you couldn’t legally consent. You’re looking at divorce if your marriage was valid when it happened and later fell apart.
What does not qualify: wanting a clean slate, a marriage that lasted only weeks, or the feeling that you never should have married. Those are real feelings. They are not legal grounds. Our Florida family law team sees that gap between expectation and law nearly every week.
The difference matters because choosing the wrong path costs time and money. File for an annulment without a ground, and you can lose months before starting the divorce you needed all along.
How Annulment and Divorce Affect Property, Alimony, and Children
When you weigh divorce vs annulment, the legal effect of each path reaches into the parts of your life you care about most. It touches what you keep, what you pay, and what happens with your kids. The split runs deeper than most people realize.
Property and alimony
In a divorce, the court divides marital property through equitable distribution and may award alimony based on need and ability to pay. An annulment generally does neither. If there was no valid marriage, there is usually no marital estate to split and no spousal support to order.
That can cut both ways. Florida’s alimony framework only applies when a marriage existed, so an annulment can leave a financially dependent spouse with far less. Our divorce and dissolution attorneys help you weigh that before you choose.
Children
Your kids are not erased by an annulment. Florida courts decide custody, time-sharing, and child support the same way whether the case is an annulment or a divorce. The end of the marriage, by either route, doesn’t change a parent’s duty to support a child.
If you married in good faith and later learned the marriage was invalid, the putative spouse doctrine matters to you. It protects an innocent spouse who genuinely believed the marriage was real.
Florida hasn’t formally adopted that doctrine, but a judge can still grant an innocent spouse equitable relief, such as alimony, when one party was wronged. Our putative spouse doctrine explainer walks through how Florida handles it.
What happens to a prenup
A prenuptial agreement rests on a valid marriage. Annul the marriage, and the prenup or postnup built on it can fall with it. In a divorce, a valid prenup is generally enforced as written.
How Long Each Takes and What It Costs
A simplified or uncontested Florida divorce often finishes in about 30 to 90 days after the mandatory waiting period. A contested divorce can run six months to well over a year. An annulment often takes 30 to 45 days when uncontested, and up to six months or longer if your spouse fights it or can’t be found.
Cost follows the same logic. The divorce vs annulment cost gap depends on conflict, not the label. Uncontested cases stay cheaper on both sides. Contested cases climb fast.
Annulments carry a hidden cost: you have to prove the grounds. That evidence takes work, so a contested annulment can run higher than a straightforward divorce. The figures here are general ranges, and your case may differ.
Religious Annulment vs Legal Annulment
A church annulment and a legal annulment are not the same thing. A religious annulment, like a Catholic one, addresses your standing within your faith. It has no effect on your legal marital status.
Only a court can change that status. If you want your marriage legally undone, you need a civil annulment or a divorce. A religious decree alone won’t change your taxes, your property, or your legal ability to remarry. The divorce vs annulment choice still runs through a courtroom either way.
Talk to a Florida Family Law Attorney About Annulment vs Divorce
If you’re still not sure whether your marriage is something a court can annul, or whether divorce is your real path, that’s exactly the question to bring to us. Boyer Law Firm’s Florida family law team works through the divorce vs annulment decision with you first. That way you don’t spend money chasing a path the law won’t allow.
We handle divorce, annulment, and complex family matters across Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami, and we’ll tell you honestly which option fits your facts. Contact Boyer Law Firm to talk through your situation and decide the annulment vs divorce question with someone who has answered it many times.
FAQs About Annulment vs Divorce in Florida
Can I get an annulment in Florida if we were only married a few weeks?
No. The length of the marriage is not a ground for annulment. A two-week marriage still needs a void or voidable ground, such as fraud or bigamy. Without one, your only path is a divorce, no matter how briefly you were married.
Does an annulment make my children illegitimate in Florida?
In most cases, no. Children of a voidable marriage stay legitimate, exactly as they would in a divorce. Even when a marriage is void, Florida law still requires both parents to support their child, and the court sets custody and support the same way. Your child’s rights don’t vanish.
Can my spouse stop an annulment in Florida?
Yes. Your spouse can contest the annulment and argue the grounds don’t apply. They may instead ask the court for a divorce. A contested annulment takes longer, costs more, and may end with the judge granting a divorce rather than voiding the marriage.
Is it cheaper to get an annulment than a divorce in Florida?
Not necessarily. An annulment requires proving specific legal grounds, which takes evidence and time. A contested annulment can cost more than an uncontested divorce. The bigger driver of cost is whether the two of you agree, not the label on the case.
What happens if a Florida judge denies my annulment?
You can then file for divorce. Many people pursue a divorce after an annulment request is denied, since the marriage is treated as valid. The denial doesn’t trap you. It simply means the court found no legal ground to void the marriage.
