What is an annulment?
In plain terms: an annulment is a court’s way of saying a marriage was never valid — legally, as if it never happened. A divorce, by contrast, ends a marriage that was valid. Same exit, very different door.
“As if it never happened.”
When a court grants an annulment, it issues a decree declaring the marriage void. In the eyes of the law, you were never legally married.
That can matter for how you think about the chapter — and sometimes for practical things like names, paperwork, and how you move forward. It does not mean the law ignores what happened: a court can still sort out property, debts, and any children’s issues fairly.
- Annulment — the marriage was never valid
- Divorce — a valid marriage is ended
- Both are handled in Nevada’s Family Court
Void vs. voidable.
Nevada law sorts annulment into two categories. The difference sounds technical, but it’s actually simple.
Never legal to begin with
A void marriage was invalid from the very start — the law never recognized it. Two situations make a Nevada marriage void automatically:
- Bigamy — one person was already married to someone else.
- Close relatives — the couple is related closer than second cousins, including by half-blood.
Because the marriage was never valid, void grounds can generally be raised at any time.
Valid until a court undoes it
A voidable marriage is treated as valid until someone asks a court to annul it and proves a ground. These are the more common Las Vegas situations:
- Want of understanding (gross intoxication, mental incapacity)
- Fraud about something central to the marriage
- A minor married without required parental consent
- Grounds that would void a contract in equity, such as duress
Voidable grounds are best acted on promptly — more on timing in Grounds.
What this looks like in real life
Picture a couple who met on a Friday night on the Strip, married at a chapel a few hours later, and woke up Sunday realizing neither of them was thinking clearly — or even truly remembers saying “I do.” That’s a textbook want of understanding situation: a voidable marriage that a court may annul.
Now picture someone who discovers, weeks in, that their new spouse is already married to someone else. That’s bigamy — a void marriage that was never legal at all.
Different facts, different category, but the same reassuring truth: Nevada law has a calm, established way to set the record straight.
This site provides general information about Nevada annulment law and is NOT legal advice. Using it does not create an attorney–client relationship. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed Nevada family-law attorney.
Let’s figure it out together.
A free, confidential consultation with a Nevada family-law attorney is the simplest way to learn whether your situation points to annulment or divorce.