Annulment in Texas: Grounds, Deadlines, and How It Differs From Divorce
An annulment in Texas is a court ruling that a marriage was never legally valid, available only on specific statutory grounds such as fraud, duress, intoxication at the ceremony, impotency, mental incapacity, a concealed recent divorce, or marrying within 72 hours of the license being issued (Texas Family Code Chapter 6, Subchapter B). Unlike divorce, which ends a valid marriage without anyone proving fault, annulment requires proof, several grounds carry short deadlines, and nearly every ground is waived if you voluntarily keep living together after learning the truth. Texas courts presume marriages are valid, so annulment is the exception, not the easy way out.
Key Takeaways
- Texas recognizes two kinds of invalid marriage: voidable (valid until a court annuls it, Subchapter B) and void (never valid at all, Subchapter C, such as bigamy or close kinship).
- Almost every annulment ground is lost by voluntarily living together after the problem is discovered or ends. This cohabitation rule defeats more annulment cases than any other issue.
- Three grounds carry hard deadlines: 30 days for the 72-hour-license rule (§ 6.110), 90 days for a next friend’s underage suit (§ 6.102(c)), and one year for concealed divorce (§ 6.109(b)).
- Texas does not impose its 60-day divorce waiting period on annulments (§ 6.702(b)), though ordinary civil procedure and service timelines still affect how quickly a case can finish.
- Texas can annul a marriage only if the wedding happened in Texas or at least one spouse is domiciled in Texas (§ 6.306). The six-month residency rule that applies to divorce does not apply.
- Adultery is not an annulment ground. Cheating is a fault ground for divorce (§ 6.003), not proof the marriage was invalid from the start.
- What is an annulment in Texas?
- What are the grounds for annulment in Texas?
- How long do you have to get an annulment in Texas?
- What is the 72-hour rule?
- Which marriages are automatically void?
- Annulment vs. divorce in Texas
- Do you have to live in Texas to file?
- What happens with children and an annulment?
- Frequently asked questions
What Is an Annulment in Texas?
An annulment is a court judgment that a marriage was invalid from the beginning. A divorce ends a valid marriage; an annulment says the marriage should never have legally existed. Texas law builds this around two categories in Family Code Chapter 6:
- Voidable marriages (Subchapter B). These are treated as valid unless and until a court annuls them on one of the statutory grounds below. If nobody files, the marriage simply continues as a valid marriage.
- Void marriages (Subchapter C). These were never valid at all, such as bigamous or incestuous marriages. A court can declare them void, and under § 6.307 either party can sue for that declaration, but the invalidity exists whether or not anyone files.
Texas policy strongly presumes marriages are valid, so the person seeking an annulment carries the burden of proving a statutory ground. An annulment suit is a suit in rem, meaning it adjudicates the status of the marriage itself (§ 6.306(b)).
| Term | What it means in Texas law |
|---|---|
| Void marriage | Never legally valid from the start (Subchapter C). No annulment is needed, though a court can formally declare the marriage void. |
| Voidable marriage | Treated as valid unless and until a court annuls it on a Subchapter B ground. If nobody sues, it remains a valid marriage. |
| Ratification by cohabitation | Voluntarily living together after discovering the problem, or after it ends. Under most Subchapter B grounds, this waives the right to an annulment. |
What Are the Grounds for Annulment in Texas?
Subchapter B lists the grounds for annulling a voidable marriage. Notice how many of them end with the same condition: the petitioner must not have voluntarily lived with the other spouse after the problem was discovered or ended. Texas treats continued cohabitation as ratifying the marriage.
| Ground | Statute | What must be proved | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Underage marriage | §§ 6.102–6.104 | A party was 16 or 17 and married without the consent or court order Chapter 2 requires | A next friend must sue within 90 days of the marriage; a parent or guardian cannot sue after the person turns 18; the court’s decision is discretionary and made without a jury |
| Alcohol or narcotics | § 6.105 | The petitioner lacked capacity to consent at the ceremony because of alcohol or drugs | No voluntary cohabitation after the effects wore off |
| Impotency | § 6.106 | Either party was permanently impotent at the time of marriage, and the petitioner did not know | No voluntary cohabitation after learning of it |
| Fraud, duress, or force | § 6.107 | The other party used fraud, duress, or force to induce the marriage | No voluntary cohabitation after learning of the fraud or being released from the duress or force |
| Mental incapacity | § 6.108 | A party lacked mental capacity to consent or understand the ceremony due to mental disease or defect | Cohabitation and knowledge conditions apply to whichever spouse files |
| Concealed divorce | § 6.109 | The other party was divorced from someone else within the 30 days before the ceremony and the petitioner neither knew nor reasonably should have known | No voluntary cohabitation after discovery, and the suit must be filed within one year of the marriage |
| Married within 72 hours of the license | § 6.110 | The ceremony violated the 72-hour waiting period of § 2.204 | The suit must be filed within 30 days of the marriage |
The cohabitation trap. One of the most common ways a Texas annulment case fails is not weak evidence of the ground itself. It is that the couple kept living together after the petitioner sobered up, learned of the fraud, or discovered the concealed divorce. Under the statutes above, that voluntary cohabitation generally waives the ground. If annulment is on the table, where you sleep tonight is legally significant.
How Long Do You Have to Get an Annulment in Texas?
There is no single deadline. Three grounds carry explicit time bars, one event ends everything, and the rest are governed by the cohabitation rule rather than a calendar:
| Time bar | Applies to | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days from the marriage | The 72-hour-license ground | § 6.110(b) |
| 90 days from the marriage | A next friend’s suit to annul an underage marriage | § 6.102(c) |
| One year from the marriage | The concealed divorce ground | § 6.109(b) |
| The underage spouse’s 18th birthday | An underage annulment suit by a parent, managing conservator, or guardian | § 6.103 |
| Death of either spouse | Any challenge to a voidable marriage, with a narrow Estates Code exception | § 6.111 |
For grounds without a stated deadline (intoxication, fraud, impotency, mental incapacity), the practical clock is cohabitation: the ground survives only as long as you have not voluntarily lived with your spouse since discovering the problem.
What Is the 72-Hour Rule for Texas Annulments?
Texas, unlike Nevada, imposes a waiting period between getting a marriage license and holding the ceremony: as a general rule, the ceremony may not take place during the 72 hours immediately after the license is issued (§ 2.204, which also contains its own exceptions, including for active-duty military members). If a couple marries in violation of that waiting period, § 6.110 makes the violation itself a ground for annulment, but only if the suit is filed within 30 days of the marriage.
This is the closest thing Texas has to a cooling-off escape hatch, and it is narrow: it applies only when the ceremony actually violated § 2.204, and the 30-day window is unforgiving. Couples who married on a properly aged license, or who let day 31 pass, are outside it.
Which Marriages Are Automatically Void in Texas?
Subchapter C lists marriages that are void from the start, no annulment needed, though a court can formally declare the voidness (§ 6.307), and doing so is usually wise for clean records:
- Consanguinity (§ 6.201): marriage to an ancestor or descendant, a sibling of whole or half blood or by adoption, an aunt or uncle, or a niece or nephew.
- Bigamy (§ 6.202): marriage while either party has an existing undissolved marriage. But note the statute’s unusual cure: the later marriage becomes valid once the earlier one is dissolved, if the couple afterward lived together and held themselves out as married. That cure works through the same live-together-and-hold-out mechanics as a Texas informal marriage, which our guide to common law marriage in Texas explains in detail. A 2025 amendment (H.B. 2240, effective June 20, 2025) added a limit to the cure: it does not bind a putative spouse who did not know about the existing marriage, has not lived with or held out as married to the other party since learning of it, and files suit to declare the marriage void within 30 days of learning (extended to 90 days for certain active-duty military members and foreign service officers serving abroad).
- Marriage to a minor (§ 6.205): void if either party is under 18, unless a court has removed the minor’s disabilities of minority (emancipation). Since 2017, this is Texas’s baseline rule for underage marriage.
- Stepparent or stepchild (§ 6.206): marriage to a current or former stepchild or stepparent is void.
One historical note for accuracy: the Family Code still prints § 6.204, which purported to void same-sex marriages. That provision is unenforceable under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015); same-sex marriages are valid in Texas as everywhere in the United States.
Annulment vs. Divorce in Texas: What Is the Difference?
| Question | Annulment | Divorce |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Declares the marriage was never valid | Ends a valid marriage |
| Grounds required | Yes, a specific Subchapter B ground must be proved | No-fault insupportability is available (§ 6.001); fault grounds like adultery and cruelty also exist |
| Waiting period | No 60-day waiting period (§ 6.702(b)); standard civil case timelines still apply | 60 days from filing, with family violence exceptions (§ 6.702(a), (c)) |
| Residency requirement | Marriage in Texas or a Texas-domiciled party (§ 6.306) | Six months in Texas plus 90 days in the county (§ 6.301) |
| Deadlines | Several grounds have short time bars; cohabitation waives most grounds | None; a divorce can be filed at any point in the marriage |
| Remarrying afterward | The 30-day remarriage restriction applies by its terms to divorce, not annulment | Neither party may marry a third party within 30 days of the decree unless the court waives it (§§ 6.801, 6.802) |
| Case caption | “In the Matter of the Marriage of ___ and ___” (§ 6.401) | Same caption |
| Name change | The decree can restore a prior name (§ 6.706) | Same (§ 6.706) |
The practical takeaway: annulment is harder to get than divorce, not easier. Texas made divorce available without proving anyone’s fault, while annulment demands proof of a narrow defect plus clean hands on cohabitation. Most people who ask about annulment, including many with genuinely bad marriages, end up filing for divorce because no annulment ground fits. If both spouses agree on the terms, our guide to uncontested divorce in Texas covers the faster path, and the cluster hub explains how divorce in Texas works from filing to decree.
Do You Have to Live in Texas to File for Annulment?
Not necessarily, and this is where annulment jurisdiction differs sharply from divorce. Under § 6.306, a Texas court can hear an annulment suit if either of two things is true: the parties were married in Texas, or either party is domiciled in Texas. The six-month state residency and 90-day county residency rule of § 6.301 applies to divorce suits, not annulment. For a suit to declare a marriage void, § 6.307 works the same way: the purported marriage was contracted in Texas, or either party is domiciled here.
Married in Las Vegas, Living in Texas?
A surprising number of annulment questions involve a quick wedding in another state, and Las Vegas leads the list. Two forums may be open. If at least one spouse is domiciled in Texas, a Texas court can have jurisdiction over the annulment under § 6.306 even though the ceremony happened in Nevada. But an out-of-state marriage raises choice-of-law questions: when a Texas court is asked to annul a marriage performed in another state, the law of the state where the marriage took place is generally considered as well, so whether Texas grounds, Nevada grounds, or both end up controlling is a question for a Texas-licensed attorney. And separately, Nevada allows an annulment to be filed in Nevada for a marriage performed there without any Nevada residency requirement. Our Nevada-side guide to annulment in Las Vegas explains the Nevada grounds and process. Which forum is better depends on the facts, the grounds available in each state, and practical questions like where evidence and witnesses are; that choice is exactly the kind of question to put to licensed counsel in the relevant state.
What Happens With Children When a Marriage Is Annulled?
An annulment suit does not leave children in limbo. Chapter 6 governs suits for dissolution of marriage generally, and under § 6.406, when the parties are parents of a child, the dissolution suit must include a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. Custody (conservatorship), possession, and child support get decided in the same case under Title 5 of the Family Code, regardless of whether the marriage itself is annulled, declared void, or dissolved by divorce. Questions about how property and debts are handled when a marriage is annulled are fact-specific and among the strongest reasons to involve a Texas-licensed family lawyer before filing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cheating grounds for annulment in Texas?
No. Adultery is a fault ground for divorce under § 6.003, not an annulment ground. Annulment asks whether the marriage was invalid when it began; infidelity afterward does not make it so. Fraud under § 6.107 is different: it concerns deception that induced you to marry in the first place.
Can you get an annulment in Texas if you were drunk at the wedding?
Possibly. Under § 6.105, the court may annul the marriage if you lacked capacity to consent because of alcohol or narcotics at the time of the ceremony, but only if you have not voluntarily lived with your spouse since the effects wore off. Sober cohabitation afterward generally forfeits the ground.
Is there a waiting period for an annulment in Texas?
Not the one that applies to divorce. Section 6.702(b) states that no waiting period is required before a court may grant an annulment or declare a marriage void, other than what applies in civil cases generally. The 60-day waiting period applies to divorce. That final clause matters, though: ordinary civil procedure still governs, so a served spouse has roughly 20 days plus the following Monday to answer, and default and contested cases carry their own scheduling rules. No statutory wait does not mean a decree the same week you file.
How long does an annulment take in Texas?
There is no fixed timeline, and no 60-day floor like divorce. An agreed annulment with complete paperwork can finish as soon as the court can hear the petitioner’s brief prove-up testimony. If the other spouse must be served and does not respond, the case cannot finish until the answer window has run (about 20 days plus the following Monday after service) and the return of service has been on file with the court for at least 10 days. A contested annulment takes longest: Texas practice requires at least 45 days’ notice of a contested final hearing, and litigating the ground itself adds time.
Can both spouses agree to an annulment in Texas?
Yes, an annulment can be agreed and uncontested, and TexasLawHelp publishes forms for an agreed annulment when there are no children. Agreement alone is not enough, though. Because Texas presumes marriages are valid, the petitioner still testifies to a statutory ground at the final hearing; spouses cannot annul a valid marriage just by consenting to it. If no ground fits, the agreed path is an uncontested divorce instead.
How much does an annulment cost in Texas?
It varies with the county’s filing fees and, far more significantly, with whether the annulment is contested. Because annulment requires proving a statutory ground, a disputed case can involve real litigation. There is no fixed statewide price, and cost estimates are something to get from a Texas-licensed attorney based on your county and facts.
Can you remarry after an annulment in Texas?
Yes. Once the judge signs the decree and it is filed, the marriage has been adjudicated invalid. Texas’s 30-day remarriage restriction applies by its terms to parties to a divorce (§ 6.801), and even in a divorce a court can waive it for good cause (§ 6.802). If your case ends up filed as a divorce rather than an annulment, plan around the 30-day rule unless the court waives it.
Does an annulment erase the marriage record?
No. The marriage license and the annulment case remain public records. What the annulment changes is your legal status: the court has adjudicated that the marriage was invalid, and the decree can restore a name you previously used (§ 6.706).
Official Texas Resources
- Texas Family Code Chapter 6 (grounds, deadlines, jurisdiction): statutes.capitol.texas.gov
- TexasLawHelp.org (Texas Legal Services Center), plain-language annulment guide with court forms: I want to annul or void my marriage
New Beginnings, Brighter Tomorrows
This page is general legal information about Texas law for educational purposes, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Gastelum Attorneys is a family law firm licensed in Nevada and is not licensed to practice law in Texas. For advice about your specific situation under Texas law, consult a Texas-licensed attorney. Statutory rules change; verify any rule against current Texas law before relying on it.