Good question! Another good one would be, why don’t more people seek legal annulments?
http://www.rosen.com/divorce/divorcearticles/when-is-annulment-an-option/
This is a discussion of the question of legal annulment in North Carolina. (Each state can have different guidelines.) Some of the criteria are similar to those involved in a Church declaration of nullity, but others are not. In particular, the law says that if a couple has lived together and had a child following the marriage, there can be no annulment, except in cases of bigamy.
A weird element: in NC, the marriage can be annulled if “either party” is impotent. That almost seems to be setting up marriage for homosexual men, since “impotence” is unique to men. A woman would have to be drastically mutilated or injured for intercourse to be impossible, whether she consents to it or not.
Grounds are much more limited, more proof is required, and it's going to cost a lot more than a routine divorce.
I imagine that a legal/civil annulment is something not found in most states. I’ve never heard of it in law school, nor in any state I’ve lived in.
Can someone tell me more?
Don’t most states have liberal divorce laws that let couples divorce easily if they both agree?
I married young and we "outgrew" each other. We divorced after 12 years. I met my current wife of 38 years and we were making plans for a church wedding when the Priest informed us we would need an annulment. We asked how to go about that and he said we needed to file papers before an Ecclesiastical Court and that we could expect a decision in two to three years. We decided to go with a civil ceremony and told the Priest "thanks, but no thanks".
The 3 year estimate may have improved over the years but I doubt it improved all that much. Most people will not put up with such staggering inefficiency when there are clear alternatives.
Regards,
GtG
Speaking for myself only, annulments in the Church may require dishonesty.
I looked into annulment in VA a few years ago. There are very few reasons, and the annulment has to be moved for within two years of the ‘marriage.’
The few reasons include one or both parties being under the legal age for marriage; a blood relationship between the parties, having a child by or with another person within a brief time before or after the marriage and not telling the other person.
Most people will opt for the easier, simpler divorce, as did the person I was helping with the research.