Also known as: annulments of judgment · annulment of judgments · annulling of judgment · judgment annulment · annulment
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A judicial order that retroactively voids a prior judgment and restores the parties to their pre-judgment positions. Types include reversal on appeal and vacation by the rendering court.
After Anthony and Abigail divorced, Anthony's will left his estate to Abigail. A later court annulled the divorce judgment on grounds of fraud. Because the annulment restored the marriage, the probate court treated Abigail as the surviving spouse under the governing instrument rules.
Austin testified in a fraud trial. Twelve years earlier he had been convicted of embezzlement. Five years ago a court annulled that conviction after finding rehabilitation. The trial judge excluded the conviction from impeachment because the annulment met the rehabilitation criteria.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Anchor Bank and Alexandra submitted a custody dispute to arbitration. The arbitrator issued an award granting legal separation. A court later annulled the arbitration award. The family court treated the annulment as removing authority to grant the separation.
Alice gave birth while married to Anthony. After divorce the couple sought to annul the divorce judgment. Once annulled, the marriage was restored and Anthony regained the presumption of parentage for the child born during the marriage.
Angela and Austin held real property as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Their divorce judgment severed the tenancy into equal tenancies in common. A subsequent annulment of the divorce judgment restored the original joint tenancy with right of survivorship.
Avalon Pharmaceuticals called a former employee as a witness. The employee had an old conviction that a court later annulled after finding actual innocence. The court excluded the conviction because the annulment rested on an innocence determination.
An annulment retroactively voids the judgment and returns the parties to their positions before the judgment was entered.
Supporting sources
Annulment of the divorce restores the marriage, so the former spouse regains status as a surviving spouse and any revoked dispositions under governing instruments are revived.
Annulment prevents impeachment when the procedure is based on a finding of rehabilitation with no later serious conviction or when based on a finding of innocence.
Yes. Annulment removes the arbitrator's authority to grant a separation, divorce, or annulment, so any such award is void.
Restoration of the marriage revives the presumption that the spouse is a parent of a child born during the marriage.
…It was assumed that the State might legitimately enforce limits on the use of contraceptives through laws regulating divorce and annulment, or even through its tax policy, but not necessarily be justified in criminalizing the same practice in the marital bedroom, which would entail the consequence of authorizing state enquiry…