ANNULMENT
annulment (<<schwa>>-n<<schwa>>l-m<<schwa>>nt), n.1. The act of nullifying or making
void; VOIDANCE. 2. A judicial or ecclesiastical declaration that a marriage is void. • An
annulment establishes that the marital status never existed. So annulment and dissolution of
marriage (or divorce) are fundamentally different: an annulment renders a marriage void from the
beginning, while dissolution of marriage terminates the marriage as of the date of the judgment of
dissolution. Although a marriage terminated by annulment is considered never to have occurred, in
most states today a child born during the marriage is not considered illegitimate after the
annulment. Cf. DI-VORCE. [Cases: Marriage 56. C.J.S. Marriage § 63.] 3. A rescission. See
RESCIND(3). — annul (<<schwa>>-n<<schwa>>l), vb. [Blacks Law 8th]