Georgia Annulment Laws: Grounds, Deadlines and How to File (2026)

In Georgia, annulment is the court remedy for a marriage the law declares void. Under O.C.G.A. § 19-4-1, the superior court may annul such a marriage, but not where a child has been born or will be born as a result of it; in that situation the marriage is ended by divorce. The grounds that make a marriage void come from §§ 19-3-2 through 19-3-5 of the Georgia Code.

Information last verified on 2026-10-09. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers civil annulment in Georgia under the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.), mainly §§ 19-4-1 to 19-4-5 (annulment) and §§ 19-3-2 to 19-3-5 (who may marry), plus the Georgia Supreme Court decision in Wright v. Hall, 292 Ga. 457 (2013). Statute quotations show what those sections provide as compiled in the Georgia Code; the General Assembly can amend them, so check the current code before relying on exact wording. It does not cover religious annulment, court forms, inheritance or other states' law. For ending a valid marriage, see Georgia divorce laws.

Can you get an annulment in Georgia?

Yes, if the marriage is one Georgia law declares void and no child has been born or is on the way. Section 19-4-1 provides:

"Annulments of marriages declared void by law may be granted by the superior court, except that annulments may not be granted in instances where children are born or are to be born as a result of the marriage."

Section 19-4-2 gives a party to a void marriage a choice. Parties who enter into a marriage declared void by law "shall have the right to file: (1) A petition for annulment; or (2) A petition for divorce, if grounds for divorce exist."

So the first question is not whether the marriage was unhappy or short. It is whether the marriage falls into one of the categories the Georgia Code treats as void.

Which marriages are void in Georgia?

Section 19-3-2(a) lists what a person needs "to be able to contract marriage," and § 19-3-5(a) states the consequence: "Marriages of persons unable to contract, unwilling to contract, or fraudulently induced to contract shall be void."

Lack of mental capacity

A person must "be of sound mind" to marry (§ 19-3-2(a)(1)). A person who is not is "unable to contract," so the marriage is void under § 19-3-5(a). A petition for annulment may be filed by next friend for a person of unsound mind (§ 19-4-3).

An earlier marriage that was never dissolved

Section 19-3-2(a)(3) requires that a person "have no living spouse of a previous undissolved marriage." It adds: "The dissolution of a previous marriage in divorce proceedings must be affirmatively established and will not be presumed. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to affect the legitimacy of children."

In Wright v. Hall (2013), the Georgia Supreme Court treated a marriage of this kind as void from its inception.

Close relatives (§ 19-3-3)

Section 19-3-3(a) makes it a crime for any person to marry a person "to whom he knows he is related, either by blood or by marriage," in six pairings:

• father and daughter or stepdaughter;
• mother and son or stepson;
• brother and sister of the whole blood or the half blood;
• grandparent and grandchild;
• aunt and nephew;
• uncle and niece.

The penalty is imprisonment for not less than one nor more than three years. Section 19-3-3(b) provides that such marriages "shall be void from their inception." First cousins are not on the list.

Consent, force and fraud (§ 19-3-4)

Section 19-3-4 provides: "To constitute an actual contract of marriage, the parties must consent thereto voluntarily without any fraud practiced upon either. Drunkenness at the time of marriage, brought about by art or contrivance to induce consent shall be held as fraud."

A person who did not consent voluntarily is "unwilling to contract," and a person tricked into the marriage is "fraudulently induced to contract." Both kinds of marriage are void under § 19-3-5(a), subject to ratification under § 19-3-5(b).

Void, not voidable: how Georgia treats these marriages

Many states call a marriage tainted by fraud or incapacity "voidable." Georgia's Code uses different words. Section 19-3-5(a) calls these marriages void, and § 19-3-5(b) then lets the defect be cured. For persons unwilling to contract or fraudulently induced, "a subsequent consent and ratification of the marriage, freely and voluntarily made, accompanied by cohabitation as husband and wife shall render the marriage valid." The same subsection extends ratification to the capacity requirements in § 19-3-2(a)(1) through (3), once the impediment is removed.

The marriage sections in Chapter 3, Article 1 of Title 19 (§§ 19-3-1 to 19-3-10) and the annulment chapter (§§ 19-4-1 to 19-4-5) do not set up a separate category of voidable marriages. The practical point is that living together as spouses after the problem ends can turn a void marriage into a valid one, which can close off an annulment.

Some of the same facts are also grounds for divorce. Section 19-5-3 lists, among the grounds for a total divorce, intermarriage within the prohibited degrees, mental incapacity at the time of the marriage, impotency at the time of the marriage, and force, menace, duress or fraud in obtaining the marriage. Impotency appears there as a divorce ground, not in the void-marriage sections (§§ 19-3-2 to 19-3-5).

Is there a deadline to annul a marriage in Georgia?

Sections 19-3-5 and 19-4-1 through 19-4-5 do not set a filing deadline for an annulment. This page does not cover whether another rule limits the time to file. Three things in those sections can still stand in the way:

• A child. Annulment is not available where children are born or are to be born as a result of the marriage (§ 19-4-1). Georgia Legal Aid puts it the same way: "an annulment will not be granted if a child has been born or will be born as a result of the marriage." The party can file for divorce instead if grounds exist (§ 19-4-2).
• Ratification. Free and voluntary consent and ratification with cohabitation, once the impediment is gone, makes the marriage valid (§ 19-3-5(b)).
• No objection from the party who deceived. Under § 19-3-42, covered below, a party who fraudulently induced the other to believe a marriage was legal cannot raise the officiant's lack of authority.

These are the bars in the sections this page covers, not a complete list.

Underage marriage and the 2019 law

House Bill 228 of 2019 raised Georgia's marriage age. Its title describes the change as raising "the minimum age of marriage of a child from 16 to 17 years of age" and requiring "any person who is 17 years of age to have been emancipated." The amendment to § 19-3-2 took effect July 1, 2019.

Under § 19-3-2 as amended, a person must "be at least 18 years of age," except as subsection (b) allows. Under HB 228, a 17-year-old who marries must have documentary proof of emancipation, at least 15 days must have passed since emancipation, the two parties must be no more than four years apart in age, and the 17-year-old needs a premarital education certificate (§ 19-3-30.1). Section 19-3-2(c) provides: "No license provided for under Article 2 of this chapter shall be issued for the marriage of any party who is under 17 years of age."

HB 228 also bars evading the age limits by marrying in another state (§ 19-3-43(a)), while § 19-3-43(b) exempts a lawful marriage solemnized elsewhere before either party lived in Georgia.

The sections cited here do not say expressly how a court treats a marriage entered below the minimum age, beyond the general rule for persons "unable to contract" in § 19-3-5(a) and ratification under § 19-3-5(b). A petition for annulment may be filed by next friend for a minor (§ 19-4-3). For a specific underage marriage, ask a Georgia family lawyer.

How to file for an annulment in Georgia

Court. Annulments are granted by the superior court (§ 19-4-1).

Residency and procedure. Section 19-4-4 ties annulment to divorce practice: "All matters of service, jurisdiction, procedure, residence, pleading, and practice for obtaining an annulment of marriage shall be the same as those provided by law for obtaining a divorce." For divorce, § 19-5-2 provides that no court shall grant a divorce to a person who has not been a bona fide resident of Georgia for six months before filing the petition. The same section lets a nonresident of Georgia file in the county where the respondent lives, against a spouse who has been a resident of Georgia and of that county for six months before filing, and it has a separate one-year rule for a person living on a United States army post or military reservation in Georgia.

Uncontested cases. Section 19-4-4 adds one difference from divorce: "a decree of annulment may be ordered at any time, in open court or in chambers, when personal service is had at least 30 days beforehand and no contest or answer is filed."

Who files. Either party to a void marriage may petition (§ 19-4-2). A petition "may be filed by next friend for minors or persons of unsound mind" (§ 19-4-3).

Help and forms. This page does not link a Georgia court form for annulment. Georgia Legal Aid, a nonprofit, explains annulment and the other ways a marriage can end, and the clerk of the superior court in the county where you plan to file can tell you what the court requires.

Children, property and support after an annulment

Children. Section 19-3-5(a) provides that "the issue of such a marriage born before the marriage is annulled and declared void by a competent court shall be legitimate." In Wright v. Hall, the Georgia Supreme Court treated the otherwise void marriage before it as "valid to the extent necessary to protect the interests of the couple's child." For custody, see Georgia child custody laws.

Alimony. Wright v. Hall reversed an alimony award tied to a void marriage: "Because our statutes do not confer validity on an otherwise void marriage for the purpose of requiring the payment of alimony unrelated to the protection of children, we reverse the trial court's decision."

Effect of the decree. Section 19-4-5 provides that a decree of annulment "shall have the effect of a total divorce between the parties of a void marriage and shall return the parties thereto to their original status before marriage." The same section adds that the decree "shall not operate to relieve the parties to a marriage of criminal charges or responsibilities occasioned by the marriage."

Property. The annulment sections (§§ 19-4-1 to 19-4-5) do not say whether a court divides property when it annuls a marriage. This page does not cover property division after an annulment; ask a Georgia family lawyer.

Name. Section 19-5-16(a) lets a party in a divorce action "pray in his or her pleadings for the restoration of a maiden or prior name," and annulment follows divorce practice under § 19-4-4. The annulment sections do not mention name restoration expressly.

Good-faith spouses. This page does not cover whether Georgia law protects a spouse who believed in good faith that a void marriage was valid (sometimes called a putative spouse). Wright v. Hall limited the doctrine it applied to protecting the couple's child.

When the officiant lacked authority

A problem with the person who performed the ceremony does not by itself void a marriage. Section 19-3-42 provides that "A marriage which is valid in other respects and supposed by the parties to be valid shall not be affected by want of authority in the minister, Governor or any former Governor of this state, judge, city recorder, magistrate, or other person to solemnize the same; nor shall such objection be heard from one party who has fraudulently induced the other to believe that the marriage was legal."

Annulment vs. divorce in Georgia

An annulment applies to a marriage Georgia law declares void, and the decree returns the parties to their original status (§ 19-4-5). A divorce ends a marriage on one of the grounds in § 19-5-3, the most common being that the marriage "is irretrievably broken." Where a child was born or is expected, divorce is the route even for a void marriage (§§ 19-4-1, 19-4-2). See Georgia divorce laws for divorce grounds and residency.

A church annulment and a court annulment are separate processes.

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about annulment under the Official Code of Georgia Annotated and Georgia Supreme Court case law, verified on 2026-10-09. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific marriage, consult a lawyer licensed in Georgia or contact the clerk of the superior court where you would file.

Related

• Annulment laws in every state
• Georgia divorce laws
• Georgia common-law marriage
• Georgia marriage and divorce records
• Georgia child custody laws

Last updated: 2026-10-09.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the grounds for annulment in Georgia?

Georgia annuls marriages declared void by law (O.C.G.A. § 19-4-1). Under §§ 19-3-2 to 19-3-5 those include a party not of sound mind, under the age rule, or with a living undivorced spouse, a party who did not consent voluntarily or was fraudulently induced, and relatives within the degrees listed in § 19-3-3.

Can you get an annulment in Georgia if you have a child?

Not if the child was born or is to be born as a result of the marriage. Section 19-4-1 bars annulment where children are born or are to be born as a result of the marriage. A party to a void marriage can file for divorce instead if grounds for divorce exist (§ 19-4-2).

How long do you have to get an annulment in Georgia?

The annulment sections (§§ 19-4-1 to 19-4-5) and § 19-3-5 do not set a filing deadline. Ratification can cut the right off: later free consent plus cohabitation, once the impediment is removed, makes the marriage valid (§ 19-3-5(b)).

Do you have to live in Georgia to get an annulment?

Annulment follows the residency rules for divorce (§ 19-4-4). Under § 19-5-2 the filer generally must have been a bona fide Georgia resident for six months before filing, but a nonresident may file in the respondent's county against a spouse who has lived in Georgia and that county for six months.

Can I get alimony after an annulment in Georgia?

In Wright v. Hall (2013), the Georgia Supreme Court held that Georgia statutes do not make a void marriage valid for the purpose of requiring alimony unrelated to the protection of children, and reversed the award.

Are children legitimate if a Georgia marriage is annulled?

Yes. Section 19-3-5(a) provides that children of a void marriage born before it is annulled are legitimate, and Wright v. Hall treated the marriage as valid to the extent needed to protect the couple's child.

Can first cousins marry in Georgia?

First cousins are not among the six relationships listed in § 19-3-3(a), which covers parents and children or stepchildren, siblings of the whole or half blood, grandparents and grandchildren, aunts and nephews, and uncles and nieces.