§ 19-4-1.When annulments may be granted
Chapter 4. Annulment of Marriage · Last amended 1952 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-4-1
Plain-English Summary
An annulment is a court ruling that a marriage was void — that the law never recognized it to begin with. This section gives that power to the superior court and limits it to marriages “declared void by law.” A marriage that is unhappy, short or regretted does not qualify. The defect has to be one the Code itself treats as making the marriage void.
Chapter 3 of Title 19 says which marriages those are. Under § 19-3-5, marriages of persons unable to contract, unwilling to contract, or fraudulently induced to contract are void. Section 19-3-2 says who is able to contract: a person must be of sound mind, meet the age requirement, have no living spouse from an undissolved earlier marriage, and not be related to the other person within the prohibited degrees. Section 19-3-3 makes marriages between certain close relatives void from their inception. Some defects can be cured. Under § 19-3-5(b), a later free and voluntary consent and ratification, together with cohabitation, can make certain of these marriages valid.
The section’s one exception is firm: no annulment may be granted when children are born or are to be born as a result of the marriage. The parties are not left without a remedy. Section 19-4-2 lets a party to a void marriage file for divorce instead, if grounds for divorce exist, and several of the divorce grounds in § 19-5-3 track the same defects that make a marriage void. The procedure for an annulment borrows divorce procedure under § 19-4-4, and the decree’s effect is set by § 19-4-5.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get an annulment in Georgia if we have a child together?
No. This section bars an annulment whenever children are born, or are to be born, as a result of the marriage, even if the marriage is otherwise void. The route then is divorce. Section 19-4-2 gives a party to a void marriage the right to file for divorce if grounds exist, and § 19-5-15 says a divorce granted for a cause that made the marriage void from the start annuls it from its inception.
What makes a marriage void in Georgia?
Chapter 3 of Title 19 decides that. Under § 19-3-5, a marriage is void if a party was unable to contract, unwilling to contract, or fraudulently induced to contract. Section 19-3-2 lists who is able to contract: someone of sound mind, of the required age, with no living spouse from an undissolved marriage, and not related to the other person within the prohibited degrees. Section 19-3-3 makes marriages between certain close relatives void from their inception.
Can I get an annulment because the marriage was short?
Not on that basis alone. This section allows annulment only of marriages “declared void by law,” and the length of a marriage is not one of the defects that makes it void. A marriage that was valid when made, however brief, ends by divorce on one of the grounds in § 19-5-3, including the no-fault ground that the marriage is irretrievably broken.
Which court grants annulments in Georgia?
The superior court. This section gives it the power to grant annulments of void marriages. Under § 19-4-4, the rules for service, jurisdiction, procedure, residence, pleading and practice in an annulment case are the same as those for divorce, so the case is filed and handled much like a divorce case in the same court.
Can a void marriage later become valid in Georgia?
In some cases, yes. Section 19-3-5(b) says that when a person was unwilling to contract or was fraudulently induced to do so, a later consent and ratification, freely and voluntarily made and accompanied by cohabitation as spouses, makes the marriage valid. The same is true for marriages void under the first three capacity rules of § 19-3-2, once the impediment is removed. A marriage made valid that way can no longer be annulled as void.
Amendment History
Laws 1952, p. 149, § 1.