What Is An Annulment?

• One party was under the minimum age during the marriage.
• The marriage was within the prohibited degree of relationship stated in the Women’s Charter such as father and daughter, mother and son, sister and brother, and aunt and nephew, etc.
• It was a marriage of convenience for political, financial and practical reasons.
• There is a previous subsisting marriage.
• The marriage was improperly or illegally solemnised.
• The marriage was between two Muslims but was solemnised under the Women’s Charter and not the Muslim law.
• Both parties belong to the same sex.

Compared to a void marriage, a voidable marriage can be harder to prove. A voidable marriage recognises that a couple was legally married but due to certain circumstances, the union fulfils the conditions for a marriage annulment. Such circumstances are as follows:

• The marriage has not been consummated due to the incapacity or deliberate refusal of one party.
• One party did not consent to the marriage, but was forced to consent under duress, due to a mistake or because of a mental disorder.
• One party gave valid consent to the marriage but after the marriage suffered from a mental disorder, causing him or her to be unfit for marriage.
• At the time of the marriage, the woman was pregnant by someone else other than the husband.
• One party is diagnosed with a communicable venereal disease.
• One party changed his or her gender after the marriage.

The annulment of marriage in Singapore has a similar process to divorce. First, the complainant involved should submit and prove his or her claims that the marriage is either void or voidable. If the annulment is uncontested, an Interim Judgment will be granted, after which the Final Judgment of Nullity may be issued 3 months thereafter. If the annulment is contested, the case proceeds for a hearing where the evidence will be presented and both parties will be subject to cross-examination to determine whether the party applying for annulment has proven one of the conditions of a void or voidable marriage.

As with a divorce, the second part of an annulment requires resolving ancillary matters regarding the division of property and maintenance. If parties are unable to agree, it will proceed for an Ancillary Matters hearing. Once all issues have been settled, the Court will then grant a Final Judgment of Nullity where the marriage is finally considered null and void.

The applicant must also file a Writ for Nullity together with other documents such as:

• Statement of claim that sets out particulars of parties’, the ground for annulment and the relief claimed;
• Statement of Particulars that includes fact that support the ground of annulment
• Proposed Parenting Plan for the children
• Matrimonial Property Plan, which is applicable only for couples who own a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat together

The length of a Singapore annulment greatly depends on the complexity of the issue or if the other party contests the nullity. Generally, if all the ancillary matters can be resolved early on, the Final Judgment for Nullity will be granted 3 months after an Interim Judgement is issued. With these factors and consideration at play, an uncontested annulment may take between 4 to 5 months.

After a successful application, the court will grant a Final Judgement of Nullity to the applicant, thereby rendering the marriage null and void. However, children born during the marriage are considered legitimate despite the annulment.