In the state of Rhode Island, there is no such thing as a court granted annulment. It simply does not exist. As such in Rhode Island, you cannot get your marriage annulled. However, you can ask the Court to make a legal determination that the marriage was Void ab initio. This means that the marriage was not legal when you entered into it and it is therefore void or voidable.
This is a very difficult standard to prove and you need to show that you simply did not know you were getting married, or that you never intended to marry the person you did. A void marriage could also be one that could not have existed in the first place, because it was against the law at the time it started. For instance, you inadvertently married a blood relative.
Perhaps, the marriage was entered into under threat or coercion. This would also give rise to voidable marriage.
However, most often people ask about annulling their marriage because it was very brief and they made a mistake. Unfortunately, this is not a basis to annul a marriage in Rhode Island. You will still need to divorce.
If you think you may qualify for voidable marriage in Rhode Island, or you realize that you will need to divorce, please contact our office to speak with an attorney.