Getting Evidence for an Annulment
Why do you need evidence for an annulment? An annulment is different from a divorce. While a divorce ends a marriage, an annulment actually voids its very existence. Therefore, you have to justify to the court why it should be voided. For this reason, they are not always easy to obtain. While annulment laws vary between the states, common justifications for annulment include:
- fraud or misrepresentation;
- no consummation of the marriage;
- incest;
- bigamy;
- an underage party; or
- a lack of mental capacity.
Family Law E-Discovery
How Forensics Can Help
Reviewing the aforementioned list, you will see that some reasons are likely easily proved. For example, the fact of bigamy or that one of the party was underage are likely easily proven with publicly recorded documents, such as marriage or birth certificates. However, other grounds for annulment require digging deeper for evidence. How can you prove fraud, misrepresentation, or lack of mental capacity? In this case, key annulment evidence may be found with computer forensics, or even social media evidence to prove fraud or misrepresentation.
For example, computer forensics could identify documents such as emails, medical records, and internet search history showing that one partner actively misrepresented key facts from the other. This could include the existence of a sexually transmitted disease, their age, or their ability to consummate the marriage. In many states, any of these reasons would be grounds for an annulment.
Read more about annulment versus divorce here.
Smartphone Evidence PDF Reports