Is an annulment better than a divorce for a marriage of less than two months?

Full question:

Is an annulment better than a divorce for a marriage of less than two months?

• Category: Divorce
• Subcategory: Annulment
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Arkansas

Answer:

An annulment is sought in order to nullify the marriage and disavow its existence, returning the parties to their prior single status, as if they never married. Annulments are most often sought by people who feel stigmatized by the status of being divorced, or for ease of remarriage in their particular religion. If there are children born of the marriage, an annulment may not be granted, and the marriage may only be dissolved by divorce in Arkansas

According to an IRS ruling, if an annulment is retroactive, the couple was never married. Result: They had no right to file joint returns (Revenue Ruling 76-255). An example: John and Mary married in 2005, filed jointly for that year, and had their marriage annulled after the filing deadline. Because their marriage was declared null and void from its very inception by the annulment decree, they are considered to be unmarried at the end of 2005. Consequently, as an unmarried couple, they were ineligible to file jointly. The IRS requires John and Mary to undo their joint return by the filing of amended returns as unmarried filers. That can mean they get dunned for additional taxes.

Normally, the IRS does not allow people who file joint returns to change their filing status and switch to separate returns once the filing deadline of April 15 (for most individuals) has passed. Revenue Ruling 76-255 deals with the rare circumstance in which joint filers can switch to separate returns. This ruling involved only a one-year marriage. Nevertheless, the theory would presumably apply regardless of the marriage's length. On the plus side, refunds may be available to couples whose marriages were annulled and who would have paid reduced taxes as single persons.