The annulment time limit in Wisconsin depends on the ground. For lack of capacity to consent, force, duress, fraud, or inability to consummate, you must file within one year after learning of the problem. A marriage prohibited by law allows 10 years, with no deadline if a spouse was already married. No marriage can be annulled after a spouse dies.
Wis. Stat. § 767.313 sets a separate annulment time limit in Wisconsin for each ground. If a spouse lacked capacity to consent because of age, mental incapacity, alcohol, or drugs, or entered the marriage because of force, duress, or fraud involving the essentials of marriage, either spouse can file no later than one year after the person filing learned of it. The same one-year limit applies if a spouse cannot consummate the marriage and the other spouse did not know at the wedding.
If a spouse was too young to marry, or married young without the required consent, the underage spouse or a parent or guardian can file before that spouse turns 18, but a parent or guardian must file within one year of learning of the marriage. A marriage prohibited by Wisconsin law can be annulled within 10 years. That limit does not apply if a spouse was still married to someone else.
Every annulment requires a court case, and residency rules apply. Wisconsin courts have held that even a void marriage governs the spouses’ legal relations until it is annulled. If your deadline has passed, you can still end the marriage by divorce. See how to file for divorce in Wisconsin.
Write down the date you learned the facts behind your ground, because for consent, fraud, and consummation grounds the one-year clock runs from that date, not the wedding. Gather proof such as messages, medical records, or records of a prior marriage. Our page on annulment grounds and how annulment differs from divorce explains each ground.
Renier Hotopp Law Offices checks whether your case still fits the annulment time limit in Wisconsin and, if it does not, handles the divorce through our Wisconsin divorce attorney services. Read more about the firm.
