An annulment of a marriage is a legal action that makes the marriage null and void. The result will appear that the marriage never actually existed, unlike a divorce. There are several reasons why one could receive an annulment to a marriage. For example, if the two spouses are closely related and should have never married in the first place, if one spouse suffered mental illness or insanity, if your spouse was married to another living person at the time of your marriage, if one spouse provided fraudulent information to the other or concealed important information, such as HIV status or permanent sterility or impotence. In some states, you can even receive an annulment if one of the spouses ended another marriage less than a month prior to this one. You cannot receive an annulment based upon the short duration of the marriage. That is not sufficient grounds for an annulment; you will have to prove one of the other facts resulting in why you want an annulment. An annulment will not allow shared property distribution or alimony support payments. An annulment is hard to obtain if children are involved.