A legal annulment of marriage is the process by which a couple has their married status voided or nullified. It is retroactive to the date of the original marriage and legally returns both spouses to single rather than divorced status. A spouse may choose to ask for an annulment if he or she discovers critical information that the other spouse deliberately hid or lied about prior to the marriage. This might include a history of drug abuse or a criminal past. It is also possible in many states to obtain an annulment if a couple disagrees about having children. However, this is only a valid reason if one partner misrepresented his or her desire to have kids in order to convince the other that they had the same expectations. Changing one's mind after the fact (which many people do) is not grounds for an annulment of marriage.