There are two ways that people think about annulment ﾖ there is legal annulment that proceeds through the court system and effectively erases the existence of a marriage altogether, and then there are church annulments. A legal annulment is the only way in which a married couple will no longer be viewed as spouses under the law. This means that if a marriage has ended irretrievably and the two parties want to sever the union, they must do so through the court system. Annulment can be granted for many reasons, and those recognized by the church are far different than those by the law. For example, legal annulment can be granted if one of the parties lied about their drug use, criminal activities or age; if the marriage could not be consummated due to physical incapacity; or even if the couple finds out that they are closely related.