Should I Get a Legal Separation or Annulment Instead of Divorce?

Legal separations and annulments are both alternatives that are available to a divorce. A legal separation follows the exact same process that a divorce does through the court system in which all of your rights and responsibilities are allocated. But at the end you are still considered married as opposed to no longer married with a divorce. An annulment is available in very limited circumstances; not many people will actually qualify for an annulment. If you are under age at the time of your marriage, if the marriage was never consummated, if someone else has a spouse still living or if there was some sort of fraud or force. But in all cases if you continue to live with them as a spouse after knowing of any of those things you can no longer get an annulment. So annulments are very difficult, legal separations are no different than a divorce.