Thinking about filing for annulment in Singapore?
The most common reason used by people filing for annulment in Singapore is the reason of one party’s wilful refusal to consummate (or have sex) with the other after marriage. Only the person who got refused can file. In other words, if you are the one who refused to consummate the marriage, you cannot use the reason of “wilful refusal” to file for annulment in Singapore.
What if you have a child? This depends on whether yours is a shotgun marriage. For example, if you and your spouse had a shotgun marriage, and your spouse refuses to consummate the marriage with you after the marriage date, it is possible for you to file for annulment in Singapore.
Filing for annulment in Singapore will however not be possible if you had conceived the child after the marriage date.
I have come across many such cases in Singapore. Statistics show that many shotgun marriages end in divorce. This may be because couples in shotgun marriages usually get married out of “necessity”.
Shotgun marriages on the decline in the US
Studies show that the rates of shotgun marriages in US have decreased sharply- from 50% of unmarried women in the 1930s to 6% in the second half of 2000s. However, there are more shotgun marriages among young mothers and those who are not as educated.
According to Gibson-Davis, an associate professor of public policy at Duke University: “Not many people have a shotgun marriage, but it’s more common among groups who otherwise have low marriage rates- African-Americans, those with less education and those under 25.”
After 10 years, 30% of white couples who had a shotgun marriage got a divorce compared to 19% of white couples who conceived after marriage. For Afro- Americans, the divorce rates for shotgun and other marriages are about the same.
See: Amy Dominello Braun, “Is Shotgun marriage dead?”, Duke Today, 1 November 2016
If you are thinking about filing for annulment in Singapore, please contact us today!
You may also be interested to read more about:
2. Annulment (Nullity) of Marriage
5. Maintenance Issues (Alimony)
