A Church Annulment Does Not End a New York Marriage

Contributed by Dan Rose, a Senior Local Business Guide Specializing in Divorce and Family Law Services in New York City

For a great many couples, a marriage was made in two places at once: before a priest, rabbi or imam, and in the records of the State of New York. When it ends, it has to be ended in both places, and the two systems do not talk to each other.

A religious annulment settles a person’s standing in their faith. It does nothing to their marital status under New York law. Mixing the two up is how people end up married on paper years after they believed the marriage was over.

Two marriages, two endings

When a member of the clergy officiates a wedding in New York, they act in two capacities. Under Domestic Relations Law § 11 they are one of the people the state authorizes to solemnize a marriage, so the ceremony creates a civil marriage. Separately, it creates whatever bond the faith itself recognizes.

Undoing the civil marriage takes a court: a judgment of divorce, or a judgment of annulment on one of the grounds the Domestic Relations Law allows. Undoing the religious bond takes whatever the faith requires. In the Catholic Church that is a declaration of nullity from a diocesan tribunal. In Jewish law it is a get, a bill of divorce given by the husband and accepted by the wife. Other traditions have their own processes.

Neither one substitutes for the other. A tribunal’s declaration is not a court order, and no state judge can issue a get.

What a church annulment does not do

A declaration of nullity does not end the civil marriage. It does not divide the house, the pension or the savings. It does not settle custody or child support. It does not permit remarriage at City Hall. It is a finding about whether a sacramental bond existed, made under church law, for the purposes of the faith.

In practice the order usually runs the other way. Catholic tribunals in the United States generally ask for proof that the civil case is finished before they will take up a petition, because the church does not want its process used as a substitute for the courts. So the typical sequence is civil judgment first, religious process second.

The civil side is also where the money is decided. New York’s equitable distribution rules in Domestic Relations Law § 236 apply to annulment actions as well as divorces, so a civil annulment divides property and addresses support much as a divorce would. Anyone reaching for annulment because they believe it will keep the finances untouched should read up on the grounds and deadlines for annulment in New York before deciding anything.

New York’s law on barriers to remarriage

New York is unusual in having written the religious side of divorce into its civil statutes, and the provision matters to anyone who married in a house of worship.

Domestic Relations Law § 253 applies to marriages solemnized by clergy. A party to such a marriage who starts an action to annul the marriage or for a divorce must state in the verified complaint that they have taken, or will take before final judgment, all steps solely within their own power to remove any barrier to the other spouse’s remarriage. The statute defines that barrier to include any religious or conscientious restraint that can be removed by the party’s voluntary act.

Then comes the enforcement. Under § 253(3), no final judgment of annulment or divorce can be entered until the plaintiff files and serves a sworn statement that those steps have been taken. The other spouse can waive the requirement in writing, but otherwise the case cannot finish.

The statute was written with the get in mind, where one spouse’s refusal can leave the other unable to remarry within the faith. It is phrased neutrally, though, and applies to any religious restraint one spouse can lift by their own act.

There is a second mechanism. Domestic Relations Law § 236(B)(5)(h) directs the court, where appropriate, to consider the effect of a barrier to remarriage when it applies the equitable distribution factors, and the maintenance provisions contain a parallel instruction. A spouse who holds back a religious divorce as leverage can find the court weighing that conduct when it divides the property.

What the statute will not do is decide religious questions. Section 253(9) says plainly that nothing in it authorizes a court to inquire into or determine any ecclesiastical or religious issue. The court looks at whether a party did what was in their power. It does not rule on whether a religious process was valid.

A worked example

A couple marries at a synagogue in 2019, officiated by their rabbi. In 2026 the wife starts an annulment action on the ground that her husband concealed a prior marriage. The marital estate is about $180,000: equity in a home, two retirement accounts and a savings account.

Because a member of the clergy performed the wedding, § 253 applies. The wife, as plaintiff, must swear in her complaint that she has taken or will take every step within her power to remove barriers to her husband’s remarriage. Nothing needs to be removed on her side, so the statement is simple. The obligation falls on the plaintiff, however. Had the husband filed instead, he could not have obtained a final judgment until he swore he had done what was in his power, which in this setting means giving the get.

Now suppose the husband, as defendant, refuses to give the get and makes clear he will not until the property terms move in his favor. The court cannot order the get and will not rule on religious law. But under § 236(B)(5)(h) it can take the barrier into account in dividing the $180,000. The statute sets no formula, so there is no fixed adjustment. It is worth noticing, though, that a shift of ten percentage points on this estate moves $18,000.

Meanwhile, the civil clock keeps running on her annulment ground regardless of what happens with the get.

Who should file, and in what order

Because § 253 puts the sworn-statement obligation on the plaintiff, the choice of who files is not neutral in a clergy-solemnized marriage. A spouse who expects to be asked for a religious divorce and intends to give it loses nothing by filing. A spouse who intends to hold it back cannot finish a case they started themselves. That is one reason the question of who files first deserves attention before papers go in, rather than being settled by whoever gets to a lawyer sooner.

The sequence that tends to work is this. File the civil action and resolve property, support and custody there. Put any agreement about the religious divorce in the written settlement the court reviews. Then complete the religious process, whether that is delivery of the get before a rabbinical court or a petition to the diocesan tribunal once the civil judgment is in hand.

Keeping the two tracks separate, but written down in one place, is what protects both spouses. It stops either process being used as a bargaining chip after the other has closed.

Where this goes wrong

Remarrying on the strength of a religious annulment

This is the most serious mistake and it still happens. Someone receives a declaration of nullity, or gives or receives a get, and treats the matter as closed. Without a civil judgment they are still legally married, and a second civil marriage is void. The error tends to surface years later, when an estate is settled, a pension goes to its beneficiary or an immigration file is reviewed.

Waiting for the religious process before filing in court

Some people hold off on the civil case while the religious process runs, feeling it should come first. For an annulment based on fraud, that delay can be expensive. Civil annulment grounds carry time limits, and living together after discovering the fraud can bar the claim altogether. The court calendar does not pause for a tribunal.

Assuming § 253 applies to every marriage

The barriers statute reaches only marriages solemnized by clergy. A couple married by a judge or a city clerk has no § 253 obligation, even if both spouses later want a religious resolution. The leverage the statute provides is not available to them.

Expecting the court to order the religious act

The civil court cannot compel a get or a church annulment, and it will not decide disputes about religious procedure. It can withhold final judgment from a plaintiff who has not removed a barrier, and it can weigh the barrier in dividing property. Those are the tools, and a party who expects more will be disappointed.

Negotiating the religious divorce off the record

When one spouse trades the get for concessions privately, outside the settlement agreement, the result can be an agreement that is later challenged as coerced. Whatever is agreed about removing religious barriers belongs in the written agreement the court reviews.

Frequently asked questions

If the Church annuls my marriage, am I divorced?

No. A declaration of nullity has no effect on civil marital status. You need a judgment of divorce or annulment from a New York court.

Do I need a civil divorce before a Catholic annulment?

Catholic tribunals in the United States generally require the civil case to be finished before they accept a petition. Check with your diocese for its specific requirements.

Can a New York judge order my spouse to give a get?

No. The court cannot order a religious act. If your spouse is the plaintiff, however, they cannot obtain a final judgment without swearing they have removed barriers to your remarriage, and the court can consider a refusal when dividing property.

We married at City Hall. Does the get law apply?

Section 253 applies only to marriages solemnized by clergy. A civil ceremony falls outside it.

Is a civil annulment easier than a divorce for a religious family?

Not usually. Annulment requires proving a specific statutory ground and is more often contested. Many couples take a civil divorce and pursue the religious process separately.

A note on this article

This article describes New York law in general terms and is not legal advice. How the barriers-to-remarriage rules apply depends on how the marriage was solemnized and on the facts of the case, and religious requirements should be confirmed with the relevant religious authority.

Speak to a New York divorce attorney

If your marriage has both a civil and a religious side to resolve, getting the order and the paperwork right at the start saves a great deal later. Aronov Law NY handles divorce and annulment matters throughout New York State and offers a consultation to work out which route fits.

Aronov Law NY
98-14 Queens Blvd, Queens, NY 11374
Phone: 718-206-1555

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