Can You Get a Divorce Right After Getting Married?

Yes. There is no minimum amount of time you have to stay married before you can file for divorce. Whether you have been married two days, two months, or two years, no state forces you to remain married. What actually slows people down is not the length of the marriage but two practical things: most states require you to live there for a set period before you can file, and many states make you wait a set period after filing before the divorce becomes final.

If your real question is whether you can erase a brief marriage instead of divorcing it, that is a different legal path called an annulment and it depends on your specific facts, not on how recently you married.

Divorce vs. annulment: two different things

People who regret a quick marriage usually ask about one of two options. They are not interchangeable.

• Divorce ends a valid marriage. The law agrees you were genuinely married; you are simply choosing to end it. A short marriage is still a real marriage, so divorce is almost always available.
• Annulment declares that a legally valid marriage never properly existed in the first place, or that it can be voided because of a specific defect. You cannot get an annulment just because you changed your mind or married impulsively.

Why the length of the marriage usually does not matter

One of the most common searches is whether you can get an annulment "before a year" or "after 2 months." Annulment generally is not tied to how long you have been married. It is tied to whether legal grounds exist. A two-month marriage with no grounds may not qualify for annulment, while a much older marriage built on fraud might. Time can matter in a narrower way: some states set a deadline (a statute of limitations) for filing an annulment after you discover the problem, and those deadlines vary by state. But there is no nationwide "you must wait a year" or "you only have two months" rule.

What it takes to get an annulment

Annulment grounds are set by each state, and the exact list and labels differ, but they generally fall into two buckets.

Void marriages (never legally valid)

Some marriages are treated as invalid from the start, often regardless of how long they lasted. These commonly include:

• Bigamy - one spouse was already legally married to someone else.
• Incest - the spouses are too closely related under that state's law.

Voidable marriages (valid until a court cancels them)

These marriages are valid unless and until a court annuls them at the request of the affected spouse. Grounds that many states recognize include:

• Fraud that goes to the core of the marriage (for example, hiding an inability or refusal to have children, concealing an existing pregnancy by another person, or marrying solely for immigration or financial gain).
• Duress - you were forced or seriously threatened into marrying.
• Lack of capacity to consent - one spouse was severely intoxicated, mentally incapacitated, or otherwise could not understand what they were doing.
• Underage marriage without required consent.
• Inability to consummate the marriage, in states that still recognize it, when it was concealed.

Notice that "we rushed into it" and "we are not getting along" are not on this list. Regret alone is a reason to divorce, not to annul. For most people who married quickly and simply want out, a divorce - not an annulment - is the realistic route.

Civil vs. religious annulment

A church or religious annulment is separate from a court annulment. A religious annulment can affect your standing within a faith community but does not legally end or undo your marriage. Only a civil court order changes your legal marital status.

The two real delays: residency and waiting periods

Even though you can file regardless of how short the marriage is, two timing rules usually control how fast you can actually start and finish.

Residency requirements (before you can file)

Most states require that you (or your spouse) have lived in the state - and sometimes in a particular county - for a minimum period before a court will accept your case. These durational requirements vary widely from state to state, ranging from only a few weeks in some places up to a year in others, with around six months being common. A handful of places have very short or minimal durational requirements. If you just moved, or if you married while traveling or on a quick trip, this is often the biggest practical obstacle - not the marriage itself.

Waiting or "cooling-off" periods (before it is final)

Many states also impose a waiting period between filing (or between serving your spouse) and the date the judge can finalize the divorce. These periods vary by state - some have none, while others require several weeks or months. So even an uncontested, agreed divorce of a one-week marriage may take a couple of months to become final simply because the state's clock has to run.

"Quickie" divorce: what is realistic

The fastest path is usually an uncontested, no-fault divorce, where both spouses agree to end the marriage and agree on any property or money issues. Short marriages often make this easier because there is little shared property, no children together, and few entanglements to fight over.

A few realities to keep in mind:

• No-fault is widely available, but not always over an objecting spouse. In most states one spouse can obtain a no-fault divorce even if the other refuses to participate. Mississippi and South Dakota are the exceptions: there, a no-fault ground requires both spouses to consent, so a refusing spouse can force you onto a fault-based ground. The divorce is still ultimately obtainable - it just may take a different route.
• You generally cannot skip residency by flying somewhere. The idea of a fast out-of-state or overseas "quickie" divorce is mostly outdated; you normally must meet the residency rules of the state where you file.
• A short marriage simplifies, but does not eliminate, financial issues. Courts can still address property acquired during the marriage, debts, and in some cases short-term support, though a brief marriage typically reduces these claims.

Same-sex and out-of-state marriages

If you married a same-sex spouse, you have the same access to divorce and annulment as anyone else. The U.S. Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), that every state must license and recognize same-sex marriages. Congress reinforced this in the Respect for Marriage Act (2022), which requires the federal government to recognize any marriage valid where it was performed and bars states from denying recognition based on the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the spouses (see 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C). Practically, that means a marriage validly entered in one state is recognized for divorce purposes when you move - though you still must satisfy your current state's residency rules before filing there.

What you can do

1. Decide what you actually want: to end a valid marriage (divorce) or to argue it should never have counted (annulment). For most short-marriage regret, divorce is the realistic answer.
2. Check your state's residency requirement for the state (and county) where you live now. This often determines how soon you can file.
3. Look up your state's waiting period between filing and final decree so you have a realistic timeline.
4. If you think you have annulment grounds (fraud, bigamy, duress, incapacity, underage, etc.), write down exactly what happened and when you discovered it - some states impose a deadline to file after discovery.
5. Try for uncontested and no-fault if possible. Agreeing on the few issues a short marriage creates is the fastest, cheapest path.
6. Gather basic documents: your marriage certificate, proof of residency, and a simple list of any shared property, accounts, or debts.
7. Talk to a local family-law attorney or legal aid office before filing, especially if annulment, fraud, immigration status, or a refusing spouse is involved. Rules differ significantly by state.

Time-sensitive things to watch

• Annulment deadlines: some states limit how long you have to seek an annulment after discovering the grounds. Do not assume you have unlimited time.
• Residency clocks: if you recently moved, you may need to wait to establish residency before you can file where you are.
• Acting on the marriage: in some states, continuing to live together after learning of a problem can weaken a voidable-marriage annulment claim.

Because divorce and annulment are governed almost entirely by state law, the specific grounds, residency periods, waiting periods, and deadlines depend on where you live - so confirm your own state's rules before relying on general timelines.

This article is general information, not legal advice; consult a licensed attorney in your state about your specific situation.