Iowa recently changed its laws regarding annulment i.e. making it so that legally the marriage never happened.  Now if you have been married for a short amount of time and want to get a divorce you still have to get a divorce or what is now called dissolution of marriage.  In the case of a “mistake” marriage the court will not try to use its usual standard i.e. a fair distribution of assets, but rather it will try to put the parties back in the place they were the day before the marriage.  There are still some instances when a marriage is going to be undone as a matter of law.  Some cause will make the marriage automatically void and some void able.  Here are some examples… incest or other illegal marriage-void; impotent at time of marriage- void able; bigamy-void; lack of mental capacity to contract-void able; fraud or duress-void able.  Even when these are present a petition for dissolution of marriage must be filed.