I (full name in the woman’s spoken language and in Hebrew, name, daughter of—parents’ names), 

 

of (place of residence), 

 

married (name of husband as he is normally addressed, and Hebrew name, son of—parents’ names)

 

on (full date) in (location).

 

The mesader kiddushin/ officiant at the wedding was (full name).

 

At no time before or at the wedding was the legal meaning of kinyan and kiddushin explained to me.

 

I was never told, much less warned, that marriage via kinyan and kiddushin was unilateral, by the husband, giving me no equal claims on him; and that ending the marriage was similarly, unilateral, the exclusive right and privilege of the husband, which he had the right to refuse, withhold, and extort for, which actions would be acceptable to and defended by rabbinic courts under halakha.

 

I was not told that, should I wish to divorce and my husband refuse to give me a get or demand payment for one, rabbinic courts would honor and enact his privilege to refuse my request, including with demands for payment and concessions of various kinds, over mine to be free of the marriage without payoffs.

 

I was not told that long precedent in rabbinic ruling regards the husband’s demand for compensation for giving the wife a get self-evidently reasonable compensation for something of value—his control over my marital freedom, which he possesses; that I should rightly pay him to obtain for myself in order to be free of the marriage.

 

I was not told that, under the terms of the marriage I was entering, get extortion is a normal, accepted practice in halakhic precedent and that I should expect such precedent to be applied in my case, should I wish a get and my husband demand payment for giving me a get.

​

I was informed of none of this before I consented to the marriage.

 

This constitutes flagrant withholding of information critical to my wellbeing and ability to make an informed decision about the marriage; information on the basis of which, had I been told of it at the time of my wedding by the groom; by the officiant/ mesader kiddushin; by the witnesses to kinyan and kiddushin; or by any other party involved in the ceremony,  I would have rejected participating in those marriage rites and would have refused to enter this marriage, which I entered on the basis of incomplete and misleading information.

 

I would not have married in the manner I did had I been told, explained, the nature and consequences of the marriage rites (kinyan and kiddushin) through which the marriage was enacted before the wedding, and the harm that could come to me by marrying in that manner.

 

I married under withheld information critical to my wellbeing [and that of my child/ children] and have suffered tremendous harm as a result.

 

I now demand and will act on immediate, unconditional, retroactive annulment of my marriage.

 

Signed                                Date                           Location                       Witnesses/ notarization