As such, it constitutes grounds for annulment. If one party lacked the capacity to marry, the state could annul the marriage. 19:6). Pensions Divorce & Pets Other such impediments are not as obvious. Divorce Source, Inc. is also not a referral service and does not endorse or recommend any third party individuals, companies, and/or services. We will take a brief look at all three areas and point out some of the more common practical grounds a marriage tribunal may declare a marriage to be null.­ Of course, this is not an exhaustive treatment of the subject but it might be helpful for understanding annulments in the Catholic Church. Paternity Military Divorce Divorce Source, Inc. has made no judgment as to the qualifications, expertise or credentials of any participating professionals. Any children of an annulled marriage are considered legitimate. Entering into marriage without the intention of fidelity excludes unity and therefore invalidates the marriage. However, there are some reasons which all states have in common. Each state has its own laws regarding annulments. In the case of sterility (not impotence), a marriage may still be ordered toward procreation if the spouses do not willfully exclude the right to potentially procreative acts, even though it is known in advance that the couple is infertile. Since each party must freely consent to marriage, anyone forced into a marriage does not enter into it with sufficient consent. Divorce & Dollars 1117). Fraud: An annulment on grounds of fraud can only be filed by the person who was deceived. In such cases it is crucial to keep in mind that the authority to make a determination of nullity rests solely with the Church. Divorce Humor Parties too closely related are incapable of marrying each other. Can I get an annulment if I felt forced to marry him? A spouse couldn't consent to the marriage because of mental incapacity, use of drugs, or use of alcohol. In order to get an annulment on this basis, one of the parties must have essentially lied about something material, such as whether they are already married to someone else. So far we have addressed some ways in which a lack of capacity or a lack of consent may constitute grounds for annulment. For example, this might happen in the case of out-of-wedlock pregnancy, especially involving a very young couple. Military Divorce In order for a party to validly marry, he must first be capable of marriage. Annulment = your marriage ends, but unlike divorce, you re-set. The two aren’t interchangeable, and an annulment normally is more difficult to obtain. But even when a party does possess a sufficient understanding of marriage, if he intentionally excludes an essential property or an essential element of marriage, he does not sufficiently consent to it. ... Incest is defined as a relationship between two blood relatives who would be banned from legal marriage in their state. A spouse should have a strong, legal ground before he or she can petition for the marriage to be annulled or be declared null and void from the beginning. Misrepresentation and fraud are two of the most common reasons for why a party may seek to have their marriage annulled. To receive such a dispensation, the Catholic party must declare that he is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the Catholic Faith and he must sincerely promise to do all that is in his power to raise offspring resulting from the marriage in the Catholic Church. Once a person is a Catholic, he remains bound by the Church’s form of marriage even if he later falls away from the Church.