In the Catholic faith, according to the Canon Law an annulment is a canonical procedure, whereby, an ecclesial tribunal judges whether the bond of matrimony, in a particular case, was entered into invalidly; that is according to God, a true marriage never took place.

An annulment is not the ecclesial equivalent of a divorce. Some accuse the Catholic Church of hypocrisy for preaching that all marriages are permanent, but still provide the means of annulment. The Catholic Church reconciles these two seemingly opposing ideas by understanding that a "Declaration of Nullity" is not a dissolution of an existing marriage, but rather a determination that a marriage never existed. While some may try to use an annulment to get around the "no divorce" rule, that is not the reason the Church has a process to declare nullity.

An annulment affirms the Scriptural basis of divorce, According to the Church, and at the same time affirms that in a true marriage a man and a woman become one flesh before the eyes of God. The Church's teach that a marriage is a Sacrament and that it is only validly contracted by the two individuals. However, various impediments can render an individual unable to contract marriage.

For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void), after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, the Church can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. In this case, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged, the contracting parties are free to marry

An annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is retroactive: an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed, therefore it never took place in the eyes of God or the Church.

Before a person is free to enter into and receive the sacrament of marriage any previous marriage(s) must be declared invalid and a Declaration of Nullity granted. If a Declaration of Nullity is determined to be justified by the tribunal, a Dispensation of Canonical Order will be granted by Patriarch Archbishop Anderson, and the marriage will be allowed to take place.

We will help you if you are looking to have an annulment of a previous invalid marriage so that you are free to marry.

An annulment can be issued quickly by our tribunal after you complete the simple petition below. Normally a decision can be reached on an annulment within 3 to 4 weeks after the petition is received by the tribunal.

 

Petition for Decree of Nullity

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Note: An annulment DOES NOT make your children illegitimate. This is a myth. The parent’s marital status DOES NOT affect the status of the children.