Annulment and ex's previous marriage

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abbiegirl

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My fiance’s ex wife had be married and divorced prior to their marriage. Her first marriage was never annuled. Does anyone have any thought as to whether or not this will play a part in determining my fiance’s annulment status ?
 
abbiegirl said:
My fiance’s ex wife had be married and divorced prior to their marriage. Her first marriage was never annuled. Does anyone have any thought as to whether or not this will play a part in determining my fiance’s annulment status ?
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It should.
Can. 1085 §1 A person bound by the bond of a previous marriage, even if not consummated, invalidly attempts marriage.
§2 Even though the previous marriage is invalid or for any reason dissolved, it is not thereby lawful to contract another marriage before the nullity or the dissolution of the previous one has been established lawfully and with certainty.
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On the face of it, your fiance’s ex was not free to marry, so it would seem impossible that he married her.

But I Am Not A Canon Lawyer.

tee
 
abbiegirl said:
My fiance’s ex wife had be married and divorced prior to their marriage. Her first marriage was never annuled. Does anyone have any thought as to whether or not this will play a part in determining my fiance’s annulment status ?
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Of course it will.
 
What the Tribunal will do is determine whether the ex-wife’s first marriage was valid, or not. If it was, then your fiance is “off the hook” so to speak - he could not have had a valid marriage with her, and therefore is free to marry you.

However, if it is determined that the ex-wife’s first marriage was not valid, then she was free to marry him, and it is possible that his marriage to her was valid.

They will then investigate that marriage, to see whether it was valid or not. If it was valid, then he is not free to marry you.

If it was not valid, they will look into the reasons for that, and this is what will determine whether or not he is free to marry you, since if he was incapable of contracting marriage in the first instance, they will want to make sure that, in the meantime, he has become capable of contracting marriage; otherwise, they will recommend to him to remain single until such time as he overcomes whatever problem there may be.
 
What if she (non-Catholic) does not want to investigate the validity or non-validity of her 1st marriage. Will this hinder my fiance’s annulment process?
 
abbiegirl said:
What if she (non-Catholic) does not want to investigate the validity or non-validity of her 1st marriage. Will this hinder my fiance’s annulment process?
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I have no way of knowing. Each case is unique. The only way to find out what will happen in your case is to pursue the case.
 
abbiegirl said:
What if she (non-Catholic) does not want to investigate the validity or non-validity of her 1st marriage. Will this hinder my fiance’s annulment process?
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No, she is invited to participate, she can choose not to.
 
jmcrae said:
What the Tribunal will do is determine whether the ex-wife’s first marriage was valid, or not. If it was, then your fiance is “off the hook” so to speak - he could not have had a valid marriage with her, and therefore is free to marry you.

However, if it is determined that the ex-wife’s first marriage was not valid, then she was free to marry him, and it is possible that his marriage to her was valid.

They will then investigate that marriage, to see whether it was valid or not. If it was valid, then he is not free to marry you.

If it was not valid, they will look into the reasons for that, and this is what will determine whether or not he is free to marry you, since if he was incapable of contracting marriage in the first instance, they will want to make sure that, in the meantime, he has become capable of contracting marriage; otherwise, they will recommend to him to remain single until such time as he overcomes whatever problem there may be.
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“However, if it is determined that the ex-wife’s first marriage was not valid, then she was free to marry him, and it is possible that his marriage to her was valid.”

I don’t believe that is the way it works. If it is proven that she was Married prior to his Marriage to her, she is not free to even attempt another Marriage until the first one is proven invalid.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
“However, if it is determined that the ex-wife’s first marriage was not valid, then she was free to marry him, and it is possible that his marriage to her was valid.”

I don’t believe that is the way it works. If it is proven that she was Married prior to his Marriage to her, she is not free to even attempt another Marriage until the first one is proven invalid.
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She is Protestant and had no way of knowing that she was still married to the previous spouse; does this apply in her case? Since she did not knowingly commit polyandry.
 
My non-canonical lawyer opinion is that your fiance’s first marriage was invalid since his wife was not free to enter into marriage. So that should be an easy case to resolve. But of course our opinions here are simply opinions.

What you need to do is contact your priest so you can pursue these questions with someone who has the knowledge and authority to answer them.
 
Abbie, how many times has your husband to be been married. I would think about the whole picture and maybe not just this piece of the puzzle. Remember we are not in charge of very much where the church is concerned. God will let happen what he wants to let happen. It is possible that this marriage is not in his plan for you.

Remember, make time for the quite moments, for the world is loud, and God whispers. calm yourself and listen to what God wants you to do. i do this at the adoration hour at my church. It is very helpful in my time of dispair. Good Luck to you.🙂
 
I think there is a lot of confusion (at least on my part) as far as the intricate details of annulment. I am Catholic and my fiance is Methodist. The confusion lies in fact that his first marriage is ok in his religion, so nothing wrong was done. But he will be judged according to Catholic standards, so we may be married. It is just a difficult concept to understand sometimes.
 
He has only been married once, divorced once. And what I posted earlier about nothing done wrong, I meant in his eyes. I know the consequences of divorce and remarriage. I was ignorant to the fact that he had to get an annulment, I just figured that it was just a Catholic thing, and his marriage was a civil one.
 
Issues around the Declaration of Nullity aside, second marriages are always very tricky. Even if there is a Declaration of Nullity, there is still going to be a three-way relationship between the current spouses and the previous spouse, especially if there are children involved.

You are praying hard, and asking God with a sincere heart what is His will for your future happiness in all of this, and I join my prayers with yours, that God’s will be done, and that your future be filled with joy and prosperity. 🙂
 
abbiegirl said:
I think there is a lot of confusion (at least on my part) as far as the intricate details of annulment. I am Catholic and my fiance is Methodist. The confusion lies in fact that his first marriage is ok in his religion, so nothing wrong was done. But he will be judged according to Catholic standards, so we may be married. It is just a difficult concept to understand sometimes.
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This is why we hire experts to sort these things out for us. 🙂
 
abbiegirl said:
I think there is a lot of confusion (at least on my part) as far as the intricate details of annulment. I am Catholic and my fiance is Methodist. The confusion lies in fact that his first marriage is ok in his religion, so nothing wrong was done. But he will be judged according to Catholic standards, so we may be married. It is just a difficult concept to understand sometimes.
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Let me say it this way. The Catholic Church would not see his first Marriage as valid because of her other Marriage. She was not free to attempt to Marry him, therefore his attempt at Marriage to her was most likely not valid. It does not matter if the Methodist community allows you to have multiple spouses, God does not! He cannot Marry you because his invlaid attempt to Marry her was never-the-less still a public attempt and must be declared invalid for him to be free to Marry you.
 
jmcrae said:
She is Protestant and had no way of knowing that she was still married to the previous spouse; does this apply in her case? Since she did not knowingly commit polyandry.
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We need in many cases to split out what is invalid because it is against Church Law and what is invalid because it is against God’s Law. The Protestant rule is almost the same as that of the Jews. They said that you could divorce and re-marry. Christ said NO, it was not so “from the beginning”. So it does not matter if the Lutheran, Methodist, Church of Christ says sure you can divorce and re-marry, Christ say’s you can’t, and it applies to everyone.
 
Hello to everyone, and thank you so much. These responses have definitely helped me understand many things, that as a “cradle Catholic”, I have not even thought about or considered. Will continue praying.🙂
 
tee_eff_em said:
It should.

On the face of it, your fiance’s ex was not free to marry, so it would seem impossible that he married her.

But I Am Not A Canon Lawyer.

tee
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I think you nailed it, simply and completely. One of the most obvious impediments to a sacramental union is when one or both are not free to marry. That would apply to someone who is already LEGALLY married, of course. Also, in Catholic Church Law, it would apply to someone who married while a previous spouse was still alive without first obtaining an annulment.

The marriage was clearly not valid and an annulment should be rather simple and straightforward.
 
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