Annulment Payment

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I am talking with a Catholic right now about the faith. The issue of divorce came up, and then annulment. I asked what the church needs to perform an annulment (curious), and among a few other things, the comment was made that a payment would need to be made. I then asked how much where we talking, and the answer given that it depends on the “value” of the marriage - but that it could easily run in the tens of thousands.

I was a bit taken back by that, and wanted to see what sort of answers you guys could provide to make sense of that.

Thanks for the help.

John-Paul
 
I didn’t check any sources so take my response with a grain of salt… but as to what the Church needs to grant an annulment, I believe they would just need a lot of evidence that the marriage was indeed invalid. I don’t know what else they would need…

As to the cost, however, I have no idea. But I can see how it would be expensive considering the process must be very long.
 
The fee varies by diocese. In mine it is $400 flat. That seems below what could reasonably be requested, though, given how much paperwork and man hours are required to investigate a marriage.

However, if the case is the super simple kind, the documentary kind, the fee is much less on account of so little work (man hours) is required. I don’t have that amount memorized for our diocese. Maybe $20-$50, I’d guess.

In hardship cases, where the person has no money, these fees can be reduced.
 
I think you may have gotten some real hogwash there as advice, especially concerning how much the administrative fees for an annulment run. I have several friends who have had church annulments and none of them have paid in excess of $500. Obviously, the cost may vary from diocese to diocese, but most dioceses have either payment arrangements and in any case nobody gets turned away from initiating the process because of an inability to pay. I don’t know about this, but you may have to submit some kind of an income statement to qualify for reduced fees or waiver of fee.

Your friend may be thinking about a civil (not a church) annulment which addresses property rights, inheritance, separate maintenance,) and those are legal and court costs which are similar to the costs of any civil divorce. These have nothing to do with an annulment procedure in front of a Catholic marriage tribunal.
 
This would be a strictly administrative fee. I would ask about the ‘value’ comment. That just feels like something that may have been taken out of context. At the end of the day, a Catholic is entitled to the services of the church and if you made a case that you could not pay, I cannot imagine that would stop anything. Talk to the pastor at your local parish for clarification. You can do that if you are Catholic or not.
 
At my former diocese, the out of pocket cost was $500 per marriage.
 
johnpauls said:
I am talking with a Catholic right now about the faith. The issue of divorce came up, and then annulment. I asked what the church needs to perform an annulment (curious), and among a few other things, the comment was made that a payment would need to be made. I then asked how much where we talking, and the answer given that it depends on the “value” of the marriage - but that it could easily run in the tens of thousands.

I was a bit taken back by that, and wanted to see what sort of answers you guys could provide to make sense of that.

Thanks for the help.

John-Paul
Click to expand...
This topic comes up often.

The fee for an annulment has nothing whatsoever to do with the “value” of the marriage; although if the annulment can be done by “short form” (lack of form), two Catholics married by a mayor for example, it’s considerably less because there’s less to investigate.

The fee actually goes to pay for all the costs associated with the entire process. All the correspondence has to be sent by registered mail with return receipt, long distance phone calls, staff salary, computers and paper, even the fact that the office has to be heated/AC. The “office” that handles this (the marriage Tribunal) has expenses just like any other. They can’t go to the power company and say “give us free electricity” or go the the phone company and say “give us free long distance.” A diocese can charge a petitioner to recoup the diocese expenses, and for most dioceses, the overall expense (on say a yearly basis) actually comes out to be more than the total “fees” they receive–that’s right, they usually lose money when considered on an annual basis.

An annulment is expensive only because the Church has to thoroughly investigate the marriage before the Tribunal can issue a decision. This takes time (salary) and resources.

Be assured though that it has nothing at all to do with assigning some kind of dollar amount to a marriage (or “attempt at marriage”).
 
johnpauls said:
I am talking with a Catholic right now about the faith. The issue of divorce came up, and then annulment. I asked what the church needs to perform an annulment (curious), and among a few other things, the comment was made that a payment would need to be made. I then asked how much where we talking, and the answer given that it depends on the “value” of the marriage - but that it could easily run in the tens of thousands.

I was a bit taken back by that, and wanted to see what sort of answers you guys could provide to make sense of that.

Thanks for the help.

John-Paul
Click to expand...
First of all, the insinuation the person is making is absurd. The “value” of a marriage? What the heck does that mean?? Sorry, I get a bit miffed when people try to talk about something when they know absolutely nothing about it, which is clear by that comment.

Ok - let’s start at the beginning. No one works for free. It costs money to employ Cannon Lawyers, administrators, and all those people who work for the good of the Church to protect marriage through the Nullity process. Where are they going to get the money to pay these people? Of course there is a fee, and it has nothing to do with the “value” of a marriage. It has to do with the administrative costs in that diocese. In my diocese the cost of the first request to the Tribunal for a Declaration of Nullity is covered by CSA funds. There is no cost to the petitioner. This is not the case everywhere, as not all areas have the ability to do this.

Do a keyword search on this forum for annulment - you will find hundreds of discussions about the topic that will answer every question you could ever possibly imagine. Trust me, it’s been covered here. Even the cost of the process.

Thank you for asking though, and realizing that something wasn’t right in what you were hearing. In your searching for the Fullness of Truth, you do need to ask a lot of questions. There are a lot of people out there who don’t know what they are talking about, or who hold opinions contrary to what the Church teaches. This forum is a good place to go to get the straight scoop - way too many knowledgeable Catholics here to let someone slide with inaccuracy. 👍

God bless!
~Liza
 
The fees vary according to the diocese and the cost of living in the area. In my area it could cost $1000. There are payment plans and reduction of fees depending upon income etc. There are a lot of costs involved. Just as there are for a civil divorce.
 
$500 for his annulment. $500 for mine. + $500 for Engagement Retreat. = $1,500
 
The dioceses around here have been sending out letters that say if you don’t have the money, don’t pay anything. Other than that it is below $750.
 
johnpauls said:
I am talking with a Catholic right now about the faith. The issue of divorce came up, and then annulment. I asked what the church needs to perform an annulment (curious), and among a few other things, the comment was made that a payment would need to be made. I then asked how much where we talking, and the answer given that it depends on the “value” of the marriage - but that it could easily run in the tens of thousands.

I was a bit taken back by that, and wanted to see what sort of answers you guys could provide to make sense of that.

Thanks for the help.

John-Paul
Click to expand...
I obtained an annulment back in 1995. There were court costs involved, but it was minimal. In fact, I was able to get some financial assistance to help with the court costs. Since an annulment involves a tribunal (three priests) who conduct an investigation based on the statements of your witnesses and a hearing on your particular case, there are costs involved. I couldn’t say whether it was based on the “value” of my marriage, since the “marriage” wasn’t really a “marriage” after all and, therefore, has no value to speak of.
 
GraftedIn said:
$500 for his annulment. $500 for mine. + $500 for Engagement Retreat. = $1,500
Click to expand...
Objective concurrence that the alleged defects in the previous marriage were real and not just powerful rationalizations, thus making you eligible for entering into a genuine and sacramental marriage after suitable preparation and (name removed by moderator)ut = PRICELESS. 👍

How much did you spend on the flowers and photographer? Are you bitter about them?
 
Well, these small fees dont seem problematic. The issue I have is when I hear about fees in the tens of thousands. Since I have posted this, I have spoken to a few catholics who have gotten divorced, and they spent between 5k and 20k. Some only pay 500-1000. It seems to be all over the map in pricing.

To be, it seems like an odd practice anyways to get around divorce. Then to add church “fees”, in the higher amounts, sends it over the top.

I guess the next question is - where does the money go? General fund?
 
johnpauls said:
Well, these small fees dont seem problematic. The issue I have is when I hear about fees in the tens of thousands. Since I have posted this, I have spoken to a few catholics who have gotten divorced, and they spent between 5k and 20k. Some only pay 500-1000. It seems to be all over the map in pricing.

To be, it seems like an odd practice anyways to get around divorce. Then to add church “fees”, in the higher amounts, sends it over the top.

I guess the next question is - where does the money go? General fund?
Click to expand...
Wow! $20k?!! Was that for the civil divorce (attorney fees) or the annulment (tribunal fees)? I could see a civil divorce costing $20k.
 
I would be very skeptical about reports of fees way up in the thousands.

Where does the fee money go? It pays the salaries of the priests and staff of the office of the tribunal, the rent, the electricity, the telephone and internet, the office supplies and equipment…
 
Why not just call your diocese’s Marriage Tribunal and ask them what the fee is for an annulment? They might even have the information posted on the website.

Google your diocese, look for something called “family life” or “services,” click on that, and look for the Tribunal. Out of curiosity I checked out the cost in my diocese, it is a flat fee of $250 per marriage. And there is a payment option for those who can’t afford the full cost up front. Twenty five dollars a month X 10 months. The average annulment takes anywhere between six months to a year to complete the investigation and render a decision.

For those with an average living wage, it doesn’t sound too prohibitive to me, that’s less than two lattes a week at Starbucks!

I do like the idea of closure that this provides: An objective spiritual body is rendering a decision that the problems were monumental, and not emotion colored rationalizations. And going over the “postmortem” probably will give the insightful survivor of a bad nonmarriage good ideas to avoid the same catastrophe in the future. It would cost a lot more if the same conclusions had to be reached with the help of a psychotherapist!
 
I call baloney on the 5 figure tribunal reimbursement charges. I doubt even involving the Roman Rota would run that high. Now it certainly COULD if for some reason a person decided to hire their own canon lawyer privately to represent them through the process. But that’s by no means necessary or normal.

Canon lawyers need a very similar education level as civil lawyers. Price a civil lawyer lately?
 
That is very interesting to hear, since the catholic I am speaking to about this got an annulment, as well as his daughter. In both cases he said the fee was over 5k (him) and then around $15k for his daughter. This was a fee without a cannon lawyer.

I have done internet research on the subject to see that fees are listed as being much lower, so I almost need to go back to him have him explain why his cost so much.

I do remember him saying that there were some very high profile annulments where the fees were in the tens of thousands.

Fees in the 1-2k range seem justified over something that does cost money to handle. I dont have an issue with that. I brought this issue here to see what the “norm” was. That answer seems to be in the lower amounts by what everyone is saying.
 
My diocese charges $500 for administrative/paperwork. I didn’t have the money so my parish paid it for me. I rec’d the final notice that the annulment was granted approx. 18 months later.
 
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