Annulment Pre Cana rules

[acanonlawyer]

I wonder, do tribunals take into account other kinds of marriage prep?

We had a specific marriage prep course, but I’m sure we both learned far more about marriage in many years of parochial school, observation of our own parents marriages, etc.

I’m guessing that tribunals consider all these factors as part of judging adequate preparation.

Yes, that is what should happen–it’s all part of the mix. Nevertheless, there simply isn’t a one-to-one correlation between a person’s background, formation, premarital preparation, etc., and his/her entering (or not) a valid marriage. In other words, nobody is destined to be in a valid or invalid marriage.

Does the length of time the couple was living together after wedding affect the prospect for annulment?

It depends on what the proposed “ground” is. So, if someone says “I was just too young to marry. I couldn’t understand it. Etc.” but then you see that the marriage lasted 30 years… That’s one situation where the fact of a long common life militates against the notion of invalidity. But, you can have a person say “I simply have never liked children and certainly chose to have a child-free union.” If that person had a 30 year marriage with no children and the intention against children was operative throughout, then the extended length of the common life actually supports the ground.

Dan

 

[TheLittleLady]

We had a specific marriage prep course, but I’m sure we both learned far more about marriage in many years of parochial school, observation of our own parents marriages, etc.

I’m guessing that tribunals consider all these factors as part of judging adequate preparation.

In my experience as both an Advocate and as a witness, there are questions asked about family of origin and how they viewed marriage.

 

[commenter]

Thank you for sharing your hard won, costly-to-you, processional training.

Your usual remuneration in spiritual Bitcoin is forthcoming.