Annulment Reasons

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Tomdstone said:
Some of the grounds for a marriage annulment seem to be quite lenient. For example:
Error about a quality of a person (Canon 1097, sec. 2).
In almost every marriage, you will find that a spouse has some quality that you did not know about before you got married?
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As I said, a summary.

That is not what the canon means. It’s not simply a quality you didn’t know about or don’t like. It’s not “gee, I wish I’d known he was messy” or “I don’t like that he leaves the toilet seat up.” In fact, 1097.2 says the opposite. It says a quality of a person does not render marriage invalid UNLESS it is something directly or principally intended.

It’s a quality you **specifically **intended or you wouldn’t have married the other party.

For example, girl intends to date and marry a practicing Catholic. Girl meets boy. Boy is not a practicing Catholic (for example, he’s a fallen away Catholic) but pretends to be one while dating such as going to mass with her, feigning interest, etc. After marriage, boy declares he isn’t going to Mass anymore and never really believed all that stuff anyway, he just knew she wouldn’t date him unless he went along. Girl might have grounds under 1097.2 as she principally intended the quality of a practicing Catholic husband, would not have married without that quality, and in this case was deceived by the other party.
 
Right. “Lack of form” is a “paperwork” annulment (it’s counted by the Church as a “decree of nullity”, but does not require as lengthy as a process). The second type (impediment) would require proof of the impediment, which, if it is true that the impediment exists, would not be hard to find.

It’s the third type (consent) that’s usually what people are talking about when mentioning the “annulment process”. And as the good deacon mentioned, it’s the “lack of discretion/maturity” excuse that seems to be overused. There are cases where annulments are pretty cut and dry (the simulation reason - aka “marriage under pretext”, especially when a marriage is simulated in order for the person simulating the marriage to obtain something - such as money, a resident alien card, or something else of worldly value - but has no intention of actually keeping the marital vows). But there are plenty of other annulments that really make it look like an annulment is nothing more than a “Church divorce”.
 
“Grave lack of discretion of judgment” is indeed a ground that can be difficult to comprehend. It is not too complicated, in principle, but can be difficult to apply to a particular case.

Marital, discretionary capacity is composed of three elements: intellectual knowledge of the nature of marriage (its fundamental rights and responsibilities); the ability to critically evaluate the “opportuneness” of marrying a particular person at a particular time; freedom of the will (the absence of an internal compulsion which makes it impossible for the person to choose).

Everyone who has reached the age required by law are presumed to have this capacity. By nature, humans can marry. So, if somebody alleges that he lacked it, he must also demonstrate what caused this defect. Common causes of a lack of discretion include substance addiction, personality disorders, grave immaturity… But, some people who labor under such difficulties can nevertheless marry–it’s not as though all people who are clinically depressed cannot marry (for example).

Regarding c. 1097.2, it is not a common ground. After 500+ cases, I haven’t even seen it attempted. In effect, somebody who says a marriage is invalid because of that ground is saying (for example) “I intended to marry a prince, who happened to be the Respondent. But, he was not a prince.” That’s not normal. Obviously, people usually marry a person…who happens to have (or not have) certain qualities.

Dan
 
Would deciding after the fact that they didn’t want anymore children and so they withheld sex be considered a valid reason?
 
What about if one party had Bi-polar disorder that was not being treated?
 
Boulder257 said:
What about if one party had Bi-polar disorder that was not being treated?
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If this pertains to your life, the best thing to do IMO would be consult your pastor.

To the best of my knowledge, it would depend if the bipolar diagnosis was known to both spouses before marriage and if treatment was adequate at that time that the suffering spouse could consent to marry.

If the disorder developed after the marriage, or worsened, it would not affect the time at which vows were exchanged, though the timeline would probably be up to a competent psychiatrist to assess.
 
Boulder257 said:
At the time of the marriage I had Bi-Polar but it wasn’t being treated. Only after the marriage was it then treated.
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Mental illness can have a definite impact on the capacity to properly consent at the time of marriage. I know of an acquaintance whose annulment was based on the ex husbands severe agoraphobia and related conditions at the time of the marriage.
 
LongingSoul said:
Mental illness can have a definite impact on the capacity to properly consent at the time of marriage. …
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Hello,

Yes, it can.

At the same time, I will again caution against thinking that there is a 1 to 1 correlation between a mental illness (such as Bipolar disorder) and an inability to marry. I say this not because I think you don’t know it but for any other reader.

So, “Boulder257”, the way I would answer your question is that such an illness *may *have had an impact on your ability to marry. Whether or not it actually did is a question the Judge(s) would have to investigate.

Dan
 
dans0622 said:
Hello,

Yes, it can.

At the same time, I will again caution against thinking that there is a 1 to 1 correlation between a mental illness (such as Bipolar disorder) and an inability to marry. I say this not because I think you don’t know it but for any other reader.

So, “Boulder257”, the way I would answer your question is that such an illness *may *have had an impact on your ability to marry. Whether or not it actually did is a question the Judge(s) would have to investigate.

Dan
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Have you seen Bi-Polar disorder properly argued and used as an inability to marry?
 
Boulder257 said:
Have you seen Bi-Polar disorder properly argued and used as an inability to marry?
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Hello,

I don’t really recall what I personally have seen in this regard. I also don’t think it matters. Each case is different.

Dan
 
Andre1000 said:
So 99% of all German marriages are invalid…
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That is a rather high percentage of Catholics who are not married, but living together? Why doesn’t the Catholic Church do more to insure that more marriages are valid? In the Orthodox Church, the priest marries the couple, and if there were any small defects at the time of the wedding, the good will of the couple, together with the prayers of the Church and the action of the Holy Spirit, over several years, will cure and heal any defects which were present at the time of the marriage ceremony.
 
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