Boyfriend's previous marriage

[pmerrell]

My boyfriend was previously married. Neither he nor his ex are Catholic and they were married in a non-Catholic Christian church. His ex had previously been married and only had a civil divorce. Since she had been previously married, was my boyfriend’s marriage to her valid. Does he need to seek an annulment?

 

[MisterCorduroy]

He should easily be able to get what is called a “ligamen” since his ex was previously married. It’s a simple form, but he will need marriage license, certificate and divorce papers. unlike an annulment, it doesn’t require a trial or anything. Mine took only 2 weeks! Get with your local parish and ask.

I hope you don’t plan on getting serious–ei. engaged–until that previous marriage is declared null. I saw “Dating someone who is not eligible for me to marry” on an examination of conscious under “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. Be patient and trust God!

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

My boyfriend was previously married. Neither he nor his ex are Catholic and they were married in a non-Catholic Christian church. His ex had previously been married and only had a civil divorce. Since she had been previously married, was my boyfriend’s marriage to her valid. Does he need to seek an annulment?

He would need to sit down with a priest and explain the entire situation and figure it out from there. There’s too many variables at play here. It could be a simple process or it could be a complex one. It all depends on how all the pieces fit together.

 

[1ke]

My boyfriend was previously married. Neither he nor his ex are Catholic and they were married in a non-Catholic Christian church. His ex had previously been married and only had a civil divorce. Since she had been previously married, was my boyfriend’s marriage to her valid. Does he need to seek an annulment?

He is not currently free to be in a relationship or pursue marriage. He has a prior bond that must be investigated. His ex having a previous marriage may make a petition for Ligamen possible. This is a tribunal process, and he will have to produce documentation. If Ligamen turns out not to be an option, yes, a full tribunal investigation will be needed.

He needs to see a priest and lay out all the facts.

 

[Catholic1954]

Your boyfriend needs to make an appointment right away and speak to a priest about his martial status. A priest is in the best postion to address the issue and start any paperwork.

 

[promethius]

My boyfriend was previously married. Neither he nor his ex are Catholic and they were married in a non-Catholic Christian church. His ex had previously been married and only had a civil divorce. Since she had been previously married, was my boyfriend’s marriage to her valid. Does he need to seek an annulment?

The man you are seeing is still presumed married until he at least has some formal recognition of the fact that he was never validly married to his (presumed) wife.

Since she had been previously married and was not catholic, then she was not elligable to be wed… so the answer to the question of whether their marraige was valid is “most likely not” (there is the possibility that it COULD be).

The answer to does he need to seek an annulment is “sort of”… he needs to proceed to gain formal recognition of the invalidity of his previous marraige somehow, though there are shortened processes (ligamen… sp?) for situations like this. The best thing you can do is to bring your boyfriend in to talk to a knowledgeable priest and/or canon lawyer…

 

[joanofarc2008]

Too many variables - have him a see a priest and in the meantime don’t make any hard definite plans involving dates and money until you have a decision from the Church. God bless you and good luck.