I had a civil divorce from a Catholic and remarried to another Catholic six years later. We decided to convalidate our marriage two years ago, so I began the annulment process immediately and it took four months.
It was hard remembering the details, but I had to explain the issues that led to our divorce after 13 years of marriage. I also had to have four witnesses to answer written questions that knew us before and after the marriage. A few weeks after the paperwork was submitted to the Archdiocese, I was called in to the Marriage Tribunal for an interview, which was mainly to go over the paperwork I submitted and to answer any questions they had to clear things up.
I didn’t have to paint a picture of my ex being an evil person and didn’t want to. Some of my witnesses were her family, and I just told them to answer the questions truthfully and they could paint me as the bad guy if they felt I was one. I suppose some of the things I discussed with them showed indications of being a problem before we married, but most was her physical and emotional abandonment, and emotional abuse, after the marriage.
I don’t have any advice except if the marriage fails, try for the annulment. It’s harder the longer you wait.
Now I’m Catholic and my wife is thrilled. I’m extremely blessed in this marriage. Life is good.