Church is asking $500 for an annulment!

[puzzleannie]

okay, I am a practicing baptized Catholic. My husband was raised Lutheran. He was previously married to a Catholic woman, and they were divorced. !!

read my post in its entirety, I said: baptized persons who are otherwise free to marry. the Lutheran gentleman who was married before and divorced is not free to marry unless and until his first marriage is investigated and found to be invalid. now go on and read the rest of my post, I said only CAtholics are bound further by CAtholic canon law. if the Lutheran gentleman’s first marriage was to a CAtholic, who did not marry according to the laws of her Church, the marriage is not valid due to lack of form, and a full-blown investigation is not necessary since the facts are easily ascertained by a simple paperwork process.

it is not an easy business to figure out, and every marriage situation is unique and cannot be “solved” on a forum like this by comparison to the situation of others. the only sure way to find out is for a couple to see a priest and initiate the process, give all the facts about their marriage and all previous marriages, including baptismal status of all parties involved in all marriages, and that only will happen within the annulment process.

 

[NGC_1569]

My fiance finally has the paperwork done for his annulment (been 1 year in the making!) and before the church sends it off to the archdiocese they ask for a $500 fee! I think that is ridiculous. .

All organisations need to be paid, and as we are all intelligent people there should be no debate about the position of the church in the evolution of civilisation, it is ridiculous to even pretend to think that the church grew up as a non-profit organisation and it is ridiculous to think that rich and powerful people have not used the church to their advantage in the past.

I’m not sure how much $500 dollars is in british pounds but it does seem like a good sum of money, but you are paying for a service, and in real terms we pay that sort of money for petrol over a period of a month sometimes.

The church gives you a choice how much to pay, i have no idea how the amount paid relates to the service obtained, so i can’t answer your original post.

i’m unsure if your question has been answered by another post but it seems that this thread has gone somewhat quite off topic.

 

[NGC_1569]

To the OP:
PUT ON YOUR BIG GIRL PANTIES AND DEAL WITH IT! How selfish and immature of you~shame on you!

i really don’t like the tone of some of the responses on this thread, people should have some general respect for each other, i find this disrespectful and flaming attitude intolerable

what ever happened to order and decency?

 

[jmcrae]

I’m not sure how much $500 dollars is in british pounds but it does seem like a good sum of money, but you are paying for a service, and in real terms we pay that sort of money for petrol over a period of a month sometimes.

$500.00 is about a week’s wages for a good secretary.

Considering she is paying $500.00 for a full year of services from three lawyers, plus their secretaries and any other support staff, plus office rental, furniture, and caretaking services, I think she got off pretty easy - if she were hiring them herself rather than going through the Church to hire them, she would be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages and overhead.

 

[rubycanoe]

ok, puzzleannie, thanks for your reply! yes, every situation is unique.
God Bless

 

[bonaventura]

As someone going through the process myself right now, I can report that (a) $500 is less than it costs in my diocese. (b) My costs of about $750 are about 1/3 or less of the diocesan costs to process the tribunal, that is to say more than 2/3 of the cost is carried by the diocese itself. This makes it pretty clear that $500 is probably a similar “stipend” amount, that does not even pay for 1/3 of the actual cost of the process.

The process is involved for a good reason; To make a simplified process that ignores due process would be to deny the parties involved justice, to break canon law would be to have the church itself make standards that it does not even try to follow, and to change canon law on these matters to simplify the process would be to invite further criticism from people who already think the process is handwaving, rather than justice.

Because the process is involved, there are lots of people, whose salaries must be paid for, who do nothing but handle these marriage tribunal cases. The current case load in your diocese might be dozens, or more likely hundreds, perhaps even a thousand cases. Who knows. The costs, collectively are enormous.

A $500 fee paid by you (the petitioner) will defray some, but not even most, of the costs the diocese bears as it tries to deal justly, fairly, and according to the church’s laws.

I don’t mind the $500 at all. If I could pay $5000 and get a year of my life back, I’d pay it right now. But annulments take three years. If I was going to pick something to feel like grumbling about, that is what I would pick. Not the $500.

Warren
[toronto]

 

[kycanonist]

Given how long this thread has become, I must admit that I’ve not read all of the comments… and given how disrespectful some of them had become, I’m glad that I didn’t read all of them…

Anyway, as I’m sure others have pointed out, the cost of the actual processing of a declaration of nullity case is several thousands of dollars per case - from the payment of the people involved (i.e. notaries to handle the paperwork, judges to judge the case, auditors to make sure all of the evidence is gathered, defenders of the bond to defend the process and the bond of marriage, etc) to the actual paper and ink that is needed to print out the final decree. $500 is pretty average around the country as a requested contribution to the costs. However, not everyone has that money.

In our diocese, if someone cannot afford to pay the money, then they cannot afford it and their case goes on just as if they had paid the requested amount up front. As a judge, I never see whether someone has paid anything or nothing. It’s just not important to me. It’s not what I’m looking at when I examine the file.

The speed at which a case progresses is based on numerous factors, like the number of cases a diocese has to process, the number of staff they have, and how quickly all of the evidence is submitted to the Court. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with money.

I know of one case, when I was working in another diocese, where there was one elderly woman who was raised in a time when if something mattered to you, you paid for it, no matter what it took. So, we saw her come to the office, once a week, for over a year, and paid her $5 or $10 a week, whatever it was… until she paid it all off, because to her, it was worth it and the diocese was willing to work with her because they saw her sincerity.

Ultimately, it’s not always a matter of priority. But, be honest with the diocese and try to work with them to the best of your ability.

Considering how little people make who work for the Church, a minimal donation isn’t too much to ask… Part of that donation helps to put food on our family’s table. Without the little bit that I make as a judge, we wouldn’t get our bills paid. Civil lawyers make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year… As a canon lawyer, I’m lucky to make $15000 working from home or $35 working in an office. It’s not like Church employees are living in the lap of luxury on that money, kwim?

 

[Autumn_of_Life]

The answers I have read on this thread have helped me quite a bit. I am facing a much larger fee for two annulments and have been so confused by it all. Coming from the Methodist Church, where anyone who wants to join can do so and is welcome to the Communion table immediately, I was shocked and distressed that I might have to wait years to take Communion in the Catholic Church. What if I die before the annulments are approved?! I think it’s the wait, more than the money that has upset me. I’m not trying to get married again, I’m just trying to join the Catholic Church!

 

[ack]

I’m not sure if you already know this – but if you are currently “single” (if you are not living with anyone right now), you can receive communion without delay. (Maybe you know this already, but you didn’t specify in your post.)

The answers I have read on this thread have helped me quite a bit. I am facing a much larger fee for two annulments and have been so confused by it all. Coming from the Methodist Church, where anyone who wants to join can do so and is welcome to the Communion table immediately, I was shocked and distressed that I might have to wait years to take Communion in the Catholic Church. What if I die before the annulments are approved?! I think it’s the wait, more than the money that has upset me. I’m not trying to get married again, I’m just trying to join the Catholic Church!

 

[LilyM]

I’m not sure if you already know this – but if you are currently “single” (if you are not living with anyone right now), you can receive communion without delay. (Maybe you know this already, but you didn’t specify in your post.)

Exactly - if you’re legally and actually separated from your ex(es?) and you don’t currently have a partner, you’re good to go. You may need the sacrament of confession first, though.

Put it this way. Anything worth having (including the Eucharist) is worth waiting for. Until you can receive, make what is called an ‘Act of Spiritual Communion’, a prayer expressing a desire that Jesus come into your heart spiritually since you cannot receive Him physically.

 

[DavidChrist]

My fiance finally has the paperwork done for his annulment (been 1 year in the making!) and before the church sends it off to the archdiocese they ask for a $500 fee! I think that is ridiculous. We are not rich people and to pay that much only to still have it take 12-15 months to go through the system is crazy. They give you the option of paying all, some or none. What if we choose none? Does that mean that goes to the bottom of the pile and the people who paid $500 get top service? What if we pay the $500, does that mean they’ll push it through. We are very fed up with the process.

Refuse the annulment and then you don’t have to pay the $500.

 

[Phemie]

Anyway, as I’m sure others have pointed out, the cost of the actual processing of a declaration of nullity case is several thousands of dollars per case - from the payment of the people involved (i.e. notaries to handle the paperwork, judges to judge the case, auditors to make sure all of the evidence is gathered, defenders of the bond to defend the process and the bond of marriage, etc) to the actual paper and ink that is needed to print out the final decree. $500 is pretty average around the country as a requested contribution to the costs. However, not everyone has that money.

A friend whose boyfriend is considering seeking a decree of nullity was quite upset with her mother recently: “You didn’t tell us it cost $500 for an annulment!!” “I wasn’t aware that there was a cost, but it makes sense considering the work,” replied the mom.

A few days later daughter is handed a bag by a friend “Here are the spices you asked me to bring back for you. You owe me $85.” Mom went ballistic. “$85 dollars for spices!?! I don’t ever want to hear you complain about the cost of essentials again!” Mom didn’t mention the complaints about the cost of the annulment but she figures her point was taken since the subject of cost was never brought up again.

Strange how some people won’t blink at spending $1500 for an LCD TV but consider $500 for a decree of nullity that will allow them to marry the person they love and keep receiving the Communion too expensive.

 

[jmcrae]

Refuse the annulment and then you don’t have to pay the $500.

If you follow the laws of God from the time of your youth, you will never have to deal with this problem, in the first place.

 

[lizaanne]

The original post is from Jan 08 and the OP never came back.

I will never understand why these ancient threads get resurected.

If there is something new to discuss, start a new topic!

~Liza

 

[Lil_Cat]

The original post is from Jan 08 and the OP never came back.

I will never understand why these ancient threads get resurected.

If there is something new to discuss, start a new topic!

~Liza

Ummm, she came back on Monday (April 20, 2009) to give an update.