Yes, certainly. If one or both spouses become aware that their marriage is invalid they can take steps to make it valid. The steps necessary to make it valid depend upon the reason it is invalid.
No. A valid marriage endures until the death of one of the spouses.
Any two baptised Christians marry sacramentally–it’s not just Catholics.
Since Protestants aren’t bound by our requirements of form, two Protestants marrying in a JP’s office contract a sacramental marriage if there’s no impediment, defect of consent etc.(Emphasis mine. This part really is required and must be done.)
You have to divide the question into types of marriage. A sacramental marriage cannot change from valid to invalid, it can go in reverse. Natural marriages lack authority so know one can really speak with authority on that subject (it is strictly between the couple). Civil marriages can be reversed anyway you chose.
I think there is also a case when catholic can enter a Natural Marriage with dispensation and that marriage can become sacramental at later dates by the non catholic spouse converting.
A third way, IIRC a canonist I have read, regards a couple of baptised non-Catholics in an invalid marriage – If the impediment ceases (eg a previous spouse dies) and consent continues (presumed), the union becomes valid.
But even the natural marriage would already have been valid.
This is interesting. Can you explain? I guess I’m thinking if a person goes before a tribunal to receive an annulment and it is granted, and he/she/they did not purposely deceive the tribunal, then how could the marriage still be considered valid? Then if the person decides to remarry are they committing a sin without even knowing it?
correct.
really all marriages are presumed valid, whether they are really valid is only known jointly by the couple. If you want to know can the couple apply for annulment the answer is yes. The annulment process is to show the sacrament of marriage could not exist because… If the tribunal determines the facts are inconsistent with a sacramental marriage then the parties can be found free to marry, having never achieved “marriage” but rather they “attempted marriage”
I am not looking for an annulment, but rather a solid Liturgical Catholic based reason to keep a marriage together.
That sound very problematic, a real marriage needs no Liturgical reason. A real marriage uses Natural Moral Law for its base. The marriage need was encrypted into the soul before birth. The liturgical part to to assure the church uncovers the proper call from Natural Moral Law verses a poor understanding which the individual may develop.
I see. And I don’t see.
Catholics cannot determine the validity of a marriage by themselves, The Church has to make such determination. The Church (at least in the USA) will not start such determination until a civil divorce is effective. I will also look at the concept of putative marriage.
Ha! What an eye to detail.
It’s true there will begin a valid marriage there, but it won’t be able to be convalidated back to the date of the wedding because a baptised non-Catholic can’t have two valid marriages at the same time. At least it would make no sense for such convalidation to be possible because it would mean that a baptised person was married to two people at the same time.