<p>Obviously this has nothing to do with college, that’s why its the Cafe, right? A friend told me the other day that her father had just gotten an annulment from her mother. We got onto other topics, but I had some questions later thinking about it. I don’t want to ask them of her because she might be offended, but I’m just throwing this out here. (I’m Episcopalian my husband’s a lapsed Catholic who’s pretty clueless about his religion so I can’t ask him.) What percentage of American Catholics get annulments these days? How much do they cost? (or do they cost anything?) How long does it take to get one? Can one be obtained against the ex-spouse’s wishes?</p>
<p>You can’t remarry within the Catholic church unless you get an annulment</p>
<p>dont know what it costs- I thought annulments were for when the marriage wasn’t consumated obviously not the case when there are children
</p>
<p>A close relative of my husband had her first marriage annulled about 10 years ago. My H received a lengthy questionnaire to fill out, detailing what he knew of their relationship, and was interviewed by phone as part of the proceess, which did take many months.</p>
<p>There are annulments in civil law which are different from the annulment which may be granted by the Catholic church. Annulments in the legal context typically require specific findings by a court (the grounds for annulment vary by state, but typically include inability to consummate the marriage, fraud going to the inducement to enter the marriage (e.g., not disclosing alcoholism may not suffice, but not disclosing a secret intent not to have children will) </p>
<p>However, clients can be divorced in a civil court and still seek a Catholic annulment for the religious reasons cited above.</p>
<p>I’m with EK, as I thought you could not get an annulment if you had children as I though an annulment treated the marriage as if it had not existed. So if a people with children get an annulment, how are the children now viewed in the eyes of he church?</p>
<p>I don’t know, sybbie, but I have seven cousins who were most displeased when their parents obtained a Church annulment after 25-plus years of marriage and said seven kids. This was quite a while ago - I recall that my mother (related to one spouse, close friend of both) was called to be a witness and testified that before the marriage the wife had thought she was pregnant, though it later turned out she wasn’t … they were married quickly and, though that particular pregnancy may have been a false alarm, the one that soon followed was not. As it was explained to me, their marriage had been coerced and was therefore invalid.</p>
<p>Both parties wanted the annulment as they are devout Catholics and wanted to remarry in the Church, which they did as soon as the annulment was granted. I’ve never spoken to my cousins about it (as it could certainly be a sore subject!), but both parents are now on good terms with most of the kids. Though the cousin who was a priest did leave the priesthood soon after - and is now a happy husband and father.</p>
<p>Didn’t John Kerry get an annulment from his first marriage (2 children?) ?</p>
<p>IIRC, the Catholic church eased up the restrictions on annulment some time ago. Google “Kennedy” and “annulment” and I think you’ll turn up the story of Joe Kennedy Jr., who had a huge public fight with his wife by having their marriage annulled despite ten years and three kids. It was a big news item around here (Philadelphia Main Line) because he had married a local girl. And yes, Kerrey did it too. It seems to be very popular with Catholic politicians, who then don’t have to admit to being divorced.</p>
<p>You can get an annulment in the Catholic church if your husband/wife is a wizard or a witch.</p>
<p>LOL, mini. I wonder if that’s the reason that Rene Angelil used when he wanted an annulment so he could marry Celine Dion. ;)</p>
<p>If your spouse practices wizardry or witchcraft, there are many state courts that will do the same. Seems it raises not a few issues involved in willingly entering into a consensual relationship…diabolic proficiency with potions, drugs, hypnosis, voodoo, psychiatry etc. etc.;)</p>
<p>Prove your spouse is a witch or wizard and youre sweet with the annulment pretty much anywhere and who could object, you dont want to wake up one morning on your back as a beetle (screwed-up Kafka plenty), or a psychologically abused spouse.</p>
<p>The more interesting issue is whether you can remarry if your wife is a witch, doesn’t recant, and is burned at the stake before you get an annulment. Of course you can find out if your spouse is a witch or a wizard by tieing him/her in a burlap sack with some cats and some heavy stones, throw it into the river, and see if it floats. (I’ve forgotten the answer.)</p>
<p>What about Clinton?</p>
<p>Interesting question.</p>
<p>But, specifically speaking, Clinton was a c o c k s-men, not a warlock; We dont burn em at the stake, we make em presidents.</p>
<p>The children of an annuled Catholic marriage are still legitimate, as they were born within the marriage. Scroll down to #5:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1002.asp[/url]”>http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1002.asp</a></p>
<p>5 Does an annulment make the children illegitimate?</p>
<p>No. The parents, now divorced, presumably once obtained a civil license and entered upon a legal marriage. Children from that union are, therefore, their legitimate offspring. Legitimate means legal. The civil divorce and the Church annulment do not alter this situation. Nor do they change the parents responsibility toward the children. In fact, during annulment procedures the Church reminds petitioners of their moral obligation to provide for the proper upbringing of their children.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, persons pondering the Catholic annulment process do often express this concern about the legitimacy of the children after that procedure. Its a persistent rumor.</p>
<p>I really really like the idea of a disgruntled wife turning her husband into a beetle. Thanks so much for that image! You’ve absolutely made my day.</p>
<p>Is that what Cynthia Lennon did?</p>
<p>I wonder if Joe Kennedy ever did get his marriage to Sheila Rauch Kennedy annulled. I know that she was fighting it tooth and nail.</p>
<p>If anyone really needs to know, (s)he should contact the marriage tribunal of the local diocese. Generally speaking, a Catholic residing in the US can get an annulment either in the diocese where (s)he lives or in the one where the marriage ceremony occured. The cost varies a bit depending on the diocese, but it’s relatively inexpensive–generally under $2,000-- and if the fee is a hardship it can be waived or you can pay it off over time. </p>
<p>There are MANY grounds. One of the most common is that the marriage was not entered into freely. Thus, if the reason that two people got married was a premarital pregnancy, that could be a ground for an annulment. Another example of coercion is a marriage which occured because the male wanted to avoid statutory rape charges or was genuinely threatened with bodily harm if he didn’t marry the woman her dad/brothers found him in bed with. But the coercion need not be that extreme. </p>
<p>The Church’s rules about marriage between relatives are stricter than those of most states. Rudy Guiliani’s marriage to his first wife was annulled on the ground that they were something like second cousins and thus not permitted to marry by the Church. </p>
<p>Another common ground is lack of due discretion, which essentially means that from the get-go it was obvious the person was making a very poor decision, e.g., marrying the town drunk because he promised to stay sober if you did. It needn’t be that extreme though–just trying to get across a concept. Thus, the fact that one or both of the people involved were very young or immature can be a grounds. If someone was mentally ill when married, that can be grounds for an annulment. Someone who unknowingly married a schizophrenic could probably get an annulment. As I understand it–I’m just a lay Catholic–the mental illness has to have existed at the time of the marriage and the other partner has to have been unaware of it and be able to state truthfully that if he had known, he would not have married. </p>
<p>Fraud used to be one of the most common grounds, but these days the Church is very strict on that one because it was abused. In the right circumstances, it can be a ground. There’s a famous case in NYC where the daughter of a very, very wealthy and prominent family, a beautiful, kind, gentle young woman got married. It turned out that the guy wasn’t who he said he was. He married her using a phony name, claimed to be a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Business School; had gotten a job using a resume with these and other wholly invented credentials. The poor girl had believed all of his lies. That marriage was annulled. </p>
<p>An unwillingness to have children, especially if that unwillingness was not conveyed prior to the wedding, can be grounds for an annulment. (I am NOT talking about an inability to have children–that is NOT grounds. )</p>
<p>A fundamental disagreement as to what a marriage is–the sort of failure to come to a meeting of the minds on the terms of a contract that makes a civil contract null and void–can be grounds for an annulment. Based on news accounts of S. Rauch Kennedy’s explanation of why her marriage failed, I think Kennedy really truly had that ground. She wrote about how he thought that as his wife she should be out campaigning for him and should live in D.C. with him and help him in his career. Her concept of marriage after the children came was staying home with the children and being a full time mother and she refused to shuttle back and forth to DC. She stayed back home in the district with their children. It’s hard to imagine that two intelligent young people failed to discuss such basic issues before marriage, especially when the male always intended to be a career politician, but she wrote they didn’t and was stunned when he complained. </p>
<p>This isn’t an exhaustive list; I’m just trying to give a few examples. </p>
<p>You can get an annulment over the objections of one spouse, but it’s a lot harder. </p>
<p>The children of an annulled marriage are legitimate in the eyes of the Church, just as in most cases the children of an annulled marriage are legitimate in the eyes of US civil law. This is really an old wives’ tale.</p>