What's the story with annulments?

patient
Fri, 13 Jan 2006 13:57:48 +0000

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)

However, clients can be divorced in a civil court and still seek a Catholic annulment for the religious reasons cited above.