Common Grounds for an Annulment

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1. What are the common grounds for annulment?

 
There are several grounds for annulment. However, the ones most commonly used are listed below.
 

2. What is Grave Defect of Discretion of Judgment?

 
Grave defect of discretion of judgment is when, at the time of the exchange of vows and throughout the marriage, one or both parties lacked sufficient knowledge of the essential matrimonial rights and duties. ⁽c. 1095, 2°).
It is also considered a grave discretion of judgment when one or both parties suffered from psychological immaturity or lacked sufficient knowledge of oneself, the other party, and the essential matrimonial duties and obligations.
It also includes lack of sufficient deliberation and internal freedom in choosing the marriage and one’s marriage partner.
The factors that cause grave defect of discretion of judgment include, but are not limited to:
 

• Immature judgment.
• Lack of proper marriage preparation.
• Peer pressure.
• Ignoring the sound advice of parents, family, or friends regarding the marriage
• Infatuation.
• Impulsivity in choosing to marry the other party.

 
These factors can prove that a person was unable to make a mature, stable, and well-informed decision regarding the marriage.
 

3. What is Incapacity to Assume the Essential Obligations of Marriage?

 
Incapacity to assume the essential obligations of marriage is when, prior to and during the marriage, one or both parties were unable to assume the essential obligations of marriage because of a grave psychological cause on the part of one or both of them. (c. 1095, 3°). This could be due to a grave psychological disorder or dysfunction.
 

4. What is Psychological Incapacity?

 
Psychological incapacity, in the context of canon law of marriage, refers to a grave psychological condition that substantially impairs a person’s ability to assume the essential rights and obligations of marriage.
The key characteristics of psychological incapacity are:
 

• It must be present at the time of consent.
• It must involve an anomaly of a serious nature, such as:
• Deep-seated immaturity.
• Severe personality disorder.
• Pathological disturbances that affect judgment or volition.

 
It is objectively verified in annulment cases, usually through a psychological expert’s report ordered by the Tribunal.
 

5. What is Fraud?

 
Fraud is when one party was maliciously deceived by the other party or a third party in order for the marriage to take place. The fraudulent deceit must concern some quality about one of the parties which, upon discovery by the deceived party, caused grave problems in the marriage and gravely contributed to the break-up of the marriage. (c. 1098).
Fraud is also the deliberate and malicious deception of one party by the other party or a third party so that the deceived party will contract the marriage. Deception is termed positive when something was done or said which deceived the party or by which the deceived party was led into error. It is termed negative when something was not said or done, or when there was silence regarding a matter, so that the parties can contract the marriage.
A marriage can be declared null on the grounds of fraud or deceit. To annul a marriage based on fraud, four conditions must have been true at the time the marriage took place.
 

1. The Deceit Was Decisive. The lie or deception must have been so important that the person who was deceived would not have agreed to marry if they had known the truth. If the marriage would have happened anyway, the consent is still considered valid, and the marriage cannot be annulled on the basis of fraud.
2. The Deceit Was Intentional. The person or a third party who did the deceiving must have deliberately misled the other party with the specific intent of getting them to consent to the marriage. If someone lied for a reason other than to intentionally get the person to marry them, that lie does not make the marriage invalid. There must be a deliberate intention to manipulate the other person's decision to marry. The intent to manipulate consent is key.
3. The Deceit Concerned the Spouse. The hidden or misrepresented fact must relate directly to the person who is getting married, not to someone else such as a friend, relative, or coworker. The fraud must concern a quality of the intended spouse.
4. The Hidden Quality Was Seriously Important. The quality that was concealed or misrepresented must be important for the deceived party. This importance is measured in two ways: objectively and subjectively. 

 
Objectively: The hidden fact must be serious enough to impact the essential nature, purposes, or core commitments of marriage. Minor flaws do not meet this standard.

Subjectively: The fact must have a special personal, cultural, or religious significance to the deceived party, and, if they had known it before the marriage, they would not have married the other party.

In summary, the canonical ground of fraud applies only to serious and deliberate deception which directly undermined the marital consent of the deceived party and which, upon discovery, not only gravely disturbed the marital partnership, but also contributed significantly to the demise of the marriage.
 

6. What is Total Simulation?

 
Total simulation is when there is a deliberate and willful intention to marry a particular individual for reasons extraneous to marriage.
For example, someone marries solely to obtain permanent residency (a "green card" marriage), reduce one’s income tax, increase one’s paycheck, enhance one’s class, prestige, and status in society, or escape an abusive home environment. When someone marries with an improper or ulterior motive or for selfish reasons, the marriage becomes a means of achieving an end that is extraneous, foreign, alien, or contrary to the true and proper purposes of marriage as taught by Christ and His Church. They are willfully going through the motions to get a result, without intending the marriage itself.

Total simulation of marriage also occurs when, for a serious reason, there is a change of mind on the part of one of the parties about going through with the proposed marriage; however, the party feels obligated to marry the other person for various reasons. For example, the wedding invitation cards have been sent out, the hall has been booked, guests have started arriving, or a large amount of money has been spent on preparations for the wedding. Other reasons why some people simulate marriage are because they feel they have invested so much in the relationship that it is too late to pull out, they do not want to hurt the feelings of other person, or they do not want to embarrass family and friends.

In total simulation, a person does not want the marriage at all; however, they go through the marriage ceremony and the marriage itself either as a sham or solely as a means of achieving some end that is totally extrinsic to marriage.
 

7. What is Intention Against the Good of Fidelity?

 
The intention against the good of fidelity is when one or both parties, prior to the marriage, did not intend to remain faithful to their spouse and, in fact, engaged in acts of infidelity during the marriage. It is also called the exclusion of the good of fidelity.
 

8. What is Intention Against the Good of Children?

 
The intention against the good of children is when one or both parties, prior to the marriage, did not intend to have children in the marriage and actually excluded or prevented the begetting of children in the marriage. It is also called the exclusion of the good of children.
 

9. What is Intention Against the Good of Indissolubility?

 
The intention against the good of indissolubility is when, prior to the marriage, one or both parties contracted the marriage with the intention of divorcing their spouse and actually divorced their spouse or caused their spouse to divorce them. It is also called the exclusion of the good of indissolubility, or the exclusion of the permanence of marriage, or the exclusion of the good of the sacrament.
 

10. What is Future Condition?

 
Future condition, or conditioned consent, is when marriage is based on a condition concerning the future, such that if the condition is not fulfilled or is broken during the marriage by the other spouse or a third party, the person who placed the condition ends the marriage. The condition is more important to the person who placed it than the marriage itself.
For example:
 

• “I will marry you on the condition that you continue to earn a six-figure salary.”
• “I will marry on the condition that you inherit a fortune from your parents.” 
• “I will marry you on the condition that you help me obtain legal residency.”
• “I will marry you only if you help me get citizenship.”
• “I will marry you only if you accept a job offer in my city.”
• “I will marry you on the condition that you convert to my religion after the wedding.”
• “I will marry you on the condition that you never travel for work.”

 
A marriage subject to a condition concerning the future cannot be contracted validly. (c. 1102 §§1-3).
 

11. What is Force and Fear?

 
Force and fear is when a person contracts marriage based on force and grave fear. Force is the act, threat, or pressure exerted on a person, which compels the person to marry against his or her free will. Fear is the result of the force; the fear causes the person to marry against his or her will in order to avoid a greater evil.

There cannot be a valid marriage based on force and fear because the matrimonial covenant requires a certain degree of internal freedom and will. The force need not be physical; therefore, a gun need not be pointed at a person for them to contract the marriage due to force and fear. The evil threatened is of such nature that the person has no other viable choice than to marry the other person. The marriage, as it were, is the lesser of two evils.

The force can be moral. For example, a minor or an adult male engages in sexual relations with a girl who is a minor. If the illicit act is discovered by the parents or guardians of the girl, the male may be told to either marry the girl (with parental consent) or face statutory rape charges and imprisonment of up to twenty years. The person chooses to marry the girl in order to avoid rape charges, embarrassment to family and friends, and imprisonment. “The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external fear. No human power can substitute for this consent. If this freedom is lacking, the marriage is invalid.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1628).