Types of Marriage Annulment Cases

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1. How do I know which documents to submit for my case?

 
The documents to be submitted for annulment depend on your type of annulment case. There are different types of annulment cases. The five common annulment cases are:
 

1. Lack of Form.
2. Prior Bond.
3. Pauline Privilege.
4. Petrine Privilege.
5. Formal Case.

 
Your procurator will help you determine which marriage case is applicable and assist you in preparing the correct forms and documents to submit to the Tribunal. The questions provided below will assist both the procurator and the party in determining the applicable kind of marriage nullity case and the forms to gather, complete, and submit to the Tribunal.
 

2. What is Lack of Canonical Form?

 
Lack of canonical form, or, for short, “lack of form,” occurs when a Catholic contracts a marriage before a justice of the peace, a civil magistrate, or a non-Catholic religious minister without a dispensation or authorization from the bishop. Thus, only those Catholic marriages contracted before a properly delegated Catholic bishop, priest, or deacon and in the presence of two witnesses are valid.
A lack of canonical form case may be determined by answering the following questions:
 

1. □ YES □ NO Was one of the contracting parties a baptized Catholic at the time of the wedding?
2. □ YES □ NO Did the marriage take place before a Catholic bishop, priest, or deacon and two lay witnesses?
3. □ YES □ NO Was the marriage ever subsequently validated or blessed by a Catholic bishop, priest, or deacon?
4. □ YES □ NO Was a dispensation obtained so that the marriage can take place in a ceremony other than a Catholic one? 

 
If the answer to question 1 is YES and the answer to questions 2, 3, and 4 is NO, you may have a lack of form case. However, it is the Tribunal that will make the final determination.
 

3. What is Prior Bond?

 
A person who has been previously married cannot enter into a valid marriage in the Catholic Church, unless the prior marriage has been declared null by the Catholic Church. This law applies to both Catholics and non-Catholics, baptized and unbaptized. Even if the prior marriage is believed invalid or dissolved for any reason, it is not, on that account, permitted to contract another before the nullity or dissolution of the prior marriage has been established legitimately and certainly by the Tribunal. (c. 1085, §§1-2).
Prior bond is always on the part of the other party or respondent. If the petitioner was the one who previously married, an investigation of the first marriage must first be conducted. If it is found to be null, the validity of the second marriage is presumed. If, after investigation, the second marriage is proven null, the validity of the third marriage is presumed. Therefore, the Tribunal does not declare the marriages of a petitioner subsequent to the first null by reason of prior bond and then proceeds to declare the first marriage null by a formal trial.
Thus, prior bond is aways on the part of the respondent. It is when a petitioner married a respondent whose prior marriage was not annulled or dissolved by the Catholic Church, either before or after the marriage of the petitioner and the respondent.
In such a case, the marriage of the petitioner and the respondent may be considered invalid on the ground of prior bond—namely, that the petitioner married a respondent who was bound by a previous marriage that had neither been annulled nor dissolved by the Catholic Church, either before or after their marriage.
The following questions will help you to know whether you have a prior bond case:
 

1. □ YES □ NO Was the Respondent’s marriage to the Petitioner the Respondent’s first marriage?
2. □ YES □ NO If the Respondent had been previously married, was the Respondent’s previous marriage ever declared invalid by a Tribunal of the Catholic Church or dissolved by the death of the Respondent’s former spouse, or by the Diocesan Bishop or by the Apostolic See before the Petitioner and the Respondent married?
3. □ YES □ NO Was the Respondent’s former spouse in the Respondent’s previous marriage deceased at the time of the Respondent’s marriage to the Petitioner?

If each of the answers to all the above questions is “NO,” then you may have a prior bond case. However, it is the Tribunal that makes the final determination whether you have a prior bond case.
 

4. What is Pauline Privilege?

 
Pauline Privilege occurs when an unbaptized man and an unbaptized woman enter into marriage and, subsequent to the marriage, one of them becomes validly baptized or wishes to be baptized in the Catholic Church. After the couple has divorced, the convert or converting party wishes to marry another person in the Church. In such a case, the Pauline Privilege may be granted, provided that the convert or converting party was not the principal cause of the breakup of his or her marriage with the unbaptized party.

The Pauline Privilege is based on the teachings of St. Paul in First Corinthians, chapter 7, verses 12-15, where he states that if a man has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she is willing to go on living with him, he should not divorce her; and if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he is willing to go on living with her, she should not divorce her husband. For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through the husband. Otherwise, the children would be unclean, whereas in fact they are holy. If the unbeliever separates, however, let him or her separate. The man or the woman is not bound in such cases; God has called you to peace.

Therefore, based on the privilege conceded by St. Paul, which allows a spouse to leave a marriage on account of the Christian faith, the law of the Church states that a marriage entered into by two unbaptized persons is dissolved by virtue of the Pauline Privilege in favor of the faith of the party who has received baptism, by the very fact that this party contracts a new marriage, provided that the non-baptized party departs the marriage and the baptized party was not the principal cause of the non-baptized party leaving the marriage.
The non-baptized party is considered to have departed the marriage if he or she does not wish to remain married to the baptized party or to remain in the marriage peacefully without affront to the Creator, unless the baptized party, after baptism was received, has given the other a just cause for departing. (c. 1143 §§1-2).

The following questions will assist you in knowing whether you have a Pauline Privilege case.
 

1. □ YES □ NO Were both parties unbaptized and remained so throughout the marriage?
2. □ YES □ NO Is it true that there is no hope that the couple will be reconciled?
3. □ YES □ NO Is it true that the Petitioner was not the predominant cause of the other’s departure?
4. □ YES □ NO Is it true that the Petitioner was not the one who refused to live in peace?
5. □ YES □ NO Does the Petitioner wish to be validly baptized or has the Petitioner been validly baptized since the divorce?
6. □ YES □ NO Does the Petitioner have a fiancé or spouse whom he or she wishes to marry in the Catholic Church?
7. □ YES □ NO Is it true that the use of the Pauline Privilege by the Petitioner would not be a cause of scandal?

 
If all questions are answered YES, you may have a Pauline Privilege case. However, it is the Tribunal that makes the final determination whether or not you have a Pauline Privilege case.
 

5. What is Petrine Privilege?

 
Petrine Privilege occurs when a man and a woman, at least one of whom was unbaptized prior to the marriage, contract marriage, and at least one of the parties remains unbaptized subsequent to the marriage. After the breakup of the marriage, one of the parties wishes to marry another person in the Church. In such a case, the Church may grant the Petrine Privilege, provided that the party who wishes to marry in the Church was not the principal cause of the breakup of the previous marriage, and provided that the person he or she wishes to marry is free to marry in the Catholic Church.

It is called the Petrine Privilege because it is granted by the Pope, who occupies the Chair of Peter. “It is well known that under certain determined conditions the marriages between non-Catholics, at least one of whom is not baptized, can be dissolved in the favor of the faith and for the salvation of souls by the Roman Pontiff.” (CDF, Potestas Ecclesiae).
The following questions will help you to know whether you have a Petrine Privilege case.
 

1. □ YES □ NO Was one party in the marriage unbaptized prior to the marriage and remained so throughout the marriage?
2. □ YES □ NO Is it true that there is no hope that the couple will be reconciled?
3. □ YES □ NO Is it true that the Petitioner was not the predominant cause of the breakup of the marriage?
4. □ YES □ NO (check if applicable): If the unbaptized party later became baptized, is it true both parties have not had conjugal relations since after his/her baptism? 
5. □ YES □ NO If the Petitioner or his/her intended spouse is not a Catholic, is the non-Catholic party willing to sign the promise to raise any children born of the new marriage as Catholics and not hinder the Catholic party’s practice of the Faith?
6. □ YES □ NO Does the Petitioner have a fiancé or spouse whom he or she wishes to marry in the Catholic Church?
7. □ YES □ NO Is the Petitioner’s fiancé or spouse free to marry in the Catholic Church?
8. □ YES □ NO Is it true that the new fiancé or spouse was not the cause of the breakup of the marriage for which you are seeking a Favor of the Faith?
9. □ YES □ NO Is the Catholic party actively practicing the Faith?
10. □ YES □ NO Is it true that the granting of the favor would not be a cause of scandal?

 
If the answer to each of the questions is YES, then you may have a Petrine Privilege case. However, it is the Tribunal that makes the final determination whether you have a Petrine Privilege case.  
 

6. What are the Differences Between the Pauline Privilege and the Petrine Privilege?

 
The Pauline and Petrine Privileges are canonical provisions that allow for the dissolution of a non-sacramental marriage in favor of the Catholic faith. The Pauline applies when both spouses were unbaptized and requires the petitioner to convert, while the Petrine applies when only one spouse was baptized and does not require the petitioner's conversion.
The table below explains the essential differences between the canonical provisions known as the Pauline Privilege and the Petrine Privilege.  
 
 

7. What is a Formal Case?

 
A formal case is the term used for an annulment petition based on grounds that fall into the following categories:
 

• Catholic married to a Catholic: When a Catholic who was previously married to another Catholic in the Church seeks a declaration of nullity for their marriage.
• Baptized non-Catholic married to a baptized non-Catholic: When a validly baptized non-Catholic who was married to another validly baptized non-Catholic in a non-Catholic church or before a justice of the peace petitions for the nullity of the marriage.
• Catholic married to a non-Catholic: When a Catholic who married a non-Catholic, baptized or unbaptized, in a Catholic Church or in a non-Catholic religious ceremony with proper permission from the bishop of the Catholic party petitions for an annulment.
• Other cases: Any marriage annulment case that does not meet the requirements for it to be processed as a lack of form, prior bond, Pauline Privilege, or Petrine Privilege case.