Catholic Church Annulments

In addition to being legally married, many couples are also married within the Catholic Church. After a divorce is carried out in the civil realm, many individuals may also want to have their marriage annulled or ended in the church. When seeking to have this process completed, the Church has created a certain list of procedures that a couple or individual must follow when petitioning for an annulment.

Before a couple can start the process of annulling a marriage in court, the couple must be legally divorced. Once this is completed, a couple can begin the process of having their marriage religiously dissolved. When one party files for an annulment, the church will notify the other spouse that the annulment process has been started. This gives the non-moving spouse the opportunity to respond. The non-moving spouse does not have to agree to the process or even participate for the annulment to go through.

When starting the process, the moving spouse must submit copies of the baptismal certificates of all of the Catholic parties involved as well as copies of the civil marriage license, the church marriage certificate, and a copy of the divorce decree that was certified or signed by the Judge.

After all of the necessary information is gathered and submitted to the church, a judge or panel of judges from the Church will write the decision. The panel will determine if the marriage was valid from the start or not. Once the judge or judges enter a decision, both parties to the marriage will be notified of the decision. The total time involved from start to finish is not set in stone. The entire process also varies from church to church but is generally around $500.

Contact a San Jose Divorce Lawyer

If you were married in the Catholic church and wish to have your civil marriage dissolved, contact the San Jose divorce lawyers of the Law Office of Daniel Jensen at 408-296-4100.