Marriage Annulment

A declaration of nullity is not the breaking of an existing marriage bond, but rather the affirmation that the bond never actually came into existence at all due to the absence of one or more of the essential requirements for valid matrimonial consent. Please speak to your local priest who can explain this free process.

There are three main categories of deficiencies which could prevent a marriage bond from being valid at the exchange of consent between the betrothed:

• The first category is that of the “invalidating impediment” which may, or may not, have been known at the time of the marriage. For example, a couple only discovers later in their marriage that they are actually brother and sister. This close blood relationship impedes the existence of a valid marriage bond.
• The second category is that of “deficient consent.”For example, a woman only discovers after some time that her husband had deliberately deceived her about a vasectomy he had undergone years before they met. The deceit was perpetrated in order not to lose her marriage consent. Deception of this kind means that the deceived spouse did not really know the full truth of the person whom she was marrying in a matter which is so significant for marital harmony, i.e. the ordering of the marriage towards the gift of children.
• The third category regards the“canonical form” of the celebration of marriage. For example, if a Catholic marries in a non-Catholic Christian Church without seeking a dispensation to do so, the marriage would be null by “defect of form.”

Or contact the Scottish Catholic Interdiocesan Tribunal via www.scitribunal.org.uk