What is an annulment (a Declaration of Invalidity)?
The Dallas Tribunal prefers to refer to an annulment as a Declaration of Invalidity, that is, after a thorough review of the marriage the church court (Tribunal) finds that on the wedding day a particular marriage lacked an element so essential to marriage that the marriage never bound either party from the beginning. Therefore, so far as this particular marriage is concerned, each party is free to marry another person in the Catholic Church, if that is desired. The Declaration of Invalidity, annulment, does not mean there was no marital relationship. The Catholic Church realizes a relationship existed and is not saying that one did not exist but rather the required form was either absent or defective, an impediment of either divine, natural or ecclesiastical law remained undispensed, or consent itself was defective so that the elements necessary for a valid union were not in place. For further information on defect of consent, that is the grounds used in formal cases, click on “Ground
