Apr
03
What does a religious annulment do to a divorce decree?
By
My ex-wife called me last night and is planning to remarry. She needs an annulment paper signed in order for her to join the Catholic church and remarry a guy from that church. We were divorced about 10 years ago. What will this annulment do to our divorce decree that we signed in 1999? I have finally gotten finished with child support payments as all the kids are now over 18, but what about the other parts of the decree? Will they still be valid?
1 Comments
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:36 am
That depends.
The old fashioned annulment made the children illegitimate in the eyes of the church. Essentially an annulment means the marriage never existed, so the kids were essentially made outside of wedlock.(Anyone who disagrees should ask a priest about this.)
If you are not Catholic yourself, or are not devout, then I am guessing this won't bother you. But some people go for the legal divorce, and not the religious one on those grounds.
One is legal (divorce) and the other religious.The annulment will not change any aspect of the legal divorce.