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Grounds of Nullity
Lack of Canonical Form: A baptized Catholic is required to marry before “the local ordinary or the pastor or deacon delegated by either of them… and in the presence of two witnesses (Canon 1108.1). If this form was not observed, and no dispensation was obtained or there was no subsequent celebration of the marriage in the Catholic Church, the marriage is invalid.
Prior Bond: One who is bound by the bond of a valid marriage may not enter a further marriage (Canon 1085.1). It must be shown that the first marriage was a valid union. And the prior spouse must have still been living at the time the subsequent marriage was attempted.
Incapacity: Lack of Sufficient Reason: Those who lack sufficient use of reason (for example, the severely mentally retarded) cannot marry (Canon 1095.1). To be capable of marrying, a person must be able to understand the Church’s basic teaching on marriage. Those whose reasoning is fairly primitive and who cannot conceptualize the nature of marriage as a permanent covenant ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children are not capable of consenting to marriage.
Incapacity: Grave Defect of Discretion of Judgment: Those who suffer from a grave defect of discretion of judgment concerning the essential matrimonial rights and duties mutually to be handed over and accepted are incapable of entering marriage (Canon 1095.2). This means that a person did not exercise the discretion, judgment, deliberation and insight proportionate to the act of marrying. Such a lack of discretion could result from youthful inexperience and juvenile immaturity. It could also result from psychological factors and/or a dysfunctional background which made the person incapable of weighing sufficiently the nature of marriage and of evaluating marriage with this particular person and of choosing it with sufficient freedom. This ground might apply when the marriage came about due to pressure from an unexpected pregnancy or out of a need to escape an abusive home life.
Incapacity: Inability to Assume the Essential Obligations of Marriage due to a Psychic Cause: One who is not capable of assuming the essential obligations of marriage due to psychic causes cannot validly marry (Canon 1095.3). To enter a valid marriage, a person must have the psychological ability to take on and carry out the lifetime obligations of marriage. One cannot consent to what is beyond their psychological capacity. In this case, there is a disability on the part of the afflicted individual. For some psychological reason the person lacks the necessary personal resources to accept and fulfill basic marital requirements. Examples of such psychic causes include serious personality disorders, schizophrenia, alcohol or drug dependency, and homosexuality.
Ignorance of the Nature of Marriage: To enter a valid marriage, a person must have some basic knowledge of what marriage is all about. One must know that marriage is a permanent partnership between a man and a woman, and that this partnership by its nature involves openness to children by means of sexual cooperation between the spouses (Canon 1096). This ground might apply if one or both parties were extremely sheltered, if they were ignorant of the basics of sexuality, if they were raised in a sexually repressive environment, or if one or both parties were developmentally disabled and lacked the basic knowledge of what marriage involves.
Error about a Quality of a Person: If, at the time of the marriage, one spouse was mistaken about a quality directly and principally intended in the other spouse (almost as a condition for marriage), this ground can be considered (Canon 1097.2). This may apply if one party intended to marry someone who possessed a certain quality of a moral, social, physical, religious, psychological or legal nature, and the primary reason for entering the marriage was the belief that the intended spouse possessed that quality. The intended quality must be of such importance that one would not have married the other if it had been known that the quality was not present in the other person.
Fraud or deceit: A person who enters marriage deceived by fraud, which is done to obtain the other person’s consent to marriage, marries invalidly (Canon 1908). Fraud is the intentional act of deception. There is a deliberate misrepresenting or concealing of information that is necessary for a person to make a well-informed marital decision. The purpose of the deception is to get the other person’s agreement to marry. The deception has the potential for causing serious harm to the spousal relationship.
Error Concerning the Unity of Marriage: For a marriage to be valid, both spouses must know that marriage involves fidelity to each other. If one or both spouses entered marriage with an erroneous belief that infidelity, polygamy or polyandry was possible, this ground can be considered (Canon 1099). This erroneous belief must have been firmly held, or, in other words, marriage could not be conceived of in any other way than allowing for infidelity or multiple spouses or sexual partners. Cases using this ground may include evidence that shows that one or both spouses firmly believed that it was acceptable to have other sexual partners after marriage, or that “open” marriage was acceptable.
Error Concerning the Indissolubility of Marriage: Both spouses must know that marriage is a permanent, lifelong commitment. If one or both spouses entered marriage with an erroneous belief that marriage may be a temporary arrangement, that divorce was always an option, or that remarriage was always a possibility, this ground can be considered (Canon 1099). The error could be the notion that marriage lasts only as long as the spouses decide, or only as long as they remain in love, so that the state has the authority to dissolve a marriage. This belief must have been firmly held, or in other words, marriage could not be conceived of in any other way than allowing for the possibility of ending or dissolving the marriage. Cases using this ground may include evidence that shows family backgrounds of multiple divorce and remarriage, family attitudes of acceptability of divorce, the belief of one or both spouses that the marriage would not be permanent, the signing of prenuptial agreements based on the understanding that marriage is not permanent, the acceptability of “trial” marriage, or the belief that the parties have a right to divorce and remarry at will.
Total Simulation: If one or both parties through a positive act of the will should exclude marriage itself, it is invalidly contracted (Canon 1101.2). This is total simulation. In cases using this ground, the person knowingly and willingly intended to enter an “imitation marriage” while excluding marriage itself. One totally simulates when he/she in no way consents to marriage, when he/she does not intend positively to give consent, or when he/she does not have the intention of marrying but only wishes to put on an act. A person might go through a wedding but only for the civil and social effects such as making a child already conceived legitimate in the eyes of the law. One might marry to avoid prosecution for illicit sexual acts, to gain legal status, to inherit an estate, or to receive taxation benefits.
Partial Simulation: Exclusion of Children: If an individual deliberately excludes an essential element or property of marriage, the consent is invalid (Canon 1101.2). The intention against children has two aspects: one is the intention to exclude the conjugal act; the other is the intention to exclude the effect of this act, that is, children. The right to the conjugal act binds at all reasonable times. The use of this right is not required when the duties of responsible parenthood indicate otherwise. The right to the conjugal act has no limitation in time. The right to the conjugal act includes the obligation of not preventing procreation. If one or both parties intended not to have children in the marriage, this ground might be used. A temporary exclusion of children for legitimate reasons can and often does become permanent as a marriage deteriorates.
Partial Simulation: Exclusion of Fidelity: If one or both parties through a positive act of the will excludes an essential property of marriage, such as the good of fidelity, the marriage is invalid (Canon 1101.2). In the strict, juridic sense, the good of fidelity is sexual fidelity, that is, having one’s spouse as one’s only sexual partner. One who marries not only gives up the right to have another spouse, but also the right to have another sexual partner. Fidelity means giving to one’s spouse the perpetual and exclusive right to sexual relations, and accepting the corresponding obligation. If a marriage was marked by frequent infidelity, especially very soon after consent was given, this ground may be appropriate.
Partial Simulation: Exclusion of Indissolubility: If one or both spouses deliberately excludes an essential property of marriage such as indissolubility, the marriage is invalid (Canon 1101.2). Indissolubility must enter into the consent since there is no marriage without this property. If someone intentionally hedges on indissolubility, deciding to enter something less than an indissoluble, permanent marriage, that intention stands in direct contradiction to the nature of the marriage covenant. One cannot intend at the same time an indissoluble marriage and a marriage than can be dissolved. Generally the exclusion of indissolubility is phrased hypothetically, as in “I plan to remain married for life if the marriage turns out to be a happy one.” Even a hypothetical intention such as this invalidates a marriage.
Partial Simulation: Exclusion of the Good of the Spouses: If one or both parties deliberately excludes an essential element of marriage such as the good of the spouses, the marriage is invalid (Canon 1101.2). Canon 1055.1 speaks of the good of the spouses as an essential element of marriage. The good of the spouses refers to the conjugal partnership, and it includes the right to personal dignity and fundamental human rights; physical, moral, spiritual, sexual and psychological integrity; and mutual respect. The partnership of the marriage covenant must include the equal dignity of the other person. In cases judged on this ground, the evidence is examined for the presence or absence of benevolence, companionship, friendship, caring, and partnership. A marriage involving physical and/or emotional abuse, absence of financial support, absence from the home, or refusal to treat one’s spouse as an equal might be examined on this ground.
Conditional Consent: A marriage cannot be validly entered under a future condition (Canon 1102.1). An example would be one who married having placed the following condition: “I marry you if you will come into your inheritance within a year.” Such a consent would make the marriage invalid.
Force and Fear: When a person marries because of force or grave fear inflicted from outside the person, and when it is of such a type that the person is compelled to choose marriage in order to be freed from the force or fear, that marriage is invalid (Canon 1103). Three elements must be present. First, the fear must be of a serious nature and there must be some objective cause. Second, the fear must result from the intervention of an outside source. Third, the fear must actually cause the person to marry in order to become free of the force or fear.
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Tribunal Office
1825 Jackson Street
P.O. Box 3379
Sioux City, Iowa 51102-3379
(712) 233-7533 (Voice)
(712) 233-7588 (Fax)
tribunaloffice@scdiocese.org
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