• Home
    • Our mission
    • Meet Bishop Raica
    • Bishop Emeritus
      • A Pastoral Letter
    • Directory
    • Press release
    • Covid 19 Information
      • Bishop Raica Video Messages
      • Moral Discernment of Vaccination
      • Diocesan Decrees & Liturgical Protocols May 2021
      • Catholic Schools July 2021
    • Contact Us
    • Synod
  • Youth Protection
  • Social Services
    • Catholic Centers of Concern
    • Catholic Family Services
    • Emergency and Disaster Relief Services
    • Multicultural Resources
  • Catholic Charities & Communities
  • Offices
    • Chancery Office
    • Chancellor
    • Finance Office
    • Human Resources
    • Tribunal Office and Canonical Services
      • OFFICE OF THE TRIBUNAL
        • Formal Cases Forms and Informatoin
        • Tribunal Staff
        • Briefer Process
        • Other Marriage Processes
        • Respondent Information
        • Advocate and Marriage Prep Resources
        • Fee Schedule
        • Frequently Asked Questions
      • OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR
    • Vocations
    • Pro-Life Office
    • Office of Black Catholic Ministry
    • Office of Hispanic Ministry
    • Office of Youth Ministry
      • World Youth Day Pilgrims
    • Office For Youth Services
    • Office of Sacred Liturgy
      • Diocesan Liturgical Commission
        • Subcommittee on Sacred Music
        • Subcommittee on Sacred Art and Architecture
        • Subcommittee on Christian Initiation
      • Diocesan Guidelines
      • Diocesan Resources
      • Events
        • Diocesan Liturgical Formation Day
      • Forms
        • Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion Parish Registration
      • Pontifical Altar Servers
        • Pontifical Servers
      • Sacred Music
        • Diocesan Choir Information
      • Staff
    • Office of Development and Stewardship
    • Office of Child Protection
    • Office of Communications and Public Relations
    • Office of Religious Education
      • RE Standards / Sacramental Guidelines
      • Safe Environment Materials
      • ORE Formation Resources
      • Diocesan Catechetical Commission
      • ORE Events
      • Coffee and Catechesis
      • Franciscan at Home - Catechetical institute
      • Catechist Day
      • Religious Education - Annual Update
      • c and c
      • Totus Tuus - Alabama
    • Office of the New Evangelization
    • Office of Lay Ministry
    • Office of Permanent Diaconate
    • Society for the Propagation of the Faith/Missionary Childhood Association
      • Missionary Childhood Association
      • Society for the Propagation of the Faith
      • Missionary Cooperative Plan
    • Office of Discipleship and Mission
  • Ministries
    • Nazareth House
    • Campus Ministry
    • Young Adult Ministry
    • Apostolate Directory
  • Parishes
  • Schools
  • One Voice
  • Links
    • Q&A for Employees
      • Paycor
      • 403(B) Retirement Plan Provider: Lincoln
      • Common questions
    • Online Resources
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Seminarian Education Fund
    • Bishop's Disaster Fund
    • ParishSoft
      • ParishSOFT Assistance Request
      • Tips and Tricks
    • Catholic Scouting
    • Camp Tekakwitha
    • School Directory
|||

Diocese  of
Birmingham in Alabama

Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Phone
Search
  • Home
      • Our mission
      • Meet Bishop Raica
      • Bishop Emeritus
      • Directory
      • Press release
      • Covid 19 Information
      • Contact Us
      • Synod
  • Youth Protection
  • Social Services
      • Catholic Centers of Concern
      • Catholic Family Services
      • Emergency and Disaster Relief Services
      • Multicultural Resources
  • Catholic Charities & Communities
  • Offices
      • Chancery Office
      • Chancellor
      • Finance Office
      • Human Resources
      • Tribunal Office and Canonical Services
      • Vocations
      • Pro-Life Office
      • Office of Black Catholic Ministry
      • Office of Hispanic Ministry
      • Office of Youth Ministry
      • Office For Youth Services
      • Office of Sacred Liturgy
      • Office of Development and Stewardship
      • Office of Child Protection
      • Office of Communications and Public Relations
      • Office of Religious Education
      • Office of the New Evangelization
      • Office of Lay Ministry
      • Office of Permanent Diaconate
      • Society for the Propagation of the Faith/Missionary Childhood Association
      • Office of Discipleship and Mission
  • Ministries
      • Nazareth House
      • Campus Ministry
      • Young Adult Ministry
      • Apostolate Directory
  • Parishes
  • Schools
  • One Voice
  • Links
      • Q&A for Employees
      • Online Resources
      • Employment Opportunities
      • Seminarian Education Fund
      • Bishop's Disaster Fund
      • ParishSoft
      • Catholic Scouting
      • Camp Tekakwitha
      • School Directory

 

  • Other Marriage Processes
    Other Marriage Processes
    Documentary Cases and Privilege Cases
    • Ligamen Cases

      In order to marry validly in the Catholic Church, each party must be free from any prior marital bonds. If your former spouse has a prior marriage which has not been declared invalid by a Catholic Tribunal, they may have a Ligamen case. (Ligamen is Latin for a “previous bond.”) The Catholic Church believes that this bond of marriage is still intact, and therefore your former spouse was not free to commit to the subsequent marriage with you.
       
      A Previous Bond (Ligamen) Case is handled by the Tribunal through an administrative process which involves gathering the necessary documents and other information that demonstrate that a prior valid marriage existed at the time of the marriage in question. It also requires contacting the other party to request information about his or her baptismal status and marital history. With few exceptions, Ligamen cases are marriages between people that were not Catholic.


      Ligamen Petition

      Ligamen Petition - 
      Computer fill-inable

    • Absence/Lack of Form

      An Absence of Form case (also known as a Lack of Form) is an administrative process handled by the Tribunal that is used when Catholics marry outside the Church without having received a dispensation from Catholic form of marriage (i.e., the way that Catholics are bound by law to contract marrigae).  This is technically called a declaration of nullity based on an absence of form because the parties did not exchange vows before a priest and two witnesses in a Catholic church as is required by Canon 1108 §1 of the Code of Canon Law. When Catholics fail to observe this law, the marriage is invalid from the beginning. These absence of form cases account for more than half of all the annulments granted in the Catholic Church.
       
      An absence of form case can only come into play if one of the parties to the marriage is a Catholic, thus bound to the Catholic form for marriage.  (This applies even to non-practicing or fallen-away Catholics.) 

      Absence/Lack of Forms must be processed through the Tribunal using the forms below, though because they are documentary cases they can usually be completed in a few weeks. 

      In a case involving a lack of canonical form due to a wedding taking place “outside” the Catholic Church, the Tribunal must be able to establish certain facts including the following: that the Catholic party was bound by canonical form, that no dispensation from form was granted for the Catholic to be validly married in a non-Catholic wedding ceremony, and that the marriage was never subsequently convalidated or otherwise rendered valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church.
       
      Thus, for example, in a case where a Catholic would simply contract marriage by a Justice of the Peace, the marriage would be considered invalid due to absence of proper canonical form.

      ABSENCE OF FORM PETITION

      ABSENCE OF FORM Petition (COMPUTER FILLABLE FORM)

      Absence of Form Petition-Spanish

    • Defect of Form

      The Church requires that a Catholic party must be married according to "Catholic form", which means the wedding takes place before a duly-authorized priest or deacon in the presence of two witnesses.  If a Catholic is married before a justice of the peace, a civil judge, or a minister of another Christian church, then the marriage lacks Catholic form. 

      However, there are times when a Catholic intends to be married according to Catholic form, but for some reason that form is defective. For a wedding to be valid, the priest or deacon must be “duly-authorized.” This means that the minister must have been given appropriate delegation (loosely, “permission”) to serve as a witness for a marriage. Delegation is usually given by the pastor of the parish where the parties marry. A visiting celebrant must obtain proper delegation, or the marriage is invalid. If a priest or deacon did not have the appropriate delegation prior to witnessing a wedding, then it is considered a defect of form, which invalidates the marriage. There are also times in which, for whatever reason, the wedding is conducted without the presence of two witnesses. If there is an issue either with the delegation of the minister, or an inadequate number of witnesses, the form of the marriage is said to be "defective" rather than "absent" and it is considered null. 

      Defect of Forms must be processed through the Tribunal using the forms below, though because they are documentary cases they can usually be completed in a few weeks. 

      In a case involving a defect of canonical form, the Tribunal must be able to establish certain facts including: that the Catholic party was bound by canonical form, and that form was not followed through lack of delegation, lack of witnesses, etc..


      DEFECT OF FORM PETITION - COMPUTER FILLABLE FORM

  • Home
      • Our mission
      • Meet Bishop Raica
      • Bishop Emeritus
      • Directory
      • Press release
      • Covid 19 Information
      • Contact Us
      • Synod
  • Youth Protection
  • Social Services
      • Catholic Centers of Concern
      • Catholic Family Services
      • Emergency and Disaster Relief Services
      • Multicultural Resources
  • Catholic Charities & Communities
  • Offices
      • Chancery Office
      • Chancellor
      • Finance Office
      • Human Resources
      • Tribunal Office and Canonical Services
      • Vocations
      • Pro-Life Office
      • Office of Black Catholic Ministry
      • Office of Hispanic Ministry
      • Office of Youth Ministry
      • Office For Youth Services
      • Office of Sacred Liturgy
      • Office of Development and Stewardship
      • Office of Child Protection
      • Office of Communications and Public Relations
      • Office of Religious Education
      • Office of the New Evangelization
      • Office of Lay Ministry
      • Office of Permanent Diaconate
      • Society for the Propagation of the Faith/Missionary Childhood Association
      • Office of Discipleship and Mission
  • Ministries
      • Nazareth House
      • Campus Ministry
      • Young Adult Ministry
      • Apostolate Directory
  • Parishes
  • Schools
  • One Voice
  • Links
      • Q&A for Employees
      • Online Resources
      • Employment Opportunities
      • Seminarian Education Fund
      • Bishop's Disaster Fund
      • ParishSoft
      • Catholic Scouting
      • Camp Tekakwitha
      • School Directory
Login
powered by eCatholic®