Annulment Needed?

[memurphie77]

My boyfriend is currently going through a divorce (should be finalized in one month). He was married for one year and had one child with his wife. He was married by a Justice of the Peace in New Hampshire. I wanted to know if it will be necessary for him to get an annulment if we want to get married in a Catholic Church in the future. Does the Catholic Church recognize marriges by a JP? And will the church annul a marrige in which there is a child? Also, his wife is not being very cooperative and I doubt she would be helpful if he wants to get an annulment. If she doesn't want an annulment, can he still get one? I'm sorry I have so many questions....I don't know how the annulment process works and I wanted some helpful information. Thank you.

 

[Mann]

You would need to speak with a Priest to get definate answers to some of your questions. I do know that any divorce can keep you from being married in the church. My sister had never been married but her fiance had been divorced and they couldn't get married in the church. I had a friend who made a comment recently that since thier child hadn't gotten married n the church, it wasn't recognized, but if you get divorced....seems like the same outcome.
The church isn't the one who annuls, its the court system, but in some states where a child is involved, they will not annul. Generally, you can't just want an annulment, there has to be grounds-like bigamy or fraud.

Hope this helps.