Q. How much do annulments cost?
A. Nothing. There is no cost for a declaration of nullity.
A good question. Thanks for asking it. First, a clarification in terms. An individual or couple can petition a marriage tribunal for a declaration of nullity. A declaration of nullity is a conclusion by a Catholic marriage tribunal that a sacramentally valid marriage never existed in the first place because of an invalidating impediment.
The term “annulment” implies that the Church can nullify something that was once valid. That is not the case. No one on earth, not even the pope, can nullify a valid, sacramental marriage.
Tribunals used to ask for a free-will donation to help defray expenses involved with petitions for declarations. Costs included secretarial salaries, postage, office expendables, etc.
In the Diocese of Lincoln, these costs are currently being covered by funds raised in the annual Charity and Stewardship Appeal. At the end of each tribunal case, the petitioner is asked to prayerfully consider a donation to the diocese or their local parish. The tribunal makes this suggestion only after the process is finished, so as to avoid any possible appearance of bribery. All donations given to the tribunal before a process is completed are not accepted and returned to the petitioner.
Some people may have falsely thought that this requested free-will offering was tantamount to “buying an annulment.” Again, that is not nor has that ever been the case.
This question was answered by a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
