Annulment

What is an annulment? At times, marriages fail. Every marriage enjoys the presumption of being sacramental until determined but a church court (called Tribunal) declares otherwise. A person who is divorced (a legal ending of married that does not affect the sacrament), more appropriately called a declaration of nullity, declares that a sacramental marriage never occurred, though of course a legal on did (assuming a marriage license was signed, and neither was legally married to someone else at the time, etc.) Because a sacrament did not occur, the person is free to marry. Annulments do not change the legal rights of children or affect the divorce decrees in any regard.