The Formal Case is the most common type of annulment case.  It requires a full Tribunal judicial procedure to legally prove that no valid bond of marriage was ever formed between the parties.
 
A formal case normally involves a union between two baptized persons (but can include a marriage between any two people, baptized or not). An annulment through the formal case process is a declaration by a competent ecclesiastical tribunal that, in fact, the parties to a marriage never entered into a valid marriage due to flawed consent.  If there is no true consent, there is no valid marriage. 
 
The evaluation of flawed or defective consent is centered upon the intentions and capacities of each of the parties to a marriage at the time of the exchange of vows.  Someone who had flawed consent on the day of the marriage ceremony would not have effected a valid marital union.  Before an annulment decision is made, a thorough investigation of the circumstances and events surrounding a marriage ceremony must be completed (the judicial trial).  Both the Petitioner and Respondent are asked to give testimony. Knowledgeable witnesses must be contacted for their testimony. The specially-trained judge in a marriage case must carefully examine all of the testimony, and with moral certainty, decide a case. 
 
The presumption of the Church is that a marriage enjoys the favor of the law, and so is to be considered valid until the contrary is proven. Due to this presumption, the tribunal must obtain serious evidence concerning the parties' act of marital consent at the time of union, which overcomes this presumption, before a declaration of nullity can be given. Unlike a civil divorce decree which is concerned with the end of a marriage, the proofs for a declaration of nullity must be rooted in the intentions and abilities of the parties to a marriage at the time of the exchange of vows.
 
The most common grounds for declaring a marriage invalid include:

• a grave lack of discretion of judgment: i.e. a person must have use of sound reason and mature judgment

• an incapacity to assume the essential obligations of marriage: i.e. a person must have the psychological ability to take on and live out the lifetime obligations of marriage

• total or partial simulation of consent: to simulate consent means to say one thing externally, but to intend something quite different internally; i.e. the person “pretended” to marry. Partial simulation cases are most often based an a person's conscious exclusion of marital fidelity, marital permanence, or being open to children.  

• force and fear: i.e. a person must freely choose to enter into marriage.  Force is a grave threat from outside the person, and may be inflicted intentionally or unintentionally.  Fear is the internal result of the external force.  It must be both grave and compelling, so that a person chooses to marry to escape from this force and fear.

Though there are other grounds that can be used, the vast majority of cases are heard on the grounds above. Your canonical advocate or pastor can help you determine which are the appropriate grounds to suggest to the Tribunal. 

Information Pamphlet for A Formal Case

Application for A Formal Case

Application for a Formal Case (Computer Fillable Form)

Spanish Essay Questions for A Formal Case