IN MY OPINION, The whole process is a farce!!!! My friend’s was over $1000. She said she wouldn’t do it again!!
LOL. If she has to get *another* annulment in another marriage, she probably has bigger problems than money.
From observations on someone close to me, the process asks some very uncomfortable and probing questions that forces people to face things about themselves and their life. It requires those seeking the annulment and those near to them to fill very long questionnaires. It was not a burden financially either.
It may vary from diocese to diocese too. The person I knew was in St. Louis right around the end of Bishop Regali’s term there and as bishop he is very faithful in his duties.
$1000 is peanuts in consideration of the resources, work hours, and attorney fees that go into securing an annullment. This isn’t a process whereby someone looks at a questionairre, decides whether their coffee is strong enough, and then decides to rubber stamp an annullment.
Attorneys are involved (yes, they bill the diocese), as are people who serve on tribunals, and those who support each case by collecting, organizing, and documenting all the information that goes before the board. You think everyone just volunteers their time to subject themselves to all of the gory details of failed relationships and broken families?