My wife has a mental illness.
In our marriage vows, we promised to look after each other in sickness and in health. Usually, I would assume somebody with a mental illness should be treated as fairly as somebody with any other health condition.
What happens though if the illness leads to behavior that undermines other essential components of the marriage? For example, a spouse who simply can't be trusted with money or never acts as a team player.
What happens if the victim of such an illness just can't cope with marriage and doesn't view it in an adult way? She sees having children as an inconvenience rather than a fundamental aim of a marriage. She has been putting it off for years now.
What happens if the victim of such an illness has a history of self-harm from long before the relationship and marriage? Is this a likely or even certain grounds for annulment?
My wife has been to various therapists and even some of them were completely unable to help her, so how can I, as a husband with my own job to do? I committed to marriage with the aim of raising a family, not to be a babysitter.
Her parents are divorced and she always talks about divorce or running away. Up to now, I've always supported her 100% and told her divorce is not an option. Next time she brings this up I would like to call her bluff and tell her that either she goes ahead with a divorce and annulment or she commits 100% to the marriage and having children, no more living in limbo.
I contacted the diocese about annulment and they told me we have to have a civil divorce first. Why? If we aren't granted the annulment, we would both be stuck in limbo and my wife would be even more traumatized. Wouldn't it be better to have a clear answer from the church at the same time as completing the legal formalities so we can both move on?
As part of a civil divorce, can I ask my wife to sign a letter consenting to an annulment?
Can anybody provide tips about what sort of evidence I should try to collect to support a claim for annulment? I looked through some old correspondence from prior to the marriage and found several things where she wrote that she wanted to get away from her family and I feel this may be evidence that she didn't view the marriage sincerely.
In our marriage vows, we promised to look after each other in sickness and in health. Usually, I would assume somebody with a mental illness should be treated as fairly as somebody with any other health condition.
What happens though if the illness leads to behavior that undermines other essential components of the marriage? For example, a spouse who simply can't be trusted with money or never acts as a team player.
What happens if the victim of such an illness just can't cope with marriage and doesn't view it in an adult way? She sees having children as an inconvenience rather than a fundamental aim of a marriage. She has been putting it off for years now.
What happens if the victim of such an illness has a history of self-harm from long before the relationship and marriage? Is this a likely or even certain grounds for annulment?
My wife has been to various therapists and even some of them were completely unable to help her, so how can I, as a husband with my own job to do? I committed to marriage with the aim of raising a family, not to be a babysitter.
Her parents are divorced and she always talks about divorce or running away. Up to now, I've always supported her 100% and told her divorce is not an option. Next time she brings this up I would like to call her bluff and tell her that either she goes ahead with a divorce and annulment or she commits 100% to the marriage and having children, no more living in limbo.
I contacted the diocese about annulment and they told me we have to have a civil divorce first. Why? If we aren't granted the annulment, we would both be stuck in limbo and my wife would be even more traumatized. Wouldn't it be better to have a clear answer from the church at the same time as completing the legal formalities so we can both move on?
As part of a civil divorce, can I ask my wife to sign a letter consenting to an annulment?
Can anybody provide tips about what sort of evidence I should try to collect to support a claim for annulment? I looked through some old correspondence from prior to the marriage and found several things where she wrote that she wanted to get away from her family and I feel this may be evidence that she didn't view the marriage sincerely.
