I've known this girl about 8 months, and been dating her exclusively for about 2 months. We are deeply in love with each other, and while we're not rushing into anything, we feel we might be "the one" for each other. However, I found out she is divorced.

I have become stronger in my faith over the last year, whereas she was raised Catholic, but strayed away due to overbearing relatives. She was married by a J.P., and divorced 7 years later as a result of her ex-husband's infidelity.

I've tried researching the topic of annulments, and I feel her situation qualifies for one (due to his lack of intent to be faithful to her), but is an annulment really needed at all if she was not married in the Church? Some sources say a marriage is a marriage, regardless of who performed the ceremony, while other sources say an annulment is only necessary if the previous marriage was done in the Church. Does anyone have more true knowledge on this?

P.S. I understand it's too early to get engaged at this point in our relationship. I have no intent to propose any time this year, but annulments do take a long time to process and I just want the knowledge should the decision to propose to her arise.

Without knowing all of the specific details, if she was married...she was married. She is not free to marry in her current status without obtaining an annulment. An annulment is not a divorce. It is a declaration that no marriage existed in the first place, and contrary to some misconceptions, they are not automatically obtained. Certain conditions must be in evidence before an annulment could even be granted. If both she and the person she married were baptised Christians, (no matter the denomination), then their marriage was sacramental even if they were married outside of the Church, or any church. Even if one or both were not baptised and/or the marriage was a civil ceremony, they are still considered validly married unless some proof can be established that would be grounds for annulment.

My 2 unqualified pennies...

Yes... if she's going to get married in the Catholic Church.
Whether or not getting married by a JP makes a marriage ipso facto null, I don't really know, but in any case, if she was previously married and you two wanted to get married in the Church, you're gonna wind up going through the process.

The length of the annulment process can vary...
My ex went to the Church for an annulment (and then before it even got ruled on, she left the Church.. but that's another story) and neither of us had been in a previous marriage ... the process lasted almost a full 18 months from start (when I got notice in the mail) to absolute finish (when I got notice in the mail from the second court). There was a lot of testimony to sift through in our case, and maybe other cases are much, much more cut-and-dried (say, for example, consanguinity)

Talk to your priest, and/or write your diocese. There MAY be a much faster, easier process for her, namely a declaration of lack of form. If a Catholic attempts marriage in front of a JP the marriage is invalid, and rather than an annulment proceeding, there is a declaration of lack of form. Much simpler, and more cut and dried. Basically the annulment is obtained without a formal trial. It is a documentary case rather than a formal one. Documentary case are ligamen cases (don't worry about that term), defect of form, or lack of form. There is no trial, since it is a simple matter of fact that be shown

But remember I say may. Talk to your priest and/or diocese, and fill them in on details (for instance, did she still consider herself Catholic, or did she join another religion in the meantime?)

Ah yes.. this is what I was thinking of previously but couldn't think of how to articulate it...


OP should follow PED's advice here..

Yup.