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Affadavits Sample?

zappatinizappatini
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in Catholic Weddings

I am getting married in a Catholic Church out of state in Illinois.  I currently live in Tennessee.  My Illinois church has told me that i need to bring affadavits signed by our parents saying we can marry and providing their approval for the marriage on our next visit (which is also our last).  Problem is our local church and my Fiance's paretns church (in Minnesota) has never heard of this and so has no forms like this.  My church in Chicago is really bad about getting back to me although I have left messages.  Does anyone have a smaple of this form?

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Re: Affadavits Sample?

  • Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
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    edited December 2011

    i have heard of churches doing this....but i dont have a sample, sorry.

    did you try google?  there may  be some catholic websites that provide forms.

    as a last resort, you could probably have them type up a generic letter, and then sign it and have it notarized.  they are basically trying to determine that you are free to marry, and that there are no known marriages on record for either of you.  if there are marriages on record, tehy will want to verify that the proper anullment process has taken place.

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  • bellashaunteebellashauntee
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    edited December 2011
    My FI and I were given two forms to have a family member fill out saying that we are free to marry. if it's the same thing I can defiantly give you the questions and information needed on it.

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  • bibliophile2010bibliophile2010 member
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    edited December 2011
    I googled "Catholic affidavit of freedom to marry" and got numerous examples.

    My Fi and I will also have to have these completed when we get closer to the wedding and were told that they could be done at any Catholic church. It will not be a problem for us to have them completed at our home parish (also where we're getting married), but I find it interesting that you have had problems obtaining them. I would be persistant with your church in Chicago. I would imagine that they will have a form you can have your parents fill out, or at least advise you on how to proceed.
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  • catarntinacatarntina member
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    edited December 2011
    My church in Colorado asked us to do this!  It's the "B" form they call it, or the "Freedom to Marry" form.  It had to be signed by a parent and a Catholic priest, which was difficult for me to do since our parents live in Ohio.  I had to mail the forms to my FMIL and my mom.  My mom just walked across the street to the church I'm getting married at, and he signed it right away and mailed it back.  No problem for her.

    But FMIL had a huge issue with this.  She is not Catholic, she is Baptist.  She took it to a Catholic church, and they *refused* to sign it.  She swears it's because she is Baptist and not Catholic and the priest was out to get her, but I think it was just because they had never heard of this form.  So I called the Deacon at my church in Colorado who said we needed to get the form signed, and told him the story.  He called 6 churches in her area and finally found one that would sign the dang form.  She had to drive to the next town over and get the priest to sign it and then she could mail it back.

    It needs to be signed by the priest and stamped with the church's official seal.

    It asks stuff like, "Is your son/daughter entering into this marriage in their free will?  Do they want children?" Stuff like that.  My church in Colorado gave us the forms to mail back.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
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    edited December 2011
    We also had to do those. They were given to us by the priest and we mailed them to our parents who live out of state and they signed them, did their part and sent them back to us. Our priest where we currently live communicated with the priest in our home church who married us to make sure all the paperwork was complete and the priest that married us had everything he needed.

    Maybe try looking on catholicweddinghelp.com?
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  • christyhalchristyhal
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    edited December 2011
    I apologize if this is a dumb question, but is everyone required to get these affadavits?  FI and I are both Catholic, and we're getting married in my regular parish.  The priest did not mention anything about affadavits, only that we needed to both get current copies of our baptism certificates (which was enough of a hassle in itself, since FI was born and baptised outside of the US--he had to have a relative go to the village in India where he was baptised to get his certificate--and I had to send for mine from the Archdiocese for Military Services).
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  • bibliophile2010bibliophile2010 member
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    edited December 2011

    No, not everyone is required to do them, only certain diocese and parishes. For example, it is not required by my diocese, but it is required by my parish. Many parishes only requires the baptismal records (though I believe those are pretty standard) to confirm freedom to marry. I have also heard of them being required for non-Catholics, since they do not have a (Catholic) baptismal record that should prove that there are no life commitments that will prevent a valid marriage from occurring. Again, this is a case-by-case basis, not an across-the-board rule.

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  • PinkLily19PinkLily19 member
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    edited December 2011
    We had to do them, but I think only because we are not getting married in our home church.  On our form, it said either a church officer or a notary could sign.

    Here's a link to our forms.  The fourth one down is the affidavit.

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