Why is a Fee Required for an Annulment?

The fee helps cover the costs associated with processing the case, including the salaries of the experts who are kept on staff to examine such cases. In his book Annulments and the Catholic Church (p. 7-8), canon lawyer Edward Peters states, “First and most commonly, there are the basic petition fees payable to the tribunal. This is what most people refer to when they talk about the cost of an annulment. In the U.S. most tribunals charge anywhere from $200 to $1,000 for adjudicating a standard nullity case… These fees are typically payable over time, and there are means for having fees reduced or eliminated in cases of financial hardship (canon 1464).”