Civil marriage before catholic marriage. How does this work? ?

Question

My fiance are having a catholic ceremony in May. Our reasoning for the catholic ceremony is really for our family and we our both catholic although I am not really a practicing catholic. I just lost my job and we need to get married ASAP so I can get on his insurance. So we were just going to go to the courthouse for a civil marriage and then still have our catholic service. How does this work? Will the church find out if we have a civil service first?

Answer 1

Marry for love, not insurance....

Answer 2

it doesnt matter..... im married by the civil and we're getting married by the church too. it doesnt matter if u do that first. you can still get married by the church. in other countries like Mex. ppl get married by the civil first and than church. its perfectly fine.

good luck and congratx = )  

Answer 3

Yes they will unless they have already done the marriage investigation.

They MAY still marry you, so check first.

Good luck to you and congratulations on your pending Catholic Marriage.

Answer 4

Yes, the church will find out when they tell you to get a marriage license, and you already have one that is signed and says you are married.

If you don't live together and don't have s*x in between the time of your civil marriage and your Catholic wedding, it should be no big deal. Just TELL THE PRIEST -- don't try to hide it.

Also, you don't have to get married ASAP to get on his insurance -- you can do COBRA until the wedding. U.S. employers are required by law to offer it to you. And you could also get private insurance -- call your insurance rep for information.  

Answer 5

Sounds like a silly reason to hurry up and get married; unless you have something serious going on and you need the insurance.  Most companies offer insurance within 60-90 days..so hold off and get married in the church.  

Answer 6

1. I'm a little confused. Are you marrying this guy for the insurance.. I hope that's not the only reason you guys are doing this.

2. If your not a practicing catholic, what do you care if the church finds out? When you go to get married at the church, just give them a copy of your marriage certificate. Its no big deal. My parents did that back in the 60's. Believe me, the church was much more strict about it then then they are now.

Answer 7

that isnt a problem at all . you can get married legally first , then at the church . from where i am from that is the only they do it .  

Answer 8

I don't know if it has changed but the rule used to be you could still get married in the Catholic church, but not have the Mass as part of the ceremony.  You would have to have a marriage license issued for the priest to sign unless you had already had a civil marriage, so yes, they will find out.  Go and talk to your priest or someone at the diocesan level.  They would be in the best position to tell you the current church position

Answer 9

YES ,,,PEACE