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The New Zealand Catholic Bishops have decided the Marriage Tribunal will no longer charge fees for the marriage annulment process.
“The Tribunal process is an important pastoral ministry within the Church at a very difficult time in people’s lives,” said Cardinal John Dew, Moderator of the Tribunal.
“The Bishops wanted to ensure that cost was no longer a barrier to people seeking an annulment.”
The decision was made at the April meeting of the Bishops’ Conference.
But time was needed to inform current clients and to seek expert advice on tax matters.
Tribunal staff have now informed those who are currently undertaking an annulment process that fees will not be required.
The tax issue relates to whether any donation made by the client is in fact a disguised fee for service without a GST component.
For this reason donations will not be solicited or accepted from clients of the Tribunal.
However Cardinal John made it clear that the decision to drop fees has been made for purely pastoral reasons.
It is not it an attempt to evade tax responsibilities.
The Bishops have not yet decided where money will be found to fund the work of the Tribunal.
“We acknowledge that the fees people have paid in the past have helped in the development of the Tribunal process that we have today,” Cardinal John said.
“The six Dioceses have always funded the bulk of the costs associated with the Tribunals operation.”
“The Dioceses have pressures of their own, so we will need to find a way to fund what had previously been covered by the fees.”
The bishops will decide later this year whether they will ask the wider Catholic community for help in supporting the work of the Tribunal.
The annulment process is undertaken following a civil divorce.
Those who would like to know more about engaging in this process should contact their local Diocesan office of the tribunal
Details are also available on the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ website
Source
- catholic.org.nz
- Image: myfamilylife.org
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