Because there are many reasons why a marriage may lack one or more of the basic elements of a binding marriage, it is not possible here to list and explain them all. However, many correspond to at least one of the following questions:

• Was the marriage ceremony legally acceptable to the Catholic Church?
• Were both spouses free to marry each other?
• Was each spouse adequately prepared to understand, accept and fulfill the rights and obligations of marriage?
• Did each spouse intend to accept and fulfill what, in the Church's tradition, has been taught as God's plan for marriage?

If a person can honestly answer "No" to one or more of these questions as it applies to his/her marriage on their wedding day, then it is possible that some grounds for declaration of nullity exist.