I’m not sure what the law is. From what happened, I suspect a divorce is the legal instrument of the state and an annulment is an instrument of the church. It’s my understanding that afterword he got an annulment.
Well, you didn’t mention annulment in your post.
The rules are simple and they are available to all Catholics in the Catechism. And they are very simply stated in the matrimonial vows. no Catholic marriage is any more complicated than what is stated in the vows.
When one of the two does not live up to the vows, an appeal can be made by one or both of them to the church for the church to discover whether there was a problem with the sacrament at its inception, during the wedding.
The Church decides, in it’s wisdom, after careful consideration whether there was a valid sacrament.
The couple is married until that is made final, or until one of them dies.
If they don’t like the rules, they don’t have to get married.
If they are not interested in permanent marriage, then they don’t have to enter into matrimony, which is permanent.
They have choices.
I will never ever understand nor accept that people don’t know te rules.
The couple is in Church of free will. They promise to love and honor.each other until one of them is dead.
There is nothing more simple than that.
Don’t marry an idiot. If you find out they are an idiot after you get married, appeal to the Church to take a look at it and help you out in order to have a chance at a happy marriage in the future.
there is nothing to figure out there.