annulment, divorce and separation

First of all, links! =) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annulment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_separation Now, I'll try to summarize how I understood them... Annulment is when a marriage is declared null and void. It is as if the marriage never happened. There are specific conditions that must be met for a marriage to be voidable. Divorce is dissolution of a marriage. As opposed to annulment, divorce does not declare a marriage null and void. It is still considered that there was a marriage. However, after divorce, each party will then be allowed to marry another. Divorce is not legal in some parts of the world. (Legal) separation is more of a temporary phase, as I understand. At this time, the couple remains legally married. In time, they may reconcile and continue their marriage, or they may choose to proceed to filing a divorce. In topics such as this, it is very difficult to say 'this is right' and 'that is wrong'. People from different cultures, religions, etc. have different beliefs and opinions. Personally, I am with you in saying that all of these are the same, and I wish it can be avoided as much as possible. The solution? For me, it all starts even before a marriage happens. Couples should think about marriage very carefully. I'm sure you've heard the saying that goes 'Ang kasal ay hindi parang mainit na kanin, na kapag isinubo at napaso, iluluwa.' (That translates to something like this: Marriage is not like hot rice, that if you put into your mouth and you get burned, you can spit out.) It is not something that is rushed into. For me, if a couple really takes time to think and assess whether marriage is right for them, whether their partner is the right person for them, then I think they would have won half the battle. The other half of the battle would be fought after they are married. I also believe that marriage is something that couples should continually work on. It does not mean that once a couple gets married, no further efforts need be made. In fact, they should continue to strive to show respect and love to one another. Problems will come, they will have arguments and misunderstandings. But if they really prepared themselves even before marriage, I think they will be able to realize that the way to overcome these problems is to communicate, compromise, and work on them together. What can others do? People around the couple, family and friends, can support and encourage them when they are having trouble. What can the church do? I believe that in the Catholic religion at least, couples undergo some counseling before getting married. This is the time when the church can guide and help couples assess if they are ready for married life. What can government do? I'm not really sure... But for us here in our country, I do hope that divorce remains not legal. Why? My problem with divorce is this: it provides a way out of marriage. And I fear that this will only lead to further devaluation of marriage. It is more likely that couples will go into marriage without thinking about it carefully if the option of divorce later is open to them from the beginning. Of course, these are all just my personal opinions. I am very sure many people will disagree...

I read the response once, am sure you got the answer