Church Declaration of Nullity: A Declaration of Nullity is a judgment of a Marriage Tribunal of the Catholic Church concerning the invalidity of a particular union. If a Declaration of Nullity is granted, it means that in the eyes of the Church, a basic element was missing from the union in question from the very beginning and that on account of this, the marriage was not valid from the start. The Declaration of Nullity does not deny that a real relationship may have existed, nor does it imply that the union was entered with ill will or moral fault. Rather, a Declaration of Nullity states that the relationship fell short of at least one of the elements seen as essential for a true, valid Christian marriage. Finally, a Declaration of Nullity does not seek to establish guilt or innocence, but rather validity or invalidity. In the United States, a church Declaration of Nullity has absolutely no civil effects. The granting of a Declaration of Nullity will not affect anything that is determined by civil law, such as alimony, child custody, visitation rights, division of property, etc.