In order to marry validly in the Catholic Church, each party must be free from any prior marital bonds. If your former spouse has a prior marriage which has not been declared invalid by a Catholic Tribunal, you may have a Ligamen case. (Ligamen is Latin for a “previous bond.”) The Catholic Church believes that this bond of marriage is still intact, and therefore your former spouse was not free to commit to the subsequent marriage with you.
A Previous Bond (Ligamen) Case is settled in an administrative process which involves gathering the necessary documents and other information that demonstrate that a prior valid marriage existed at the time of the marriage in question. It also requires contacting the other party to request information about his or her baptismal status and marital history.