So, she was stunned when telephoned "out of the blue" by a Catholic priest a month ago and told her former husband had applied to a church marriage tribunal in the US to have their marriage annulled.
If the annulment is granted, her marriage would be considered by the church to have never existed.
"It's ridiculous. My husband and I were not Catholics and our marriage was nothing to do with the Catholic Church ...
"I don't think it right that people who had nothing to do with the marriage can decide whether my marriage is null and void ...
"It's a little bit rude and insulting. More than a little bit."
The Dunedin student, now 32, met her husband when both were studying at Lincoln University. They were engaged for two years before being married on a beach in Rarotonga in front of about 50 family and friends.
"It was a proper wedding, not just a quickie Vegas wedding. It wasn't a fairy tale. I want people to know that religions are trying to do this crazy stuff."
The Catholic Church considers marriage permanent in the eyes of God and does not recognise civil court divorces.
A person whose marriage is annulled can marry again in the church and participate fully in church life.
Monsignor John Harrison, from St Joseph's Cathedral, the priest who contacted Ms Bassett-Smith, told her that her former husband was seeking the annulment because he wanted to marry a Catholic woman in the Catholic Church.
Ms Bassett-Smith said she had no issue with him remarrying.
"He can marry whoever he likes, wherever he likes. But his problems with the church are nothing to do with me."
She "ignored the first phone call hoping it would go away", but Msgr Harrison rang back several times.
"I said I didn't want anything to do with it. But he said I had to participate - that I should give a taped interview which would be sent to the tribunal in the US."
Msgr Harrison told the Otago Daily Times that by contacting Ms Bassett-Smith he was ensuring her rights were protected.
"It is a spouse's right to participate in the process, and they have the freedom to say yes or to decline.
"By participating, the other spouse can actually lay their point of view on the table. This was explained to her. Participating would give strength to her belief that her marriage was valid."
Msgr Harrison acknowledged Ms Bassett-Smith felt "taken by surprise" by his telephone call.
That was because a letter sent to her from the US tribunal went to the wrong address and he was the person who had to "break the news".
About 100 annulments applications were received annually in New Zealand, he said. About half were granted, with the remainder either declined or still in the system.
Two annulments had been granted in the Dunedin Diocese in the past 12 months.
Marriage annulments
An annulment may be granted if evidence shows that from the beginning of a marriage - at the time of the wedding - it suffered a basic and profound defect and was, therefore, invalid. No defect that might arise during married life would turn a valid marriage into an invalid one.
Applications are considered by a church marriage tribunal.
Annulment does not affect the legitimacy of children, property rights, inheritance rights, anyone's name, right of access to children, or any other matter under civil law.
Source: Catholic Diocese of Christchurch website
