Annulment, Divorce and Legal Separation in the Philippines: Questions and Answers

There are many questions relating to annulment and divorce in the Philippines, and many of the concerns of our readers had already been addressed in previous articles. Nevertheless, to consolidate everything for everyone’s easy reference, here are the FAQs on annulment and divorce in the Philippines:

Is divorce allowed under Philippine laws?

No, divorce is not allowed in the Philippines. However, there are certain instances wherein the divorce secured abroad by the foreigner-spouse, and even by former Filipinos, are recognized under Philippine laws.

Would it make any difference if I marry abroad where divorce is allowed?

No. Filipinos are covered by this prohibition based on the “nationality principle”, regardless of wherever they get married (and regardless where they get a decree of divorce).

I was married in the Philippines and secured a divorce in the United States. Both of us are Filipinos and my spouse voluntarily signed the divorce papers. After the divorce, I married another guy, a former Filipino who had acquired U.S. citizenship. I am still a Filipino citizen. Is my previous marriage still valid in the Phils.?

Yes, the first marriage is still considered valid in the Philippines because divorce between Filipinos, wherever secured and even if with the consent of both spouses, is not recognized under Philippine laws. In other words, as far as the Philippines is concerned, the second marriage is null and void.

If divorce is not allowed in the Philippines, does this mean that spouses have no remedy in getting out of a problematic marriage?

While divorce is against public policy and is prohibited by law, the Family Code provides for certain grounds to annul a marriage or declare it as null and void.

Is “annulment” different from a “declaration of nullity” of marriage?

Yes. In essence, “annulment” applies to a marriage that is considered valid, but there are grounds to nullify it. A “declaration of nullity” of marriage, on the other hand, applies to marriages that are void or invalid from the very beginning. In other words, it was never valid in the first place.

Also, an action for annulment of voidable marriages may prescribe, while an action for declaration of nullity of marriage does not prescribe.

So, if a marriage is void from the very beginning (void ab initio), there’s no need to file anything in court?

For purposes of remarriage, there must be a court order declaring the marriage as null and void. Entering into a subsequent marriage without such court declaration means that: (a) the subsequent marriage is void; and (b) the parties open themselves to a possible charge of bigamy.

What if no marriage certificate could be found?

Justice Sempio-Dy, in the “Handbook of on the Family Code of the Philippines” (p. 26, 1997 reprint), says: “The marriage certificate is not an essential or formal requisite of marriage without which the marriage will be void. An oral marriage is, therefore, valid, and failure of a party to sign the marriage certificate or the omission of the solemnizing officer to send a copy of the marriage certificate to the proper local civil registrar, does not invalidate the marriage. Also the mere fact that no record of marriage can be found, does not invalidate the marriage provided all the requisites for its validity are present.” (Citations omitted)

What are the grounds for annulment?

1. Lack of parental consent in certain cases. If a party is 18 years or over, but below 21, and the marriage was solemnized without the consent of the parents/guardian. However, the marriage is validated if, upon reaching 21, the spouses freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife.

2. Insanity. A marriage may be annulled if, at the time of marriage, either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife.

3. Fraud. The consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife. Fraud includes: (i) non-disclosure of a previous conviction by final judgment of the other party of a crime involving moral turpitude; (ii) concealment by the wife of the fact that at the time of the marriage, she was pregnant by a man other than her husband; (iii) concealment of sexually transmissible disease or STD, regardless of its nature, existing at the time of the marriage; or (iv) concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism or homosexuality or lesbianism existing at the time of the marriage. However, no other misrepresentation or deceit as to character, health, rank, fortune or chastity shall constitute such fraud as will give grounds for action for the annulment of marriage.

4. Force, intimidation or undue influence. If the consent of either party was obtained by any of these means, except in cases wherein the force, intimidation or undue influence having disappeared or ceased, the complaining party thereafter freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife.

5. Impotence. At the time of marriage, either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the other, and such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable. Impotence is different from being infertile.

6. STD. If, at the time of marriage, either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to be serious and appears to be incurable. If the STD is not serious or is curable, it may still constitute fraud (see No. 3 above).

What if a spouse discovers that his/her spouse is a homosexual or is violent, can he/she ask for annulment?

Homosexuality or physical violence, by themselves, are not sufficient to nullify a marriage. At the very least, however, these grounds may be used as basis for legal separation.

How is “legal separation” different from annulment?

The basic difference is this - in legal separation, the spouses are still considered married to each other, and, thus, may not remarry.

What are the grounds for legal separation?

1. Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.

2. Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation.

3. Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement.

4. Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned.

5. Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent.

6. Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent.

7. Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad.

8. Sexual infidelity or perversion.

9. Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner.

10. Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.

The term “child” shall include a child by nature or by adoption.

What happens if after learning that your husband (or wife) is unfaithful (No. 8 above), you still co-habitate with him/her?

This may be construed as condonation, which is a defense in actions for legal separation. In addition to condonation, the following are the defenses in legal separation:

1. Consent.
2. Connivance (in the commission of the offense or act constituting the ground for legal separation).
3. Mutual guilt (both parties have given ground for legal separation).
4. Collusion (to obtain decree of legal separation).
5. Prescription (5 years from the occurence of the cause for legal separation).

If you’re separated from your spouse for 4 years, is that a sufficient ground for annulment?

No. De facto separation is not a ground for annulment. However, the absence of 2 or 4 years, depending on the circumstances, may be enough to ask the court for a declaration of presumptive death of the “absent spouse”, in which case the petitioner may again re-marry.

What are the grounds for declaration of nullity of marriage?

1. Minority (those contracted by any party below 18 years of age even with the consent of parents or guardians).

2. Lack of authority of solemnizing officer (those solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages, unless such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so).

3. Absence of marriage license (except in certain cases).

4. Bigamous or polygamous marriages (except in cases where the other spouse is declared as presumptively dead).

5. Mistake in identity (those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity of the other).

6. After securing a judgement of annulment or of asolute nullity of mariage, the parties, before entering into the subsequent marriage, failed to record with the appropriate registry the: (i) partition and distribute the properties of the first marriage; and (ii) delivery of the children’s presumptive legitime.

7. Incestous marriages (between ascendants and descendants of any degree, between brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half blood).

8. Void by reason of public policy. Marriages between (i) collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the fourth civil degree; (ii) step-parents and step-children; (iii) parents-in-law and children-in-law; (iv) adopting parent and the adopted child; (v) surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child; (vi) surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter; (vii) an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter; (viii) adopted children of the same adopter; and (ix) parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that other person’s spouse, or his or her own spouse.

9. Psychological Incapacity. Psychological incapacity, which a ground for annulment of marriage, contemplates downright incapacity or inability to take cognizance of and to assume the basic marital obligations; not a mere refusal, neglect or difficulty, much less, ill will, on the part of the errant spouse. Irreconcilable differences, conflicting personalities, emotional immaturity and irresponsibility, physical abuse, habitual alcoholism, sexual infidelity or perversion, and abandonment, by themselves, also do not warrant a finding of psychological incapacity. We already discussed the guidelines and illustrations of psychological incapacity, including a case involving habitual lying, as well as the steps and procedure in filing a petition.

Please note, however, that there are still other grounds to declare a marriage as null and void.

Can I file a petition (annulment or declaration of absolute nullity of marriage) even if I am in a foreign country?

Yes, the rules recognize and allow the filing of the petition by Filipinos who are overseas.

Update: Browse through the comments below to check if your questions are similar to that of others. Other common issues are consolidated in Part II or in Costs in seeking an Annulment.

You may also want to read these related posts:

Rule on Legal Separation by Atty. Fred on April 19th, 2007

Psychological Incapacity: Habitual Lying by Atty. Fred on July 22nd, 2006

Steps and Procedure in Annulment and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage by Atty. Fred on September 30th, 2006

156 Responses to “Annulment, Divorce and Legal Separation in the Philippines: Questions and Answers”


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  1. 100 deesian Jun 21st, 2007 at 4:01 am

    If my annullment through presumptive death of my absent spouse granted, will my subsequent marriage be null and void if my absent spouse reappear ?

  2. 99 pookybear Jun 20th, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    Atty.Fred

    Good day!

    im a filipina and im 29 years old now and have 2 kids,im already separated from my husband for almost going to 5 years now since december 2002.I planned to work abroad and i wanted that only my kids will be my benificiary already not him anymore,since we been separated he dont even make a move to reconcile with me or nor give a support for the kids not even a cent,im not looking forward from the support , i left him coz he wasnt working, he just depend from his parents and he still looking with other girls and i cant stay longer with him anymore so i decided to left him with my daughter and i was pregnant that time with our youngest at that moment ( december 23,2002)and go home to my parents.so now atty. im asking some help and advice do our marriage will be annuled?What i have to do about it. ….

    hoping for your fast response about my problem.

    Thank you and more power to your column.

    Repectfully yours,

    Celestine

  3. 98 pinksoda5029 Jun 15th, 2007 at 4:42 am

    Dear atty,

    I hope u can give an advise to me. Im married until now but physically separated. I’ve been married to him last dec.2003. but before that we been living in together we have a daughter too. we just got married coz my daughter will start her kinder and my family wants us to get married. actually its a forced married coz my eldest brother thraten me if i dont marry within that year he will kick us in the house. they said its not gud to to look if were just living in.so we got married, after a year we got physically separated. he didnt support our daughter since we separate. and now i have bf and willing to marry me the problem is i dont know what grounds i can get to start the annulment. he has girlfriends to rytnow my brother met his girlfriends and told his girlfriend my brother is his cousin. atty, do u think i am capable of getting an annulment and if i do how much money do u think we will need. Hope u can advised me im very confuse and depressed. thank u so so much in advance.

  4. 97 Atty. Fred Jun 13th, 2007 at 8:24 am

    Shyne, you can read the answers in this article -
    https://jlp-law.com/blog/steps-procedure-in-annulment-declaration-nullity-of-marriage/

    Deesian, it may or may not be the best option, depending on your situation. I’m saying this because legal advice, aside from the fact that it is not allowed here, is properly formed based on facts. This is done through discussions with your lawyer. There is a discussion on presumptive death in this site and I guess you will have an idea on the pros and cons after reading that article. Here’s the link -
    https://jlp-law.com/blog/presumptive-death-of-a-spouse-for-subsequent-marriage/#comment-7845
    (I believe, though, that you’ve read that article because you have a comment there).

    Jenron, as stated earlier, there’s really no fixed timeframe for a petition for annulment or declaration of nullity. It could take months or years to finish, depending on so many factors. What you could do is to ask your lawyer for a copy of the case file (you should have it in the first place), then go over it. You’ll have an idea what happened by reading your case file. Good luck.

  5. 96 jenron Jun 8th, 2007 at 10:31 pm

    Thank you for the reply atty. Fred.My bf lawyer told him that its gonna take only less than a year at maaannul na daw cya,just pay the whole amount kaya binayaran nga ng bf ko the whole amount.Sabi ng lawyer mga 5mtnhs or 6mths maannuled na daw cya pero almost 1 yr na nagkaroon daw ng problem sa mga papers work.Sa palgay niyo ba atty. niloloko lng cya ng lawyer niya kc binayaran na niya lahat ang lawyer.Pls helps us nmn kung anong gagawin namin kung magpapalit nmn kami ng lawyer masasayang lng un binayad namin at panibagong hintay n nmn pls give us some advise naguguluhan na po kami…thank you atty. ilan taon ba talga ang kelangan hintayin para maannul?Pls reply

  6. 95 deesian Jun 7th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

    My wife left last 1984 and since then I have never hear from her. I don’t know her whereabouts. All I know is she’s staying somewhere in Mindanao. I wanted to file PRESUMPTIVE DEATH OF MY ABSENT SPOUSE. I’m thinking of marrying someone, Is this the right course of action?

  7. 94 shyne Jun 7th, 2007 at 3:29 am

    sana nga po eh.. pero grabe sya.. he is not even professional when he is dealing with me. Pero I didnt have a choice since I signed him up. Prosecutor kse sya and he told me that he has a law ofc, pero un pala he just paid some lawyers to appear every time na me hearing. and I even told him about the new ruling on annulment that was approved last March 2003. He doesnt even know anything about that. Ang tanda na nya pero bastos sya makipagusap. I just need the Decree of Annulment from him. Other than that bahala na sya.

    I asked him the same question and he doesnt know the answer. Hope you can help me. Thanks

  8. 93 Atty. Fred Jun 7th, 2007 at 2:52 am

    Jenron, it may be better to wait…unless someone can say it’s the other way around.

    Shyne, in deference to a brother-in-profession, I’d urge you to reconsider your statement that your lawyer is not good. In fairness to him/her, he/she was able to assist you in securing a favorable judgment. I’d like to believe that he/she can answer your questions =)

  9. 92 shyne Jun 7th, 2007 at 2:27 am

    Dear Atty,

    I have the finality and the court decision na po for my annulment. What are the next steps? My lawyer is not good.

    Also, I read in your post that I need to register the finality and the court decision to the court where the decision was granted and to where the marriage happened. AFter that whats next?

    And ung sa NSO po. San pong NSO dapat iparegister ung annnulment? Where i got married or sa Main NSO?

    Please advise. Thanks!!

  1. 91 Annulment, Divorce and Legal Separation in the Philippines: Questions and Answers at Atty-at-Work Pingback on Jun 18th, 2007 at 1:29 pm

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