You thought you’ve found your perfect match. You thought your marriage is bound to last forever, or, at the very least, until the last breath. You’ve thought wrong, you say, and you now think of seeking legal remedy to end your marriage. Here are “steps” or suggestions in deciding whether to step out of the ring or not:
1. Make sure it is the last resort. As stated in a previous post, love and marriage are supposed to be forever. Try all options, like counseling, to make it work. If there’s no progress, weigh your options. On the other side of the scale is the reality that getting into another relationship or marriage, while the first marital bond is still existing, is a sure way of courting criminal liability (adultery, concubinage, bigamy). A subsequent petition for declaration of nullity/annulment of marriage is not a defense in the criminal action.
2. Realize that it will cost you. Getting out of marriage is sometimes more expensive than getting into one. Expenses include the fees for your lawyer or counsel, filing fees, professional fees for the psychiatrist or psychologist (if the ground is psychological incapacity), etc.
3. Discuss the custody of children, visitation rights, property arrangements and support. Custody over children and separation of properties in annulment are among the most bitter issues in annulment. As much as possible, discuss and agree on these matters beforehand.
4. Make sure to invoke a valid ground. Marriage is an inviolable social institution and any doubt is resolved in its favor. Hence, make sure there’s sufficient basis to go through the procedure discussed below.
The procedure provided under the Rules on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages is discussed below. Please note that a petition for “annulment” refers to voidable marriages, which are valid until annulled by the court, while a petition for “declaration of nullity” refers to marriages that are considered void or inexistent from the very beginning. There are other differences (e.g., legitimate status of children, property relations between the spouses, prescription and ratification), but let’s leave those for another day. For convenience, we shall refer to both petitions as “annulment”.
1. Preparation and filing of the petition. The petition may be filed, at the option of the spouse who filed it (called the “petitioner”), in the Family Court of the province or city where the petitioner or the other spouse (called the “respondent”) resides for the last 6 months prior to the date of filing, or in the case of a non-resident respondent, 7where he/she may be found in the Philippines. An Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) may file the petition even while abroad. Incidentally, upon filing of the petition or anytime thereafter, the court may issue provisional and protective orders.
2. Service of Summons. In simplest terms, this is giving notice to the respondent. Where the respondent cannot be located at the given address or the whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent inquiry, service of summons may be done by publication. This is crucial because the court cannot validly proceed without service of summons.
3. Answer. The respondent must answer within 15 days from service of summons (or within 30 days from the last issue of publication in case of service of summons by publication). Unlike in civil cases, the respondent in annulment proceedings is not declared in default if no answer is filed, but the public prosecutor shall be ordered to investigate whether collusion exists between the parties.
4. Investigation report of public prosecutor. The public prosecutor prepares a report on whether there is collusion between the parties. If the court is convinced that collusion exists, it shall dismiss the petition; otherwise, the court shall set the case for pre-trial conference. The Rules dispensed with the requirement, as provided in Molina, that the Solicitor General issue a certification stating his reasons for his agreement or opposition to the petition.
5. Pre-trial conference. During the mandatory pre-trial conference, the court and the parties deal with certain matters, such as stipulation of facts, for the purpose of expediting the proceedings. The petition may be dismissed if the petitioner fails to appear during pre-trial. At this stage, the court may also refer the issues to a mediator who shall assist the parties in reaching an agreement on matters not prohibited by law (no compromise allowed in civil status of persons, validity of marriage or of legal separation, grounds for legal separation, jurisdiction of courts, and future support and legitime). The court may also require a social worker to conduct a case study and submit a report at least 3 days before the pre-trial conference, or at any stage of the case whenever necessary.
6. Trial. This is the stage where the ground for annulment is proved and opposed. The court may order the exclusion from the courtroom of all persons, including members of the press, who do not have a direct interest in the case.
7. Decision. After the trial proper, the court renders its decision, which is different from the Decree of annulment. A decision, whether granting or dismissing the petition, becomes final upon the expiration of 15 days from notice to the parties.
8. Appeal. The aggrieved party or the Solicitor General may appeal from the decision within 15 days from notice of denial of the motion for reconsideration or new trial.
9. Liquidation, partition and distribution, custody, support of common children and delivery of their presumptive legitimes. These are done upon entry of the judgment granting the petition.
10. Issuance of Decree of annulment. The court issues the Decree after: (i) registration of the entry of judgment granting the annulment in the Civil Registry where the marriage was celebrated and in the Civil Registry of the place where the court is located; (ii) registration of the approved partition and distribution of the properties of the spouses in the proper Register of Deeds where the real properties are located; and (iii) delivery of the children’s presumptive legitimes in cash, property, or sound securities.
11. Registration of the Decree. The Decree must be registered in the Civil Registry where the marriage was registered, the Civil Registry of the place where the court is situated, and in the National Census and Statistics Office.
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EPV, I strongly suggest you read these posts: Q&A on annulment and divorce, and legal support. I can’t give you any legal advice because lawyers are prohibited from doing so in the absence of an attorney-client relationship. I also suggest you use the search function at the right sidebar (scroll down if you can’t see it), some of your questions are already covered in other discussions.
kathara, I assume that you already have a lawyer handling your case. Kindly seek his/legal opinion.
Sir, would like to know if I can still file a petition for annulment if I already filed a petition for legal separation which is currently pending. Must the legal separation case be dismissed first? Or both can subsist?
My husband and I were separated literraly but not legally for 3 years but we still have communication for quite sometime. We have one child, My ex-husband is giving support to my son amounting to 10,000 monthly and he shoulder the education.But normally the monthly allowance of my son is always delay for 2 weeks. On my part I shoulder the house rental, utilities,electricity and monthly budget of food and some unexpected expenses .He is presently working overseas and he earns 120,000 monthly. I’m also working overseas since last year and I’m earning 35,000 pesos monthly. Just want to inquire how much is the legal amount that my son should receive from his father?Do I still have rights to demand any financial matter to him since we are still legally married?One more thing is there any possibility that he can marry abroad and their marriage will be valid?What is our rights (my son and me)being the legal family?
YVR_BC, it usually lasts about a year, but it could be faster or it could drag on longer depending on contingencies. As mentioned before, for costs, this is properly discussed between you and your lawyer (or, if you want, you can get the contact details here).
By the way, allow me to clarify some matters. I don’t mind giving a quick reply, but, in most instances, I just can’t; I have hearings and clients to attend to (plus, I have to balance that with my baby boy and wife). I can’t give any legal opinion on your situation because I am prohibited from doing so. Lastly, I don’t know all the answers, and, in such instance, I’d admit that I don’t know.
Good luck and God bless.
Considering you know all the answers, would you please briefly give me an estimate of how long it will take and how much it will cost to get an annulment these days? I tried reading everything I can find but it’s too much of an eyesore. I hope you don’t mind giving a quick reply.
If you need to know the grounds and complication of the matter, to be able to do an estimate, please read on;
I got married in January 1996, I left Manila 3 days later and haven’t been back since. The person I married have been living with someone else for years now and they also have, last I heard, 5 kids. I think they don’t even make enough to live, so as much as they’d like to do so, applying for an annulment is not possible in their part. I would like to do them a favour by filing an annulment myself but am not sure if I want to shoulder the cost considering I haven’t got a need as I haven’t got plans to remarry nor do I want to go thru so much trouble again. I do not wish to be with this person nor do I want to take this person away from the children. For the sake of the children, I might consider it.
Thanks for your time.
Liv, there’s another post on that here. Please try the search function at the right sidebar (specially for future questions). In the meantime, let me make your search easier – click here to go to that article.
I would like to know the difference between Legal Separation and Annulment. Is it the same thing?
k_pm, your question was already answered somewhere in this site.
eiru03, it really depends on what particular legal transaction you’re referring to. Correction of a mispelled name is now relatively easy. Please check this article. Good luck.
to all the attorneys,
i would like to know if the same name but different spelling is still valid especially when it comes to legal matters? i am very confused…pls help me. thank you
I would like to inquire about the role the state regarding filing a bigamy case. Can anyone file the charges if somebody they know commited the crime? A family member of the spouse or friend?
Everything’s clear enough. Tnx!
Prosec Josa, thanks for bringing that up.
Just a little clarification on the role of the State. The certification from the prosecutor that there is no collusion between the parties is different from the certification from the Solicitor-General opposing or agreeing with the petition. The former is still the prevailing requirement while the latter has already been dispensed with.