Persons Family Code Article 31 Marriages in articulo mortis between passengers or crew members may also be solemnized by a ship

captain or by an airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea or the plan is in flight, but also during stopovers at ports of call Article 32 A military commander of a unit who is a commissioned officer, shall likewise have authority to solemnize marriages in articulo mortis between persons within the zone of military operation, whether members of the armed forces or civilians *Art31 and 32 are special cases of marriages in articulo mortis. People in 31 and 32 have to be in articulo mortis. Other people like a judge or a consul can perform a marriage in articulo mortis. Article 33 Marriages among Muslims or among members of the ethnic cultural communities may be performed validly without the necessity of a marriage license, provided that they are solemnized in accordance with their customs, rites or practices. No judicial notice of Mohammedan rites and customs for marriage; must be alleged and proved in court. Consistent with Art14 Sec17 of 1987 Consti which states that the State shall recognize, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities, to preserve and develop their cultures traditions, and institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national plans and policies.

Article 34 No license shall be necessary for the marriage of a man and woman who have lived together as husband and wife for at least 5 yrs and without any legal impediment to marry each other. The contracting parties shall state the foregoing facts in an affidavit before any person authorized by law to administer oaths. The solemnizing officer shall also state under oath that he ascertained the qualifications of the contracting parties and found no legal impediment to the marriage. Requisites for the Ratification of Marital Cohabitation 1. Contracting parties must have lived together as husband and wife at least 5 yrs before the marriage they are entering into 2. No legal impediment of any kind must exist 3. Requirements must be stated in affidavit before person authorized by law to administer oaths 4. Necessary affidavit of the person solemnizing the marriage Reason for this article: persons cohabitating may be discouraged to legalize their status if they have to undergo the process of acquiring a marriage license. *considered an exceptional marriage; for people cohabitating for at least 5 yrs, an affidavit is sufficient to legalize their status of married people

CHAPTER 3 VOID Can never be ratified VOIDABLE Can generally be ratified by free cohabitation Valid until annulled Cannot be assailed collaterally; there must be a direct proceeding There is conjugal partnership

Always void Can be attacked directly or collaterally No conjugal partnership; only coownership *collateral attack an attempt to defeat a judgment through a separate action instead of an appeal or other direct attack

2 Kinds of impediment in Marriages 1. Diriment Impediments make marriage void (like close blood relationship or prior existing marriage) 2. Prohibitive impediments do not affect validity but criminal prosecution may follow Other Classification of Impediments 1. Absolute person cannot marry at all 2. Relative prohibition only with respect to certain persons (bcoz of relationship?) Article 35 The following shall be void from the beginning (void ab initio) 1. Contracted by any party below 18, even with consent of parents or guardians 2. Solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages EXEMPTION: unless such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that solemnizing officer had legal authority to do so 3. Solemnized without a license EXEMPTION: those under Chapter 2 - point of death (normal, plane, ship or commissioned officer military commander within zone of military operation); - remote place; - Muslims and other ethnic cultural communities (even Mohammedans but must be proved in court); - cohabitation for at least 5 years 4. Bigamous or polygamous not falling under Article 41 (absentee spouse) 5. Contracted with mistake of one party as to the identity of the other 6. Subsequent marriages void under Article 53 not having recorded the following in the appropriate civil registry: judgment of the annulment or the absolute nullity of the marriage; - the partition and distribution of the properties of the spouses; - and the delivery of the childrens presumptive legitimes *Mail order brides is an unlawful practice Article 36

A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its solemnization Psychological incapacity as ground to render marriage void - Psychologically incapable of complying with the essential marital obligations of marriage - Need not be manifested before or during the marriage (celebration) - Basic requirement: psych defect be existing during the marriage or at the time of the wedding - Definition: condition of a person who does not have the mind, will and heart for the performance of marriage obligations - Must be lasting clear that the subject will not be rid of his incapacity considering - Peculiar socio-cultural milieu of his marriage - Actual situation - Concrete person of his spouse - Came from Canon Law Code, Canon 1095, paragraph 3: They are incapable of contracting marriage, who are not capable of assuming the essential obligations of matrimony due to causes of a psychological nature - This makes psychological incapacity accepted in civil law as ground for civil marriage annulment (although it has already been favored for years in the annulment of Catholic religion marriage). - If church may declare a marriage void on the ground of psycho incapacity, the same may be the cause for the cancellation of marriage not legal separation in civil courts without the necessity of prior church cancellation - With this provision, it may seem like we have a semblance of divorce in the Phils. But annulment is not divorce. - Does not refer to mental incapacity tantamount to insanity (this merely renders the marriage voidable). - Existence of psyho incapacity crucially depends on the facts of the case. - Concept of psycho incapacity as a ground for nullity of marriage is NOVEL in Phil laws. But mental incapacity has long been recognized as a ground for the dissolution of marriage - Personal examination by a physician is NOT required for the spouse to be declared psychologically incapacitated - HAS BEEN DISPENSED WITH following the ruling on Marcos v. Marcos - Effect of the rule expert opinion need not be alleged there is also no need to allege the root cause fo the psych incapacity; only experts in the fields of neurological and behavioral sciences are competent to determine the root cause of psych incapacity - When it is no longer necessary to allege expert opinion, psych incapacity must be established by the totality of the evidence presented during trial. - If evidence does not appear to be symptomatic of a grave psychological disorder, it will not be sufficient to support psych incapacity

Law intended to confine psycho incapacity to the most serious cases or personality disorders clearly demonstrative of an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage Every circumstance that may have some bearing on the degree, extent, and other conditions of that incapacity must be carefully examined and evaluated so that no precipitate and indiscriminate nullity is peremptorily decreed.

Reasons of the Supreme Court for arriving at this(?) conclusion: 1. Jurisprudence recognized that psycho incapacity is a grave and permanent malady depriving one of awareness of duties of the matrimonial bond 2. State interest in promoting marriage as the foundation of the nation, it must defend against marriages that are ill-equipped to promote family 3. A person unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality would not be able to comprehend the legal nature of the marital bond, much less its psychic meaning and obligations of marriage including parenting 4. Psycho incapacity is medically or clinically permanent or incurable. Incurability may be relative only with the other spouse, not necessarily against everyone of the same sex *article 36 is not to be confused with Divorce Laws or Legal Separation Amy Perez-Ferraris v Brix Ferraris it is not enough to prove that the parties failed to meet their responsibilities and duties as married persons - It is essential that they must be shown to be INCAPABLE OF DOING SO, due to some psychological, not physical, illness. - An unsatisfactory marriage is NOT considered null and void Chi Ming Tsoi v. CA and Gina La-Tsoi - Constant non-fulfillment of one of the essential marital obligations to procreate children based on the universal principle that procreation of children thru sexual cooperation as the basic end of marriage will destroy the integrity or wholeness of marriage - Senseless and protracted refusal of one of the parties is equivalent to psych incapacity Republic v. Molina - Burden of proof to show nullity of marriage falls on plaintiff; any doubt must be resolved in favor of marriage and against its nullity - Root cause of psych incapacity must be - Medically identified - Alleged in complaint - Sufficiently proven by experts - Clearly explained in decision - Interpretations given by the National Appellate Matrimony Tribunal of Catholic Church is not controlling but must be given respect by the Church - NO DECISION shall be handed down unless Solicitor General issues a certification stating his reasons for agreeing or opposing to petition which must be submitted within 15 days from the date the case is submitted for

resolution HAS BEEN DISPENSED WITH following the implementation of the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages. Must be relative to the other spouse, not necessarily to everyone else; and must be relevant to assumption of marriage obligations, NOT to those not related to marriage

Psychological Incapacity Reexamined - Should refer to mental incapacity causing a party to be truly cognitive of basic marital covenants that must be assumed. Mutual obligations include: observe love, respect, fidelity and render help and support - Contradictory to characterize an act as a product of psych incapacity (thus beyond the control of the party due to an innate disability) while considering the same set of acts as willful. Since one claims to be truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants, there is no basis to contend that the petitioner purposely deceived the private respondent - To be ground for declaration of nullity of marriage, psych incapacity must be characterized by juridical antecedence, gravity and incurability. - Sexual infidelity is not sufficient proof. Acts of unfaithfulness must be shown as manifestations of a personality that makes petitioner completely unable to discharge the duties and obligations of marriage. Article 37 Marriages between the following are incestuous and void from the beginning, whether the relationship between the parties be legitimate or illegitimate 1. Ascendants and descendants of any degree 2. Brothers and sisters, full or half blood How are degrees computed? For direct line: Count all who are included then minus 1 For collateral (parallel/additional) line: count subject; then go up to the nearest common ancestor then count down to the other person, then minus 1 Article 38 The following shall be void from the beginning for reasons of public policy: 1. Between collateral blood relatives, legitimate or illegitimate up to fourth civil degree 2. Step parents and step-children 3. Parents in law and children in law 4. Adopting parent and the adopted child 5. Surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child 6. Surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter 7. Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter 8. Between adopted children of the same adopter 9. Parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed the other persons spouse, or his or her own spouse

Other 1. 2. 3. 4.

void marriages: Marriages in a play, drama or movie; Marriages between two boys or two girls; Marriages in jest; Common law marriages

A second marriage is not bigamous when the second marriage is null and void. A bigamous marriage is void, regardless of the good faith of either party. Stepbrothers and stepsisters are now allowed to marry each other under the Family Code. Parents in law have no impediments to get married provided in the law. Rule for Roman Catholic Priest: under the Civil Law, a priest is not a disqualification. It is therefore legally possible for a priest to have a legitimate child. Article 39 The action or defense for the declaration of absolute nullity of a marriage shall not prescribe Self explanatory; there is need to declare a void marriage as void or invalid Article 40 The absolute nullity of a previous marriage may be invoked for purposes of marriage on the basis solely of a final judgment declaring such previous marriage void - A void marriage must first be declared void, especially for purposes of remarriage - Final judgment declaring the previous marriage void need not be obtained only for purposes of remarriage - Judicial declaration of nullity was only required under the Family Code. Art40 is only applicable to remarriages after the effectivity of the Family Code on Aug. 3, 1988.