Annulment vs.

Nullity of Marriage in the Philippines

By LMG Law Office

Firm's Profile & Articles

Call +639178045910

Find a Law Firm:

Type any w ord(s)

City, State or Country

A marriage declared by the court as null and void connotes that the
marriage entered into by the parties is inexistent as if no marriage ever
took place between them. Parties who enter into a marriage are presumed
to have done so legally which renders their marriage binding and valid and
may not be presumed by the parties to be otherwise simply because of
their personal belief that a ground for its invalidity exists.

Such ground must first and foremost be determined and ruled upon by a competent
court exercising jurisdiction in order to legally sever the marital ties between the
parties.
When a marriage is believed to be null and void from the beginning depending on
the grounds used, the action filed in Court is a Petition for the Declaration of
Absolute Nullity of Marriage and not Annulment as the two actions are entirely
different with each other not only on the grounds but also with the legal effects
thereto.
The grounds for this petition are enumerated in the Family Code of the Philippines
like the lack of the essential and formal requisites of Marriage such as no legal
capacity to enter into marriage, those marriages which are considered as against

public policy such as incestuous and bigamous marriages, those which did not
conform to the requirement set forth by the Family Code and those marriages where
one or both parties is psychologically incapacitated to perform the marital
obligations thereto.
Annulment vs. Nullity of Marriage in the Philippines

Annulment vs. Nullity of Marriage in the Philippines

A marriage declared by the court as null and void connotes that the marriage
entered into by the parties is inexistent as if no marriage ever took place between
them.
A voidable marriage on the hand is filed through a petition of Annulment before
the court of competent jurisdiction and is a marriage which enjoys the presumption
of validity until a declared as annulled. Articles 45 and 46 of the Family Code
enumerate the grounds thereof. Annulment connotes that a contract is valid and
existing but was only cancelled or annulled. Therefore, the grounds for void
marriages cannot be used in voidable marriages as the latter presupposes that
there was no existing marriage hence there is nothing to be annulled.
Furthermore, a voidable marriage can only be filed within the prescriptive period set
forth by the Family Code. If for example the grounds used for the Petition for the
Annulment of Marriage is Fraud, Vitiated Consent, Incapability to Consummate or
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, the prescriptive period thereof is five (5) years from
the discovery of Fraud, Five (5) years from the time the intimidation, undue
influence or force has disappeared, or within 5 years after the marriage ceremony in
cases of Incapability to consummate or when the ground is based on Sexually
Transmitted Diseases.
The grounds for void marriages on the other hand do not prescribe. Hence,
regardless of the ground used, the party seeking the nullity of the marriage may do
so even beyond five (5) years.