Domingo vs CA

Domingo vs. CA
226 SCRA 572

FACTS:
Soledad Domingo, married with Roberto Domingo in 1976, filed a petition for the
declaration of nullity of marriage and separation of property. She did not know
that Domingo had been previously married to Emerlinda dela Paz in 1969. She
came to know the previous marriage when the latter filed a suit of bigamy
against her. Furthermore, when she came home from Saudi during her onemonth leave from work, she discovered that Roberto cohabited with another
woman and had been disposing some of her properties which is administered by
Roberto. The latter claims that because their marriage was void ab initio, the
declaration of such voidance is unnecessary and superfluous. On the other
hand, Soledad insists the declaration of the nullity of marriage not for the
purpose of remarriage, but in order to provide a basis for the separation and
distribution of properties acquired during the marriage.
ISSUE: Whether or not a petition for judicial declaration should only be filed for
purposes of remarriage.
HELD:
The declaration of the nullity of marriage is indeed required for purposed of
remarriage. However, it is also necessary for the protection of the subsequent
spouse who believed in good faith that his or her partner was not lawfully
married marries the same. With this, the said person is freed from being
charged with bigamy.
When a marriage is declared void ab initio, law states that final judgment shall
provide for the liquidation, partition and distribution of the properties of the
spouses, the custody and support of the common children and the delivery of
their presumptive legitimes, unless such matters had been adjudicated in
previous judicial proceedings. Soledads prayer for separation of property will
simply be the necessary consequence of the judicial declaration of absolute
nullity of their marriage. Hence, the petitioners suggestion that for their
properties be separated, an ordinary civil action has to be instituted for that
purpose is baseless. The Family Code has clearly provided the effects of the
declaration of nullity of marriage, one of which is the separation of property
according to the regime of property relations governing them.

CASE DIGEST ON DOMINGO V. CA [226 SCRA 572 (1993)] - A spouse may petition for the declaration
of nullity of her marriage for a purpose other than her remarriage.
F: Delia Domingo filed a pet. for decl. of nullity of her marriage w/ Roberto Domingo, on the ground that,
unknown to her, he was previously married at the time of their marriage. She prays that their marriage be
declared null and void and, as a consequence, to declare that she is the exclusive owner of all properties
she acquired during the marriage and to recover them from him.
Roberto moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that the marriage being void ab initio, the petition for
decl. of nullity is unnecessary citing Peo. v. Aragon and Peo. v. Mendoza. Roberto claims that decl of
nullity is necessary under Art. 40, FC only for the purpose of remarriage. The lower court denied the
motion. CA affirmed the denial.
HELD: The Declaration of nullity of a marriage under Art. 40 may be resorted to even for a purpose other
than remarriage.
Crucial to the proper interpretation of Art. 40 is the position of the word "solely." xxx. As it is placed, it is
meant to qualify "final judgment." Had the provision been stated as follows: "The absolute nullity of a
previous marriage may be invoked solely for purposes of remarriage...," the word "solely" will qualify "for

purposes of remarriage" and the husband would have been correct.

That Art. 40 as finally formulated included the significant clause denotes that such final judgment
declaring the previous marriage void need not be obtained only for purposes of remarriage.