Persons Family Code

Article 31 Requisites for the Ratification of Marital Cohabitation

Marriages in articulo mortis between passengers or crew 1. Contracting parties must have lived together as husband
members may also be solemnized by a ship captain or by an and wife at least 5 yrs before the marriage they are
airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea or the plan is in entering into
flight, but also during stopovers at ports of call 2. No legal impediment of any kind must exist
3. Requirements must be stated in affidavit before person
Article 32 authorized by law to administer oaths
A military commander of a unit who is a commissioned 4. Necessary affidavit of the person solemnizing the
officer, shall likewise have authority to solemnize marriages in marriage
articulo mortis between persons within the zone of military
operation, whether members of the armed forces or civilians Reason for this article: persons cohabitating may be
discouraged to legalize their status if they have to undergo the
*Art31 and 32 are special cases of marriages in articulo mortis. process of acquiring a marriage license.
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 *considered an exceptional marriage; for people cohabitating
mortis. for at least 5 yrs, an affidavit is sufficient to legalize their
status of married people
Article 33
Marriages among Muslims or among members of the ethnic
cultural communities may be performed validly without the CHAPTER 3
necessity of a marriage license, provided that they are VOID VOIDABLE
solemnized in accordance with their customs, rites or practices. Can never be ratified Can generally be ratified by
free cohabitation
- No judicial notice of Mohammedan rites and customs for Always void Valid until annulled
marriage; must be alleged and proved in court. Can be attacked directly or Cannot be assailed
- Consistent with Art14 Sec17 of 1987 Consti which states collaterally collaterally; there must be a
that “the State shall recognize, respect, and protect the direct proceeding
rights of indigenous cultural communities, to preserve No conjugal partnership; only There is conjugal partnership
and develop their cultures traditions, and institutions. It co-ownership
shall consider these rights in the formulation of national *collateral attack – an attempt to defeat a judgment through a
plans and policies.” separate action instead of an appeal or other direct attack

Article 34 2 Kinds of impediment in Marriages

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.
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 children’s
presumptive legitimes
- insanity (this merely renders the marriage voidable).
*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
- 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 person’s spouse, or his or her own
spouse
Other void marriages:
1. Marriages in a play, drama or movie;
2. Marriages between two boys or two girls;
3. Marriages in jest;
4. 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.