10.

Affinity
Affinity in the direct line in any degree
invalidates a marriage.

The impediment of affinity is based in a

marital relationship.
 Affinity arises from a valid marriage,
whether it is consummated or not.

It does not arise between the blood relatives

of the man and those of woman.

A person is related by affinity to his or her

spouses blood relatives in the same line
and degree as his or her spouse is related to
them by consanguinity.
 Since affinity is an ecclesiastical law
impediment, it no longer affects the
marriages of two non-Catholics, whether
baptized or not.

The principle remains the same: count the

persons. So, in the direct line and first
degree, we find a mother-in-law and
sons-in-law, a stepfather and a step-
daughter.
Direct line
a. His deceased wifes mother
b. His deceased wifes grandmother
c. His deceased wifes daughter
d. His deceased wifes granddaughter

Collateral line
e. His deceased wifes sister or half-sister
f. His deceased wifes brothers/ sisters
daughters.
g. His deceased wifes aunt
The New Family Code of the Philippines
(Article 3:2) states that the following
marriages shall also be void from the
beginning.

Between step-parents and step children.

11. Public Decency
The impediment of public decency arises
from an invalid marriage after common life
has been established or from notorious and
public concubinage.

This impediment is of ecclesiastical origin

and dispensation may be granted by the local
ordinary.
12. Legal
Relationship
(Adoption)
Those who are related in the direct line or in
the second degree of the collateral line by a
legal relationship arising from adoption
The New Family Code of the Philippines (Article
38:4, 5, 6, 7, 8) states that the following shall be
void from the beginning:

Between the adopting father or mother and the

adopted.
Between the latter (adopted) and the surviving
spouse of the former (adopting father or mother).
Between the former (adopting father or mother)
and the surviving spouse of the latter (adopted).
Between the legitimate children of the adopter and
the adopted.
Diriment Impediment
renders a person incapable of validly
contracting a marriage.
There are two laws:
1. Divine/natural laws and
2. Ecclesiastical law

Only the ecclesiastical law can be dispensed.

The dispensation is granted by the local
Ordinary and the Apostolic See.
Impediments that cannot be dispensed
because it is governed by Divine Law:
1. Impotence
2. Previous Bond
3. Consanguinity
Impediments whose dispensation is
reserved to the Holy See:
4. Sacred Orders
5. Public Perpetual Vow of Chastity in Religious
Institute of the Pontifical Right
6. Crime
Impediments whose dispensation is
reserved to the Local Ordinary (in danger
of death):
1. Age
2. Disparity of Cult
3. Abduction
4. Affinity
5. Public Propriety
6. Adoption
 GROUNDS FOR
VOIDABLE
MARRIAGES

Voidable marriages are those which are

defective at the time of the marriage but the
ties of matrimony remain intact (ie., the
Voidable marriages under Article 45 of the Family
Code are as follows:

1. Those marriages in which either party was underaged

and there was a failure to obtain the consent of the
parents, guardian or person having substitute parental
authority of the underaged party,
2. Either party was of unsound mind,
3. The consent of one of the parties was obtained
through force, undue influence, intimidation or
fraud,
4. Either party was suffering from physical and
incurable incapacity to consummate the marriage,
5. Either party was afflicted with serious and
Grounds For Voidable Marriages

1. Absence of Consent from the Parents

or Guardians

If either or both of the parties are between

18 years of age but below 21 years of age, it is
necessary for them to get the consent from
either of these individuals will make your
marriage annullable.
2. Vitiation of Consent: Use of Force,
Intimidation or Undue Influence in
Getting the
Consent of a Party

Anytime force, intimidation or undue

influence is exerted by one of the parties or
anyone else to make a party say I do
breathing down the barrel of a gun, consent is
vitiated or nullifies. The law nullifies this type
 To be classified as a valid cause for
annulment, the degree of force exerted must
be in the serious and irresistible physical
power (Article 1335, Civil Code).
Undue influence is an amorphous term that
begs for a precise legal definition.
To determine the existence of undue
influence, factors such as family, religious and
other close relationships between the parties
are considered.
3. Employment of Fraud in Getting
Consent

The concept of fraud, to constitute a

ground for annulment, is extremely limited
under the Family Code.

There are only four types of fraud that are

legally recognized as grounds for annulment of
marriages and all four of them involve the
concealment or failure to reveal a material
These four instances are as follows:

1. Non-disclosure of a previous
conviction by final judgment of the other
party of a crime involving moral turpitude,
2. Concealment by a wife of the fact that at
the time of the marriage, she was pregnant
by a man other than her husband,
3. Concealment of a sexually
transmissible disease, regardless of its
nature, existing at the time of the marriage
4. Concealment of drug addiction, habitual
alcoholism, homosexuality or lesbianism at
the time of the marriage.

The list of fraudulent instances that are

legally allowed to form the bases for an
annulment action is exclusive in nature.
The exclusive nature of the enumeration or
misrepresentation that refers to chastity,
health, habits character, that could be used to
annul marriages.