Annulment In The Philippines

A marriage in the Philippines can come to an end either by an “annulment” of by a “declaration of nullity of marriage”. Unfortunately, there is no divorce law in the Philippines except among Muslims or when the husband alone is a Muslim and the marriage was under Muslim rites.

In an annulment,  the marriage is valid in the beginning but there is a defect in how the consent to the marriage was obtained (fraud, lack of parental consent if the parties are between 18 and 21 years of age, one party is of unsound mind) or the other party would not have consented to the marriage  had he or she known about something which was discovered  after the marriage about the other spouse (impotence or failure to consummate the marriage, or an incurable sexually-transmitted disease). However, when the parties in the marriage continue to live together , any of  the grounds for annulment cannot be  used anymore to dissolve the marriage with the exception of the grounds of impotence and having a sexually transmitted disease. Children of a voidable marriage are legitimate. Generally, a petition for annulment can be filed within five years from discovery of the ground.

In a declaration of nullity, on the other hand, the marriage is void from the very beginning either because any one of the parties is not capacitated to even consent to the marriage ( under 18 years of age) , an essential requirement of the law was not followed (lack of a marriage license, lack of authority of the one who officiated the marriage), mistake in the identity of the other party, and psychological incapacity. A void marriage cannot be cured by living together no matter for how long. Children of a void marriage generally are illegitimate except if the ground used is psychological incapacity. Since the marriage is void from the very start, filing a petition for declaration of nullity does not prescribe and can be filed anytime.