The documents required in an annulment in the Philippines must now be filed electronically.
The new requirement was announced in a Resolution of the Supreme Court dated 04 February 2025. Previously, only documents in civil cases were required to be filed electronically. Documents and other papers in Special Proceedings like Petitions for Declaration of Nullity of Marriage or Annulment Cases in the Philippines are now covered by this new rule.
An exception to this rule is the initial or first pleading consisting of the Petition and its attached documents which still must be filed personally in court.
Annulment in the Philippines generally refers to the two ways by which a marriage can be dissolved . There is no divorce law in the Philippines.
Common grounds for annulment in the Philippines are psychological incapacity, lack of a marriage license, or minority of any one of the parties. The most utilized ground is psychological incapacity which has been given a wide scope by decisions of the Supreme Court.
The annnulment process in the Philippines starts with a psychological evaluation and the submission of documents which prove the residence of the parties to the marriage, the marriage certificate, and the birth certificates of the children, if any.
After the filing of the Petition itself and the required documents, hearings will be scheduled for the testimonies of the Petitioner, the psychologist , and the corroborating witnesses.
The new rule which mandates electronic filing of papers and documents will certainly help to facilitate the process especially for parties and witnesses in annulment cases who reside in remote provinces in the Philippines or in a foreign country. This will also minimize the cost of annulment in the Philippines. It will also go a long way in reducing the time to process an annulment in the Philippines or how long it takes to work through the court system.
This development is a culmination of the efforts of the Supreme Court of the Philippines to modernize the judiciary which started during the pandemic when restrictions and shelter in place mandates prevented the physical filing of documents and actual personal appearance in court. Another step towards this was the adoption of guidelines for the conduct of videoconference hearings for witnesses who live abroad and could not physically be present in court.
