Documente Academic
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Effectivity
Effectivity Date:
Date:
03
03 August
August 1998
1998
TITLE I
MARRIAGE
CHAPTER I
REQUISITIES OF MARRIAGE
) .: I
Art 1. Marriage is a special contract 01 permanent
union
between i:lbtan and a woman entered into in accordance
with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It
is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social insti-
tution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are gov-
erned by law and not subject to stipulation, except that mar-
riage settlements may fix the property relations during the
marriage within the limits provided by this Code (52a).
t
I
2 Art. 1
~:!~~:~wt!ln
!Absence of Essentjal or Formal Requisites Distinluished
Essential "Uisite and Inell'lullJ in a
boy for reproduction (or their having already reached the age
of puberty) and not on their maturity and freedom of
judgment.
Experience under the Civil Code, and records of our
courts show, however, that immaturity of the parties or teen-
age marriages is the main cause of marriage break-ups, since
the parties are too young to understand and are not yet
prepared for the lifelong relationship of marriage with its
attendant responsibilities. Hence, the Family Code raises the
minimum age of marriage to 18 for both male and female.
Some quarters have criticized the raising of the age for
marriage by the Family Code to 18 years in that it might
result in live-in relationships between young people who
cannot wait to be 18 years before they elope and get married,
and in their having illegitimate children. But these young
couples can still get married upon reaching 18 years with
parental consent, if they still like to do so; and if they do, this
author believes that their children begotten before their
marriage would be legitimated., On the other hand, the
mistake of these young people will be compounded if they are
allowed to legally marry at such an early age or when they
are still too young to understand what marriage is, only for
them to realize later their mistake and eventually break up or
separate,
the marriage to write the name of said party, which fact shall
be attested by the solemnizing officer. (55a) ,
"..
Sec. 455 as to city mayors. Hence, mayors have again the authority
to solemnize marriages.
Art. 13
(1) The best proof of one's age is his birth certificate or, I,j
G) Ife :9.
accomplish the written consent before him.
ntal co~ent must be for the child to marry a
_.. specific' person; It cannot be consent to many anyone.
I - I
.20 Ad. 15
I
mere fact that no record of the marriage can be found, does
. not invalidate the marriage provided all the requisites for its
validity ilre frese~t ~a~t.equ~~. .A., 205 SCRA 33~. .
(3) e't;··· e certificate is, however the best eVIdence'
tha t - arrlage does exist. ===- ¥¥=
J
Art. 25. The local civil registrar concerned shall enter all
applications for marriage licenses filed with him in a
registry book strictly in the order in which the Same are
received. He shall record in said book the names of th~
applicants, the date on which the marriage license was
issued, and such other data as may be necessary.
3~i
, A r t '. on th e va l'd'
1 Ity 0f forei '.
oreign marriages \\app ures,~ V
D
however'lLiilf~Foreign marriages of foreigners or
of a Filipino a~ a urelgner are governed by the rules on
-b- Conflict of Laws.
3D
A)"'y t7'"teJl f Y
~ ~~lIhl;L V). 0,. b~(/(t1o 'tJ z,rod'-
CHAPTER 2 •
/:i"ic
')h~~d'" ~MARRIAGES EXEMPT FROM,THE
"'PI" :n ('" .;:". ,LICENSE R'EQUIREMENT' . ) , ..
_
Pr~~·Sfatement _'
.' •• I_!J ,. oj •• )
;,
. 1;'·
!,'
j
}ttL 27;, In' case 'either or b~th, of. the contracting parties
are at th~p'oint of death, the marriage 'may be solemnized
without th'eknecessilf'of a marriage license and shall remain
valid even if the ailing party subsequently survives. (72a)
,'32'
Arl.28
(2) The above article does 'not specify the distance of the
residence .of either F arty from the m\lniciP,al building.'
All that is required is that the.1'f7Sid~(:~le~wer 'party
be.so located that thereis no means or transportation to
en~ble such :pa~ty to, r;ppear before- ~e~ ~p~al civil
regISter.' . , . . . ' .. .'; .
(3) Art. 72 of the Civil Code requiresthat tnentshould
De no. railroad or provincial or local highways
between the party's residence and the municipal
building. The above. Article has' eliminated this
I •I ~
. ," j
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. :':; ~,~,-
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;.'~.'.:.: .. .~ :.Z,,)
;1
Arl. 31, Arl. 32 snd Arl. 33 3S
\,Ull
\ !he first marriage to declare their father's second marriage
and void for lack of marriage license.
~0\ ~ct',)w,,",Q '''' .\~e bF.. 't ,~+c;ll\,,''';C, l(l:?q eJ,~ 'JV',
Art JS
.
CHAPTER 3
I !
(a) May be attacked (a) Cannot be attacked
. directly or collaterally, COllaterally, only direct-
but for purpose of re- - Iy; i.e., there must be
5. As to how maniage, there must be decree of annulment.
marriage may judicial declaration of
be impugned: nullity. (Art. 40).
(b) Can still be impugned (b) Can no longer be
even after death of
parties.
impugned after death
of one of the parties.
-
I •
40
IP~!~!:rt~
Arhcle Pre§cnbel
to Dware the Marriale Void linder this
(c) Thus, the fact that respondent wife left her husband
-and baby two years after her marriage to work as a nurse in
the U.S. and never returned, and that her husband desperately
tried to locate her in the U.S. but all his efforts to find her
failed, were considered by the High Court not sufficient for
the wife to be considered "psychologically incapacitated" under
Art. 36 of the Family Code. The Court recognized that
petitioner husband had been aggrieved, but held that the
factual setting of his case does not come close to the standards
required to declare a nullity of marriage.
I
degree;
(2) Between step-parents and stepchildren;
(3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-laws
(4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child; I
(5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting
parent and the adopted child;
(6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child
and the adopter; •I
(7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of
the adopter; •
II
(8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; and
(9) Between parties where one with the intention to I
marry the other, killed that other person's spouse or
his or her own spouse. (82a)
S2 Al1.38
(2) The missing person was in the armed forces and had
taken part in war; or
(3) The miss,ing person was in danger of death under
other circumstances.
knew they were taking when they entered into such marriage,
SO that if it does happen, they have no reason to complain.
Unlike the Civil Code which does not provide for the
.effects of the termination of the subsequent marriage under its
Art. 83, the Family Code expressly provides for the effects of
the automatic termination of the subsequent marriage under
Art. 41 as follows:
(1) The children of the subsequent marriage conceived
before its termination shall be considered legitimate,
An. 41
(1) By the spouses having acted "in bad faith" under this
Article means that both spouses to the subsequent
marriage knew that the absent spouse was still alive
when they entered into said marriage.
(2) The spouses to the subsequent marriage being in bad
faith, their marriage is, as provided in the above
article, void ab initio, and they may even be
prosecuted for bigamy.
Alt. 45
Under Art. 85 of the Civil Code, there are six grounds for
annulment of marriage, namely:
(1) Lack of parental consent in cases where the parties
needed the same;
(2) TIle existing prior marriage of a person who, because
of the absence of his or her spouse, marries again;
en Insanity ofone of the parties;
(4) Fraud vitiating the consent Qf one of the parties;
(5) Violence or intimidation that vitiated the consent of
. one ot::the parties; and »>:
5. Impotency:
The above Article of the Family Code amends Art. 86 _of the
Civil Code as follows:
- over -
71 Ad. 17
lint spouse
Ourin~ lucid
interval or after
W (3) lnMne spouse regai~ aanity,
al8() before death
d other party.
I
. - (1) The provisions of Art. 43, pars. (2) to (5), and Art. 44,
shall also apply in proper cases to marriages declared
void lib initio or annulled under Arts. 40 and 45
hereof. Thus, in the liquidation of the absolute
community or conjugal partnership properties of the
annulled marriage, the following rules shall apply:
. (a) The share of the party who acted in bad faith in
the net profits shall be forfeited in favor of the
common children or, if none, the children of the
guilty spouse by a previous marriage, or in
default of-such children, the innocent spouse.
(b) Donations. by reason of marriage shall remain
valid, but donations in favor of the guilty spouse
shall be revoked by operation of law.
(c) The designation by the innocent spouse of the
guilty Ispouse as beneficiary in any insurance
policy may be revoked even if such designation
is stipulated as irrevocable. .
(d) The spouse in bad faith shall be disqualified to
inherit from the innocent spouse by testate or
intestate succession.
(e)' If both spouses are guilty, donations by reason of
marriage and testamentary dispositions made by
one in favor of the other shall be revoked' by
operation of law.
Art 51
LEGAL SEPARATION
!
,
There can be separation of property without legal
separation.
L~al Segllatioo Distinluished from SCRJration Dc Ea.do;
Art. 55
par. (1) of this Article. On the other hand, if the
guilty spouse is convicted and the penalty is more
than six years, it would fall under par. (4) of this
Article.
(3) If the act of the respondent spouse is justified, as
when a husband catches his wife in the act of
adultery, there is no ground for legal separation.
(4) Likewise, if the respondent spouse acts in self-
defense or in defense of a child against the unlawful
aggression of the other spouse, there is no ground
for legal separation.
(5) There is no need for criminal conviction for the
ground to be invoked.
(6) If the act is the result of criminal negligence, the
ground does not exist since there is no intent to kill.
Defenses Qiscussed: II
Under Art. 102 of the Civi Code, there are two periods to
consider in determining whether the action for legal separation
has prescribed, namely:
(1) The action must be filed within one year after
knowledge of the cause;
(2) The filing of the action must be within five years
from the occurrence of the cause.
The lapse of either period will bar the action, even if the
other period has not yet expired.
Thus, where the husband came to know of the adultery
of his wife in August 1950 but filed the action for legal
separation only in February, 1953, it was held that the action
has prescribed (Juarez v, Turon, 51 Phil. 736).
Under the above Article of the Family Code, however,
the first period (of one year from knowledge) has been
eliminated since the experience of our courts shows that many
aggrieved spouses (mostly wives) could not comply with such
period (which is too short) since they still resorted to other
100 Art. 58 6nd Art. 59
102 Ad. 60
Under Art. 101, sec. par., of the Civil Code, the court is
required to order the prosecuting attorney to inquire whether
collusion exists between the parties only in case of, non-
appearance of the defendant, and if there is no collusion, the
prosecuting attorney shall intervene for the State in order to
take care that the evidence for the plaintiff is not fabricated.
Under the above Article of the Family Code, however,
the court is required in every case to order its trial fiscal to
take steps to prevent collusion between the parties and to take
care that the evidence is not fabricated or suppressed. In other
words, whether the defendant answers the complaint or not,
/ and appears at the trial or not, the trial fiscal must always be
V--4
--t
present at the trial in representation of the State, and may
cross-examine the witnesses and the documentary evidence
presented to prevent the presentation of false evidence or the
j
suppression of the true evidence. The fiscal can also opposea.:-
the complaint or petition through the presentation of his own
evidence if in his opinion, the proof presented by the plaintiff
or the petitioner is insufficient, dubious or fabricated.
Arl. 61 snd Arl. 62 103
Can the Wife Dro.p the Name of Her Husband after the pe-
~ree of Lesal Smaratiop?
,
,• have already reconciled and the decree of legal separation, in
effect, has ceased to be effective.
The above provision of the Family Code now requires the
spouses, should they reconcile, to file a joint manifestation
under oath duly signed by both, in the same proceeding for
• legal separation. And this is true whether the proceeding is
still pending or it has already been terminated by a decree of
legal separation.
•,
I
(1) The legal separation proceedings, if still pending,
shall thereby be terminated in whatever stage; and
(2) .The final decree of legal separation shall be set
aside, but the separation of property and any
forfeiture of the share of the guilty spouse already
effected shall subsist, unless the spouses agree to
revive their former property regime.
The court order containing the foregoing shall be
recorded in the proper civil registries. (10Ba)
I
Art. 67. The agreement to revive the former property
regime referred to in the preceding Article shall be executed
under oath and shall specify:
(1) The properties to be contributed anew to the
restored regime;
(2) Those to be retained as· separate properties of each
spouse; and
(3) The names of all their known creditors, their
addresses and the amounts owing to each.
The agreement of revival and the motion for its
approval shall be filed with the court in the same proceeding
Art. 67 111
TITLE III
CA, 34 OG 129);
(f) If the husband has no fixed residence and lives a
vagabond life as a tramp (1 Manresa 329).
(g) When the h'Jsband is carrying on a shameful
business at ••ome (Gahn v. Darby, 36 La. Ann.
70).
(3) If the wife abandons the conjugal home without
justifiable cause, can the husband compel her to come
V home under pain of contempt of court?
No, because cohabitation is a purely personal
o obligation, and to compel the wife to comply with
Art.6lJ 117
(b) Sexual infidelity and perversion are also grounds for f> "
legal separation in the Family Code, and so is 104'
Ilt. .....
(2) A spouse has the right to defend the life and honor
of the other spouse (Art. 11, Rev. Penal Code).
(3) A spouse cannot be examined for or against the other
without his or her consent, except in a civil case by
one against the other or in a criminal case for a crime
committed by one against the other (Sec. 20b, Rule
130, Rev. Rules of Court, otherwise known as "the
marriage privilege rule").
(4) A spouse cannot, during the marriage or afterwards,
be examined without the consent of the other as to
any communication received in confidence by one
from the other during the marriage (Sec. 21a, Rule
130, Rev. Rules of Court, otherwise known as "the
marital communication rule").
(5) The management of the household is the right and
/ duty of both spouses; either spouse may exercise any
~ V legitimate profession or activity without the consent
of the other; both spouses manage the absolute
community or conjugal property together; both
spouses exercise parental authority -over their
common children.
.... Art. 69. The husband and wife shall fix the family
domicile. In case of disagreement, the court shall decide.
The court may exempt one spouse from living with the
other if the latter should live abroad Or there are other valid
and compelling reasons for the exemption. However, such
exemption shall not apply if the same is not compatible with
the solidarity of the family. (110a)
*' *' I
.
administrators of the absolute community or conjugal
property.
(2) Such support shall be satisfied in the following order:
(a) First, from the community property or conjugal
property;
Ad. 71 snd Ad. 72 121