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Case Title : MARIA VICTORIA SOCORRO LONTOC-CRUZ, petitioner, vs. NILO SANTOS CRUZ,
respondent.
Case Nature : PETITION for review on certiorari of the decision and resolution of the Court of Appeals.
Topic: Civil Law ; Family Law ; Marriages ; Annulment of Marriage ; Psychological Incapacity ;
Doctrine: “Psychological incapacity must be characterized by: (a) gravity (i.e., it must be grave and
serious such that the party would be incapable of carrying out the ordinary duties required in a marriage);
(b) juridical antecedence (i.e., it must be rooted in the history of the party antedating the marriage, although
the overt manifestations may emerge only after the marriage); and (c) incurability (i.e., it must be incurable,
or even if it were otherwise, the cure would be beyond the means of the party involved).”
FACTS:
Marivi met Nilo and they became sweethearts in 1986. The couple married in a civil ceremony
followed by a church wedding. The marriage produced two sons. Sometime in 2005, Marivi filed with the
RTC a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage based on psychological incapacity. In support of her
claim that she and Nilo were suffering from psychological incapacity, Marivi presented Dr. Villegas, a
psychiatrist, and Dr. Encarnacion, a clinical psychologist. According to Dr. Villegas, both parties could not
tolerate each others’ weaknesses and that the incapacities of the parties are grave because they preferred to
satisfy their own needs rather than to give in to the other’s needs. Dr. Encarnacion supported Dr. Villegas’
diagnosis.
ISSUE:
Whether the psychological conditions of the parties fall under Article 36 of the Family Code to warrant the
declaration of nullity of marriage.
RULING: