1. A judicial declaration of nullity is required to establish the nullity of a void marriage in certain instances, such as for purposes of remarriage or if a marriage was celebrated before the Family Code and one party was psychologically incapacitated.
2. Even without a judicial declaration, a void marriage will not be considered valid and will not result in property relations under conjugal partnership or absolute community property.
3. Exceptions include children conceived before a judicial nullification who are still considered legitimate, and the personal and property relations of spouses in a marriage void due to psychological incapacity should also be covered by exceptions.
1. A judicial declaration of nullity is required to establish the nullity of a void marriage in certain instances, such as for purposes of remarriage or if a marriage was celebrated before the Family Code and one party was psychologically incapacitated.
2. Even without a judicial declaration, a void marriage will not be considered valid and will not result in property relations under conjugal partnership or absolute community property.
3. Exceptions include children conceived before a judicial nullification who are still considered legitimate, and the personal and property relations of spouses in a marriage void due to psychological incapacity should also be covered by exceptions.
1. A judicial declaration of nullity is required to establish the nullity of a void marriage in certain instances, such as for purposes of remarriage or if a marriage was celebrated before the Family Code and one party was psychologically incapacitated.
2. Even without a judicial declaration, a void marriage will not be considered valid and will not result in property relations under conjugal partnership or absolute community property.
3. Exceptions include children conceived before a judicial nullification who are still considered legitimate, and the personal and property relations of spouses in a marriage void due to psychological incapacity should also be covered by exceptions.
1. A judicial declaration of nullity is required to establish the nullity of a void marriage in certain instances, such as for purposes of remarriage or if a marriage was celebrated before the Family Code and one party was psychologically incapacitated.
2. Even without a judicial declaration, a void marriage will not be considered valid and will not result in property relations under conjugal partnership or absolute community property.
3. Exceptions include children conceived before a judicial nullification who are still considered legitimate, and the personal and property relations of spouses in a marriage void due to psychological incapacity should also be covered by exceptions.
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Domingo vs Court of Appeals
FACTS: Roberto Domingo married Delia Soledad in 1976 while being married with Emerlina dela Paz. He has been unemployed and completely dependent upon Delia, who has been working in Saudi Arabia, for support and subsistence. Delia only found out about the prior marriage when Emerlina sued them for bigamy in 1983. In 1989, she found out that Roberto was cohabiting with another woman and he was disposing of some of her properties without her knowledge and consent. In May 1991, Delia filed a petition for judicial declaration of nullity of her marriage to Roberto and separation of property.
ISSUE: Whether or not a petition for judicial declaration of a void marriage is necessary. If in affirmative, whether the same should be filed only for purpose of remarriage.
RULING: Yes. A declaration of the absolute nullity of marriage is now explicitly required either as a cause of action or a ground for defense. Where the absolute nullity of a previous marriage is sought to be invoked for purpose of contracting a second marriage, the sole basis acceptable in law for the said projected marriage be free from legal infirmity is a final judgment declaring the previous marriage void.
The requirement for a declaration of absolute nullity of a marriage is also for the protection of the spouse who, believing that his or her marriage is illegal and void, marries again. With the judicial declaration of the nullity of his or her first marriage, the person who marries again cannot be charged with bigamy.
Article 40 as finally formulated included the significant clause denotes that final judgment declaring the previous marriage void need not be obtained only for purposes of remarriage. A person can conceive of other instances other than remarriage, such as in case of an action for liquidation, partition, distribution and separation of property between the spouses, as well as an action for the custody and support of their common children and the delivery of the latters' presumptive legitimes. In such cases, however, one is required by law to show proof that the previous one was an absolute nullity.
Marriage is an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family; as such, it shall be protected by the State. As a matter of policy, there should be a final judgment declaring the marriage void and a party should not declare for himself or herself whether or not the marriage is void.
DOCTRINE:
1. CIVIL LAW; FAMILY CODE; VOID MARRIAGES; JUDICIAL DECLARATION OF NULLITY,
WHEN REQUIRED. Void marriages are inexistent from the very beginning and, I believe, no judicial decree is required to establish their nullity, except in the following instances: (a) For purposes of remarriage pursuant to the provision of Article 40 of the Family Code, providing that "the absolute nullity of a previous marriage may be invoked for purposes of remarriage on the basis solely of a final judgment declaring such previous marriage void;" (b) A marriage celebrated prior to the effectivity of the Family Code in case a party thereto was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage (Article 36, Family Code), where an action or defense for the declaration of nullity prescribes ten (10) years after the Family Code took effect (Article 39, Family Code); otherwise, the marriage is deemed unaffected by the Family Code. 2. ID.; ID.; ID.; EFFECTS THEREOF. A void marriage, even without its being judicially declared a nullity, albeit the preferability for, and justiciability (fully discussed in the majority opinion) of, such a declaration, will not give it the status or the consequences of a valid marriage, saving only specific instances where certain effects of a valid marriage can still flow the void marriage. Examples of these cases are children of void marriages under Article 36 (due to psychological incapacity) and Article 53, in relation to Article 52 (due to failure of partition, delivery of presumptive legitimes of children and recording thereof following the annulment or declaration of nullity of a prior marriage), conceived or born before the judicial declaration of nullity of such void marriages, who the law deems as legitimate (Article 54, Family Code). In most, if not in all, other cases, a void marriage is to be considered extant per se. Neither the conjugal partnership of gain under the old regime nor the absolute community of property under the new Code (absent a marriage settlement), will apply; instead, their property relations shall be governed by the co-ownership rules under either Article 147 or Article 148 of the Family Code. I must hasten to add as a personal view, however, that the exceptional effects on children of a void marriage because of the psychological incapacity of a party thereto should have been extended to cover even the personal and property relations of the spouses. Unlike the other cases of void marriages where the grounds therefor may be established by hard facts and with little uncertainty, the term "psychological incapacity" is so relative and unsettling that until a judicial declaration of nullity is made its interim effects can long and literally hang on the balance not only insofar as the spouses themselves are concerned but also as regards third persons with whom the spouses deal.
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