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Psychological Incapacity
Psychological Incapacity
(b) The inability must refer to the essential obligations of marriage, that is, the
conjugal act, the community of life and love, the rendering of mutual help, and
the procreation and education of offspring; and
It means that if one of the parties is psychologically incapacitated to comply with his
obligation as a spouse, then the marriage is void from the very beginning. That is why
the legal remedy is to petition the court for nullity of the marriage.
The term “psychological incapacity” to be a ground for the nullity of marriage under
Article 36 of the Family Code, refers to a serious psychological illness afflicting a party
even before the celebration of marriage. (Republic v. Cabantug-Baguio, G.R. No.
171042, June 30, 2008)
These are disorders that result in the utter insensitivity or inability of the afflicted party
to give meaning and significance to the marriage he or she has contracted. (Toring v.
Toring, G.R. No. 165321, August 3, 2010)
Psychological incapacity must refer to no less than a mental (not physical) incapacity
that causes a party to be truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants that
concomitantly must be assumed and discharged by the parties to the
marriage. (Navarro, Jr. v. Cecilio-Navarro, G.R. No. 162049, April 13, 2007)
The Supreme Court had laid down the guidelines for the interpretation and application
of Article 36:
a) The burden of proof to show the nullity of the marriage belongs to the
plaintiff. Any doubt should be resolved in favor of the existence and
continuation of the marriage and against its dissolution and nullity.
b) The root cause of the psychological incapacity must be: (a) medically or
clinically identified, (b) alleged in the complaint, (c) sufficiently proven by
experts and (d) clearly explained in the decision.
e) Such illness must be grave enough to bring about the disability of the party
to assume essential obligations of marriage.
h) The trial court must order the prosecuting attorney or fiscal and the Solicitor
General to appear as counsel for the state. No decision shall be handed
down unless the Solicitor General issues a certification, which will be quoted
in the decision, briefly stating therein his reasons for his agreement or
opposition, as the case may be, to the petition. (Republic v. Court of
Appeals, G.R. No. 108763, February 13, 1997)
4. What are the elements of the Psychological Incapacity, for the marriage to
be annulled?
(a) Grave – It must be grave or serious such that the party would be incapable of
carrying out the ordinary duties required in a marriage;
(c) Incurable and Permanent – It must be incurable or, even if it were otherwise,
the cure would be beyond the means of the party involved. (Dimayuga-
Larena v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 159220, September 22 2008)
The Supreme Court held that psychological incapacity should refer to a mental
incapacity that causes a party to be truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants
such as those enumerated in Article 68 of the Family Code and must be characterized
by gravity, juridical antecedence and incurability. (Santos v. Court of Appeals,
G.R.No. 112019, January 04 1995)
(a) The refusal of one spouse to live, dwell or cohabit with the other spouse after
marriage, without any fault at all from the aggrieved spouse;
(b) By the deliberate refusal to give support to the other spouse, or their common
children;
The incapacity of the spouse must such that, that it prevents him from complying with
the essential marital obligations as stated in the Family Code, like:
(b) To live together under one roof for togetherness spells the unity in
marriage (Article 68 of the Family Code)
(c) To observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, for love, sexual comfort and
loyalty to one another are the basic postulates of marriage (Article 68 of the
Family Code of the Philippines)
(d) To render mutual help and support for assistance in necessities, both
temporal and spiritual, is essential to sustain the marriage. (Article 68 of the
Family Code of the Philippines)
(e) To jointly support the family for the spouses are joint administrator in the
partnership. (Article 70 of the Family Code of the Philippines)
(f) Not to commit acts which will bring danger, dishonor or injury to each other or
to the family for the safety and security of the family at all times is a primordial
duty of the spouses. (Article 72 of the Family Code of the Philippines)
The Supreme Court held that, although there is no requirement that a party to be
declared psychologically incapacitated should be personally examined by a physician
or psychologist, there is a need to prove the psychological incapacity through
independent evidence adduced by the person alleging such disorder. (Bier v. Bier,
G.R. No. 173294, 27 February 2008)
Furthermore, the Supreme Court held that there is no requirement that the
defendant/respondent spouse should be personally examined by a physician or
psychologist as a condition sine qua nonfor the declaration of nullity of marriage based
psychological incapacity. What matters is whether the totality of evidence presented
is adequate to sustain a finding of psychological incapacity. (Marcos v. Marcos, G.R.
No. 136490, October 19 2000)
The action or defense for the declaration of absolute nullity of marriage does not
prescribe, regardless of whether or not the marriage was celebrated before or after
the effectivity of the Family Code.
10. My husband wouldn’t help me in the chores around the house, saying those
are a woman’s job. Can I use the ground of psychological incapacity in my
petition for annulment against him?
No. It bears stressing that psychological incapacity must be more than just a
“difficulty,” “refusal” or “neglect” in the performance of some marital obligations.
Rather, it is essential that the concerned party was incapable of doing so, due to some
psychological illness existing at the time of the celebration of the marriage. (Marable
v. Marable, G.R. No. 178741, January 17, 2011)
The intention of the law is to confine the meaning of “psychological incapacity” to the
most serious cases of personality disorders clearly demonstrative of an utter
insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage. (Santos v.
Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 112019, January 04, 1995)
Proving that a spouse failed to meet his or her responsibility and duty as a married
person is not enough; it is essential that he or she must be shown to be incapable of
doing so due to some psychological illness.
(Yambao v. Republic, G.R. No. 184063, January 24, 2011)
No. The psychological incapacity must be proved to have been existing before the
marriage. If after the marriage, the ground of psychological incapacity cannot be used.
The Supreme Court had repeatedly pronounced that the root cause of the
psychological incapacity must be identified as a psychological illness, with its
incapacitating nature fully explained and established by the totality of the evidence
presented during the trial.
12. I have not been getting along with my wife for quite a while now. Can I allege
psychological incapacity as a ground for filing an annulment case against her?
No you cannot. What the law requires to render a marriage void on the ground of
psychological incapacity is downright incapacity, not refusal or neglect or difficulty
much less ill will. The mere showing of “irreconcilable differences” and “conflicting
personalities” does not constitute psychological incapacity. (Republic v. Court of
Appeals, G.R. No. 108763, 13 February 1997)
13. If there is any doubt in my case for nullity of my marriage, how would the
court resolve the case?
The Supreme Court held that the Constitution sets out a policy of protecting and
strengthening the family as the basic social institution and marriage as the foundation
of the family. Marriage, as an inviolable institution protected by the State, cannot be
dissolved at the whim of the parties. In petitions for the declaration of nullity of
marriage, the burden of proof to show the nullity of marriage lies on the plaintiff. Any
doubt should be resolved in favor of the existence and continuation of the marriage
and against its dissolution and nullity. (Republic v. Cabantug-Baguio, G.R.No.
171042, 30 June 2008)
14. What will happen to the children if the petition for nullity of marriage has
been granted on the ground of psychological incapacity?
The children will still be considered legitimate. Children of marriages void under Article
36 (psychological incapacity) and under Article 53 (second marriage without delivery
of legitime to children of the first marriage) are considered legitimate, as an exception
to the general rule.