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ANNULMENT Laws in The Phils
ANNULMENT Laws in The Phils
AYYY DON'T
THE STATE POLICY ON MARRIAGE
Section 1. The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation.
Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total
development.
Main Difference in Law - Divorce dissolves a marriage that was legal and valid while
annulment is declares that a marriage was never valid and legal from the beginning.
Legal Effect - Both divorce and annulment end the marital relationship between
husband and wife.
Legal Effect as to children - In divorce, since there was a valid marriage, the children
are legitimate children. As a general rule, in annulment, since there was no
marriage to begin with, the children are illegitimate because they were born outside
of a valid marriage. The exception is if the marriage was declared void thru Article
36 (psychological incapacity) where the children remain legitimate despite
annulment.
Procedure - Annulment is more tedious and requires a fairly long judicial process
while divorce is fast and requires only the signing of an agreement between the
parties.
Consent - In divorce, the parties can agree to have the marriage dissolved. In
annulment, the consent of the parties is not necessary and may even be a badge of
collusion, in which case, the annulment will be denied.
Art. 36. A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the
celebration, was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential
marital obligations of marriage, shall likewise be void even if such
incapacity becomes manifest only after its solemnization.
The husband and wife are obliged to live together (Art. 68, Family Code).
The husband and wife are obliged to observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and
render mutual help and support (Art. 68, Family Code).
The husband and wife shall fix the family domicile (Art. 69, Family Code).
The spouses are jointly responsible for the support of the family (Art. 70, Family
Code).
The management of the household shall be the right and the duty of both spouses
(Art. 71, Family Code).
The parents shall parental authority over their children and shall have the following
duties (Art. 220, Family Code):
Burden of proof to show the nullity of the marriage belongs to the plaintiff.
The incapacity must be proven to be existing at "the time of the celebration" of the
marriage.
Such non-complied marital obligations must also be stated in the petition, proven by
evidence and included in the text of the decision
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.