D I V O R C E,

A n n u lment
&

Legal
separation
(the SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES)
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The United States allows a person to End a Marriage by
filing for a divorce on the grounds of either FAULT or NO
FAULT.

No Fault Divorce Grounds:

 Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,
 Irreconcilable differences,
 Incompatibility or
 After a period of separation

Neither party is held responsible for the failure of the

marriage.

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AMERICAN CELEBRITY
CASES SAMPLE

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Fault Divorce Grounds:
 Adultery,
 Cruelty,
 Abandonment,
 Mental illness,
 Criminal conviction,
 Drug abuse,
 Impotency, and
 Religious reasons
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Art. 45. A marriage may be ANNULLED for any of the
following causes, existing at the time of the marriage:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to
have the marriage annulled was eighteen years of
age or over but below twenty-one, and the
marriage was solemnized without the consent of
the parents, guardian or person having substitute
parental authority over the party, in that order,
UNLESS after attaining the age of twenty-one,
such party freely cohabited with the other and
both lived together as husband and wife;
(2) That either party was of unsound mind,
UNLESS such party after coming to reason, freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
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(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by
FRAUD, UNLESS such party afterwards, with full
knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud,
freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(4) That the consent of either party was obtained by
force, intimidation or undue influence, UNLESS the
same having disappeared or ceased, such party
thereafter freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;
(5) That either party was Physically Incapable of
consummating the marriage with the other, and
such incapacity continues and appears to be
incurable; or
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(6) That either party was afflicted
with a sexually-transmissible
disease found to be serious and
appears to be incurable.

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Art. 46. Any of the following
circumstances shall constitute FRAUD
referred to in Number 3 of the preceding
Article:

(1) Non-disclosure of a previous conviction

by final judgment of the other party of a
crime involving moral turpitude;

(2) Concealment by the wife of the fact that

at the time of the marriage, she was
pregnant by a man other than her husband;
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(3) Concealment of sexually transmissible
disease, regardless of its nature, existing at the
time of the marriage; or

(4) Concealment of drug addiction, habitual

alcoholism or homosexuality or lesbianism
existing at the time of the marriage.

No other misrepresentation or deceit as to

character, health, rank, fortune or chastity shall
constitute such fraud as will give grounds for
action for the annulment of marriage
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 ANNULABLE/VOIDABLE
MARRIAGES

 U n d e r t h e F C, A n n ul l a bl e Ma r r i a g e i s
t h e s a m e a s Vo i d a b l e M a r r i a g e .
 U n l i k e a v oi d m a r r i a ge w hi c h i s
i n v a l i d f r om t he b e gi n ni n g, a n
a n n ul l a bl e / v oi d a bl e marriage is
c o n s i de r e d Va l i d u p t o t h e t i m e i t i s
terminated.
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Grounds for annulment are ONLY
THOSE SPECIFIED BY LAW. Any
ground not provided by law
cannot be invoked to annul a
marriage. The EXCLUSIVITY of
the grounds in line with policy of
the state to enhance the
permanence of marriage.

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Ground # 1
NO PARENTAL CONSENT
The law considers persons of 18 and beyond but
not more than 21 years of age as NOT POSSESSING that
degree of maturity to be able to comprehend thoroughly
the consequences and serious responsibilities of marital
relations. Hence, he or she must obtain parental consent
Any marriage contracted by persons of these ages
are considered annullable at the instance of the party who
parent, guardian, or person having substitute parental
authority did not give his or her consent.
The opportunity to annul the marriage exists in
this situation so that the probability of a troublesome,
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ill-advised or stormy marriage relationship due to
unpreparedness of the contracting parties financially,
emotionally and psychologically to enter into such
relationships can be terminated or prevented.

Ground # 2
UNSOUND MIND
To successfully invoke unsoundness of mind
for annulment, there MUST be such DERANGEMENT
of mind to prevent the party from comprehending the
nature of the contract and from giving to it his free
and intelligent consent. THE MENTAL INCAPACITY
MUST RELATE SPECIFICALLY TO THE CONTRACT OF
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MARRIAGE IN ORDER TO AFFECT IT. Thus, marriages
ARE NOT INVALIDATED BY MERE WEAKNESS OF
MIND OR DULLNESS OF INTELLECT, NOR BY
ECCENTRICITIES OR PARTIAL DEMENTIA.

The burden of proof of insanity rests upon him

who alleges insanity. If, however, a previous state of
insanity is proved, the burden of proof is then usually
considered to shift to him who asserts that the act was
done while the person was sane.

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Ground # 3
FRAUD
Refers to the non-disclosure or concealment of
marriage. Hence. There is no fraud when there is no
concealment or there is disclosure. However, the
Circumstances of Fraud are LIMITED to those
specified in Article 46
Thus, non-disclosure of a husband’s pre-
marital relationship with another woman, not being
one of those mentioned in Art 46 COULD NOT BE a
ground to annul a marriage.

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Fraud-A
NON-DISCLOSURE OF PREVIOUS
CONVICTION AS FRAUD.
To constitute fraud, the party MUST
HAVE BEEN CONVICTED BY FINAL
JUDGMENT of a crime INVOLVING MORAL
TURPITUDE.
Moral Turpitude includes everything which is contrary to
justice, honesty, or good morals. The crimes punishable
under the RPC are crimes involving moral turpitude.

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Fraud-B
CONCEALMENT OF PREGNANCY AS
FRAUD.
Note that the law limits the fraud to the wife only
and not to the husband.
Rationale:
This is so because if the wife is pregnant by
another man, the husband would be misled in devoting all
his attention and care on somebody else’s child. While the
fact of the husband’s having a child in a concealed prior
relationship is speculative and difficult to prove.

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Also bear in mind that mere pregnancy alone at
the time of the marriage is NOT SUFFICIENT to
successfully annul a marriage on this ground.
There must be concealment of such pregnancy
by the wife. If the woman did not expressly inform
the man of her pregnancy but it was readily
apparent he cannot claim lack of knowledge
thereof.

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Fraud-C
CONCEALMENT OF SEXUALLY-
TRANSMISSIBLE DISEASE, REGARDLESS
OF NATURE AS FRAUD.
In case of fraud, the nature of gravity is
irrelevant in order to invoke this ground. It is
enough that there was concealment of the STD at
the time of the marriage ceremony.

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Fraud-D
CONCEALMENT OF DRUG ADDICTION AND
HABITUAL ALCOHOLISM.
This means the persistent habit of becoming
intoxicated, and that the nature and extent of the
drunkenness must be such that the person by frequent
indulgence may be said to have a fixed and irresistible
habit of drunkenness, whereby he has lost his power or
will to control his appetite for intoxicating liquor, as where
he indulges in the practice of becoming intoxicated
whenever the temptation is presented.

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Fraud-E
CONCEALMENT OF HOMOSEXUALITY OF
LESBIANISM.
This is considered fraud since the very
institution of marriage is based on the difference of
sexes both physical and psychological; a lesbian or a
homosexual, who is disposed to have an unnatural
affection toward the same sex, CANNOT BE
REGARDED to have entered such marriage with the
end in view of nurturing a wholesome natural
heterosexual family life.

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Ground # 4
VITIATED CONSENT
One of the essential requisites for a valid
marriage is that the consent of both parties must be
freely given. Consent MUST NOT BE obtained by
force, intimidation or undue influence.
To determine the degree of intimidation, the
age, sex and condition of the person shall be
borne in mind. BUT the intimidation that will annul
a contract has to do with the evil or harm arising
from an unlawful act,

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not from the exercise of a right, such as the right
to file a criminal complaint against a person for a
crime he has committed. Thus, where a man
who had carnal knowledge of a girl, married her
under the threat to oppose admission to the
practice of law for immorality, he cannot seek the
annulment of the marriage on the ground of
duress. However, if the charge is false, the
marriage can be annulled.

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Ground # 5
INCAPACITY TO CONSUMMATE
Incapacity to consummate denotes the
permanent inability on the part of one of the
spouses to perform the COMPLETE act of
sexual intercourse. Excessive sensibility, if
medically proven on the part of the wife,
rendering sexual intercourse impossible on
account of pain it inflicts, may be grounds for
incapacity.

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Also an incurable nervous disorder on the part
of the wife known as VAGINISMUS which renders
sexual coition impossible is good proof of inability
to perform the marital act. NOTE that this
incapacity to consummate the marriage MUST
EXIST at the time of the marriage ceremony.
Thus, if after marriage one of the spouse has
been paralyzed rendering her/him incapacitated
to consume the marriage said marriage cannot be
annulled. ALSO, IT MUST BE CONTINUOUS
AND APPEARS INCURABLE

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Additionally, it has been ruled that the
incapacity NEED NOT BE UNIVERSAL. Hence,
the condition may exist ONLY as to the
present spouse and NOT AS TO OTHERS.

RULE OF TRIENNIAL COHABITATION.

The presumption of impotence may arise if
the wife remains a virgin for at least 3 years from
the time the spouses started cohabiting, the
husband must show that he was not impotent
during said period.
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Ground # 6
SEXUALLY TRANSMISSIBLE DISEASE

Even if the STD is not concealed it

can still be a ground for annulment of
marriage but, to successfully invoke this
ground, the STD unlike in fraud, MUST BE
found to be serious and incurable.

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Art. 52. The judgment of annulment or of
absolute nullity of the marriage, the
partition and distribution of the properties
of the spouses and the delivery of the
children's presumptive legitimes shall be
recorded in the appropriate civil registry
and registries of property; otherwise, the
same shall not affect third persons. (n)

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Art. 53. Either of the former
spouses may marry again after
compliance with the requirements
of the immediately preceding
Article; otherwise, the
subsequent marriage shall be null
and void
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Art. 55. A petition for LEGAL
SEPARATION may be filed on any of the
following grounds:

(1) Repeated physical violence or

grossly abusive conduct directed against
the petitioner, a common child, or a child of
the petitioner;

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 Physical Violence connotes the infliction of
bodily harm. Although the physical infliction must
generally cause a certain degree of pain, the
FREQUENCY of the act and not the severity of
the same is the determinative factor under this
ground.
BUT note that this ground does not
include repeated physical violence upon the child
of the respondent/guilty spouse.
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 Even if the act is not repeated or does not
involve physical violence, such act may
nevertheless constitute grossly abusive conduct
on the part of the respondent which may warrant
the issuance of a legal separation decree.
GROSSLY ABUSIVE conduct has no exact
definition and is determined on case to case
basis.

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(2) Physical violence or moral pressure to
compel the petitioner to change religious or
political affiliation;

(3) Attempt of respondent to corrupt or

induce the petitioner, a common child, or a
child of the petitioner, to engage in
prostitution, or connivance in such
corruption or inducement;
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(4) Final judgment sentencing the respondent to
imprisonment of more than six years, even if
pardoned;

(5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the

respondent;

(6) Lesbianism or homosexuality of the

respondent;

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(7) Contracting by the respondent
of a subsequent bigamous
marriage, whether in the
Philippines or abroad;

(8) Sexual infidelity or

perversion;
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(9) Attempt by the respondent
against the life of the petitioner; or

(10) Abandonment of petitioner by

respondent without justifiable
cause for more than one year.

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Art. 56. The petition for legal separation SHALL
BE DENIED on any of the following grounds:

(1) Where the aggrieved party has condoned the

offense or act complained of;

(2) Where the aggrieved party has consented to

the commission of the offense or act complained
of;

(3) Where there is connivance between the

parties in the commission of the offense or act
constituting the ground for legal separation;
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(4) Where both parties have given ground for
legal separation;

(5) Where there is collusion between the parties

to obtain decree of legal separation; or

(6) Where the action is barred by prescription.

Art. 57. An action for legal separation SHALL

BE FILED WITHIN 5 YEARS from the time of the
occurrence of the cause.

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 Legal Inception of Causes AS TO
Proceeding Defect SEVERANCE
and its Effect

DIVORCE Need not be during As stated in the Spouses can

the celebration of laws of different Remarry
the wedding states in the U.S.
could be Fault or No
Fault Grounds
Must be present As stated in Art 45 Spouses can
ANNUL already during the of the Family Code. Remarry
MENT wedding/marriage
but manifests later

As stated in Art 55 Spouses CANNOT

LEGAL Need not be
of the Family Code Remarry
present during
SEPARA marriage/wedding;
could start within
TION the marriage
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MODERN
FAMILY
ISSUES
&
TRENDS
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Six Mothers Bring Together Seven Children
With Same Sperm Donor: 'They Can All
Become Lifelong Friends'

2
Cryos International Sperm and Egg
Bank

3
4
5
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HOW DO THEY DONATE?

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11
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OR

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 WHEN THE
WOMAN TAKES
HER PICK

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A c c i d e n t a l i n c e s t is sexual activity or marriage between
persons who were unaware of a family relationship between
them which would be considered incestuous.

The laws of many jurisdictions void incestuous marriages, even

if entered into without awareness of the kinship. If an incestuous
relationship is suspected, DNA testing may be used. Some
jurisdictions permit offspring of IVF donations access to
donation records or to adoption records

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• In the 40 years since the birth of Louise Brown, the
world’s first test tube baby, births by IVF have become
routine — almost 2,500 a year using donated eggs,
sperm or both. And yet there is virtually no guard
against the children growing up and accidentally
breeding with half-brothers and sisters of whose
existence they are unaware.

• The failure to develop such safeguards is serious

because the risks of genetic abnormalities from
incestuous conceptions are so high. In 1971 the
Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences studied 141
children born in such relationships and found that more
than half had some kind of health problem, while 42 per
cent had severe birth defects and 11 per cent were
mentally impaired.
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• There has always been a risk of brothers and sisters beginning
relationships unaware that they are siblings — or more likely
half-siblings. Children born as the result of affairs may have
no inkling of who their real father is. A geneticist who works
in a west London hospital told me that in as many as one in
ten cases of children investigated for various reasons there is
no genetic match between the child and the man who thinks
he is the father.

• But that is a risk which is hard for government to guard

against. The increasing number of children who are conceived
with donor eggs or donor sperm — an activity that is
regulated by the state — is quite another matter. Some sperm
donors are remarkably prolific: it recently emerged that there
are 17 men who have each fathered at least 30 children via
donating their sperm and a further 104 with between 20 and
29 children.
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PROBLEM # 1

• In 2007, an unnamed married British couple found out they

were twins separated at birth.
• They immediately had their marriage annulled at the High
Court – which ruled the union was legally invalid.
• They had met as adults and felt an “inevitable attraction” to
each other – but learned the “appalling” truth following their
wedding.
• The case prompted Liberal Democrat MP Lord Alton to fight
for children to have greater rights to know the identity of their
biological parents, to stop shocking situations like this arising
in future.
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Problem # 2

• An engaged South African couple were left horrified after

meeting each other’s families for the first time – and
discovering they were siblings separated as small children.
• Worse still, the woman was eight months pregnant with
her brother’s child when they found out the gut-wrenching
news in 2011.
• They had met while studying at university and dated for
five years before learning they had the same parents –
who raised one child each after splitting acrimoniously.
• Commenting on the revelation, the woman said: “You can
imagine how shocked we were when they broke the news.
We are going to have a child together. We do
not know what we will tell him when he grows up.”

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Problem # 3

• In 2012, a woman in Ohio spoke of the pain she

suffered after discovering the man she married was her
dad.

• Valerie Spruill learned of her husband’s identity six

years after he died in 1998 – after an uncle eventually
came forward with the truth.

• She was put into the care of her grandparents from a

young age and never knew her father.

• Speaking of her ordeal, Valerie, 60, said: “I want this to

be more of an inspirational story. If I’ve come through
this, anyone can come through anything through the
help of the Lord.” (https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/67795/i-married-the-man-of-my-dreams-but-he-turned-out-to-be-my-
brother/

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