JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE DECREE DECLARATION OF NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

ART. 36, FAMILY CODE : PSYCHOLOGICAL INCAPACITY

Art. 15, Civil Code : Nationality Principle Declaration of Nullity of Marriage vis-à-vis Annulment :

The Philippines follows the nationality theory. Family rights and
duties, status and legal capacity of Filipinos are governed by Philippine
law.
Art. 26, Family Code
A declaration of nullity of marriage applies to marriages which are
void. Void Marriages are considered as having never been taken place,
they are void from the very beginning. On the other hand, Annulment
applies to a marriage that is valid until otherwise declared by the court
annulled

All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the Grounds:
laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as
such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Art. 45, Family Code : Declaration of Nullity of Marriage
Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 36, 37 and 38. Annulment of Marriage
• Lack of Parental Consent • Absence of the Essential
Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly • Insanity Requisites of Marriage – Consent
celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien • Consent was obtained thru Fraud and Legal Capacity of the Parties
• • Bigamous Marriages
spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have Consent was obtained thru
• Incestuous Marriages
Force, Intimidation, and Undue
capacity to remarry under Philippine law. [Underscoring supplied] Influence • Psychological Incapacity (Art. 36,
• Impotence Family Code)
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases

OLD Ruling :
- Filipino spouse and Foreign spouse, validly married to each
other
- Foreign spouse validly obtained a divorce decree in the country
where he/she is a citizen What is Psychological Incapacity?
- Foreign spouse is capacitated to remarry under the divorce - Psychological Incapacity contemplates the incapacity to perform
decree the basic marital obligations. The said incapacity must be grave
- REMEDY of the Filipino spouse: enough to be the cause of the party’s inability to assume the
o Judicial Declaration of Foreign Divorce Decree essential obligations of marriage. This inability should not be a
o Filipino spouse can remarry mere refusal, neglect, or difficulty to perform such obligations.
 NEW Ruling : Republic v. Manalo What are the essential marital obligations?
- according to the Supreme Court, does not demand that the alien - Art. 68, Family Code : to live together, observe mutual love,
spouse should be the one who initiated the proceeding wherein the respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support.
divorce decree was granted
- “The purpose of Paragraph 2 of Article 26 is to avoid the absurd
situation where the Filipino spouse remains married to the alien Psychological Incapacity vis-à-vis Divorce
spouse who, after a foreign divorce decree that is effective in the
country where it was rendered, is no longer married to the Filipino Psychological incapacity Divorce
spouse.” Art. 36, Family Code is clear the Divorce severs a marital tie for
Psychological Incapacity must be causes, psychological or
Is it applicable to former Filipinos? existing “at the time of the otherwise, that may have
- YES. celebration” of the marriage, developed after the celebration.
- A Filipino who subsequently obtains foreign citizenship is even if such incapacity becomes
considered as a foreign spouse for purposes of Art. 26, Family manifest only after its
Code. solemnization

Can the Filipino spouse automatically remarry?

- NO.
- The foreign divorce decree must be judicially recognized in the
Philippines. Cases decided by the Court:

If there is no reason/need to remarry, is judicial declaration still Republic v. CA and Molina (1997)
needed?
- YES.
- It is a requirement of law. The foreign divorce decree must be
recognized in the Philippines.
- It must be shown that the divorce decree is valid according to
the national law of the foreign spouse
Note : Divorce is not yet recognized in the Philippines. Hence,
the need to prove the foreign law which applies to the foreign
spouse in case of mixed marriages.
- Guideline for interpreting and applying Art. 36, Family Code
- Grounds :
a. Gravity – downright incapacity or inability, not a
refusal or neglect or difficulty
b. Incurability – medically or clinically permanent1
c. Juridical Antecedence – existing at “the time of the
celebration” of the marriage

1
See new Court ruling : Tan-Andal v. Andal : Psychological Incapacity is incurable, not in the medical, but in the legal sense
Tan-Andal v. Andal (2020)
- Psychological Incapacity must consist in a lack of understanding
of the essential obligations of marriage, making the marriage
void ab initio.
- Psychological Incapacity cannot be found in the American
Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM-V)
- The totality of evidence presented is enough to sustain a finding
of Psychological Incapacity (Marcos v. Marcos, 2000)
- The Court now abandons the 2nd Molina guideline.
Psychological Incapacity is neither a mental incapacity not a
personality disorder that must be proven through expert
opinion.
- There must be proof, however, of the durable or enduring
aspects of a person’s personality, called “personality structure”,
which manifests itself through clear acts of dysfunctionality that
undermines the family.
- Ordinary witnesses who have been present in the life of the
spouses before the latter contracted marriage may testify on
behaviors that they have consistently observed from the
supposedly incapacitated spouse.
- Furthermore, there will be no need to label a person as having a
mental disorder just to obtain a decree of nullity.
- Psychological Incapacity contemplates a situation where the
couple’s respective personality structures are so incompatible
and antagonistic that the only result of the union would be
inevitable and irreparable breakdown of the marriage.
- Psychological Incapacity consists of clear acts of
dysfunctionality that show a lack of understanding and
concomitant compliance with one’s essential marital
obligations due to psychic causes.
Property Relations :
- Since void marriages are no marriages, the provisions of the
Family Code on property relations between husband and wife
do not apply.

What applies to void marriage?

- Article 147 or 148, Family Code :

Art. 147 Art. 148

- Man and woman
capacitated to marry
each other
- Co-ownership
- In the absence of proof to
the contrary : equal
shares. The law presumes
that they have
contributed jointly
- Man and woman with
legal impediment to
marry each other
- Co-ownership, but only in
proportion to their
respective contributions

Tan-Andal v. Andal
- Wages and salaries
earned by the parties
shall be equally divided
between them
- However, if a piece of
property was obtained
through only one party’s
effort, work, or industry,
and there proof that the
other did not contribute
through care and
maintenance of the
family and the household,
the property acquired
during the cohabitation
shall be solely owned by
the party who actually
worked to acquire the
property.