TITLE I- MARRIAGE (3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the

Chapter 1- Requisites of Marriage appearance of the contracting parties before the

Article 1. Marriage is a special contract of permanent
union between a man and a woman entered into in
accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal
and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an
inviolable social institution whose nature,
consequences, and incidents are governed by law
and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage
settlements may fix the property relations during the
marriage within the limits provided by this Code.
Two Aspects of Marriage
solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that
they take each other as husband and wife in the
presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age.
(53a, 55a)
Legal Capacity of the Contracting Parties
- the parties must have the necessary age or the
necessary consent of parents in certain cases.
- must be no impediment caused by a PRIOR
EXISTING MARRIAGE or by CERTAIN
RELATIONSHIPS by affinity (law) or consanguinity
(blood).

(a) It is a special contract. (Art. 1) CONSENT. The requirements of consent are that it
(b) It is a status or a relation or an institution. must be:
(a) freely given and (b) the same must be made in the
Marriage as a STATUS or UNION presence of the solemnizing officer.
It is the union (and inviolable social institution) of one
man with one woman for the reciprocal blessings of a -The total absence of consent makes the marriage
domestic home life, and for the birth, rearing, and void ab initio. EXCEPT: consent in marriage obtained
education of children. through fraud, force, intimidation, or undue influence
makes such marriage merely annullable or voidable
Marriage Distinguished from Ordinary Contracts (valid until annulled).
MARRIAGE ORDINARY
CONTRACTS Art. 4. The absence of any of the essential or formal
also a social institution mere contracts requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio,
except as stated in Article 35(2). A defect in any of
the nature and the the agreements entered the essential requisites shall render the marriage
consequences, as well as into usually depend on voidable as provided in Article 45.
the incidents, are the stipulations agreed An irregularity in the formal requisites shall not affect
governed by the law — into by the contracting the validity of the marriage but the party or parties
except with reference to parties unless those responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly,
marriage settlements. In stipulations are against criminally and administratively liable.
marriage, therefore, as a the law, against public
general rule, stipulations policy, against public Irregularity in Formal Requisites Will Not Affect
are of no value. order, against morals, or Validity of Marriage, In General
against good customs. -This will, however, subject the party responsible to
civil, criminal, and administrative liabilities.
age varies age for ordinary contracts
is the age of majority Article 5. Any male or female of the age of eighteen
years or upwards not under any of the impediments
only death or annulment may end either thru mentioned in Articles 37 and 38, may contract
for legal causes dissolves express provision of the marriage. (54a)
the marriage contract. law, thru expiration of the
term for which the Article 6. No prescribed form or religious rite for the
contract was agreed solemnization of the marriage is required. It shall be
upon, thru fulfillment of necessary, however, for the contracting parties to
the purpose for which the appear personally before the solemnizing officer and
contract was entered into, declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses
or thru mutual agreement of legal age that they take each other as husband and
by the parties concerned. wife. This declaration shall be contained in the
marriage certificate which shall be signed by the
contracting parties and their witnesses and attested
Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless these by the solemnizing officer.
essential requisites are present: In case of a marriage in articulo mortis, when the
(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must party at the point of death is unable to sign the
be a male and a female; and marriage certificate, it shall be sufficient for one of the
(2) Consent freely given in the presence of the witnesses to the marriage to write the name of said
solemnizing offificer. (53a) party, which fact shall be attested by the solemnizing
Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are: officer. (55a)
(1) Authority of the solemnizing offificer;
(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases
provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and AUTHORITY OF THE SOLEMNIZING OFFICER
-may be any one of those enumerated in Article 7 of
the New Family Code.
-it is not the presence or absence of the solemnizing
officer which constitutes the formal requirement but it
is the absence or presence of the authority of such
solemnizing officer.
-solemnizing officer is not duty bound to investigate
whether or not a marriage license has been duly and
regularly issued by the local civil registrar. All the
solemnizing officer needs to know is that the license
has been issued by the competent official, and it may
be presumed from the issuance of the license that
said official has fulfilled the duty to ascertain whether
the contracting parties had fulfilled the requirements
of law.
VALID MARRIAGE LICENSE
-must be issued by the local civil registrar of the place
where the marriage application was filed.
-it has only a lifetime of 120 days from the date of
issue and is effective in any part of the Philippines.
-date of issue is the date of the signing of the
marriage license by the local civil registrar.
MARRIAGE CEREMONY
-The Family Code does not generally prescribe any
particular form of a marriage ceremony. However, the
minimum requirement imposed by law is that the
contracting parties appear personally before the
solemnizing officer and declare that they take each
other as husband and wife in the presence of at least
two witnesses of legal age.
WITNESSES IN A MARRIAGE CEREMONY
-no less than two witnesses of legal age in
attendance.
-absence of two witnesses of legal age in a marriage
ceremony is merely an irregularity in the said formal
requirement which, according to Article 4, shall not
affect the validity of the marriage but the party or
parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly,
criminally, and administratively liable.
COMMON-LAW MARRIAGES NOT RECOGNIZED
IN THE PHILIPPINES
-may be defined as a non-ceremonial or informal
marriage by agreement, entered into by a man and a
woman having capacity to marry, ordinarily without
compliance with such statutory formalities as those
pertaining to marriage licenses.
ABSENCE, DEFECT, IRREGULARITIES IN
ESSENTIAL AND FORMAL REQUIREMENTS
-Generally, absence of any of the essential or formal
requirements of a marriage renders such marriage
null and void.
-absence of marriage license does not affect the
validity of a marriage if the situation falls under
Chapter 2, Title I of the Family Code.
-marriages in articulo mortis,
- marriages of two contracting parties living in
places where there are no means of
transportation to enable them to appear
personally before the local civil registrar, -
marriages among Muslims and among other
ethnic cultural minorities performed in
accordance with their practices, and
- marriages of couples without any impediment
to get married living together as husband and
wife for at least five years.
The following are some of the irregularities which
do not affect the validity of a marriage:
1) absence of two witnesses of legal age
during the marriage ceremony;
2) absence of a marriage certificate
3) marriage solemnized in a place other than publicly
in the chambers of the judge or in open court,
inchurch, chapel, or temple, or in the office of the
consul-general, consul, or vice-consul;
4) issuance of marriage license in city or municipality
not the residence of either of the contracting parties
5) unsworn application for a marriage license;
6) failure of the contracting parties to present original
birth certififi cate or baptismal certififi cate to the local
civil registrar who likewise failed to ask for the same;
7) failure of the
contracting parties between the ages of eighteen and
twenty-one to exhibit consent of parents or persons
having legal charge of them to
the local civil registrar; 8) failure of the contracting
parties between
the ages of twenty-one to twenty-fifi ve to exhibit
advice of parents
local civil registrar; 9) failure to undergo marriage
counseling; 10)
failure of the local civil registrar to post the required
notices; 11)
issuance of marriage license despite absence of
publication or prior
to the completion of the 10-day period for publication
(Alcantara v.
Alcantara, G.R. No. 167746, August 28, 2007, 531
SCRA 446); 12)
failure of the contracting parties to pay the prescribed
fees for the
marriage license; 13) failure of the person solemnizing
the marriage
to send copies of the marriage certififi cate to the local
civil registrar
(Madridejos v. De Leon, 55 Phil. 1); and 14) failure of
the local civil
registrar to enter the applications for marriage
licenses fifi led with
him in the registry book in the order in which they
were received.