FAMILY CODE

ARTICLE 1. Definition of MARRIAGE

Points to remember from the definition:

● It is a special contract.
● It is a permanent union.
● It is a union between a man and a woman.
● It is a union entered in accordance with law.
● Its purpose is to establish conjugal and family life.

As a special contract:
● It is not the same as an ordinary contract insofar as its creation, consummation
and consequences are concerned. Thus;
○ It cannot be formed by implication or estoppel.
○ It does not require a particular form for its validity.
○ The freedom to contract or autonomy of parties does not apply.

As a permanent union:
● It is meant to last “till death do us part”.
● It is not a contract for a particular or temporary purpose.
● The parties cannot stipulate an expiration date.
● It cannot be terminated, except for reasons provided by law such as death,
annulment or nullity of the marriage.

As a union between a man and a woman:

● Only a man and a woman can enter a marriage.
● Same-sex marriage is not allowed.
● It cannot even be made between persons of the same sex, one who has
undergone sexual reassignment (Sliverio vs. Republic).

As a union entered in accordance with law:

● Its nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to
stipulation.
● Except for marriage settlements, the parties cannot contract away their rights
and obligations.
● Any change or modification in the aspects of marriage, such as property
relations, support and parental authority, must be through court order.

As a union whose purpose is to establish conjugal and family life:

● The cause of the parties is not monetary or proprietary gain.
● The parties must live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity.
● Itf they have children, the parties must jointly exercise parental authority and
provide support.
LEGAL PRESUMPTIONS IN FAVOR OF MARRIAGE
● In favor of the existence of marriage - the party who claims that there was no
marriage has the burden of proving that in fact there was no marriage
celebrated between the two parties.
● In favor of the validity of marriage - he who claims that the marriage is void has
the burden of proving that the marriage was not valid.
● That persons living together are presumed to be married.

THE DUE EXISTENCE OF MARRIAGE IS NOT AFFECTED BY:

● Failure of the parties to sign the marriage certificate - the marriage is still valid
and deemed to have been celebrated.
● Failure of the solemnizing officer to transmit copies of the marriage certificate.
● The absence of the marriage certificate in the public records.

REQUISITES OF MARRIAGE
● Essential requisites
○ Legal capacity
○ Consent
● Formal requisites
○ Authority of the solemnizing officers
○ Valid marriage license
○ Marriage ceremony

On Legal Capacity:
● Each party must be at least 18 years old.
● The parties must be a man and a woman.
● There must be no legal impediment like family relations or a subsisting prior
marriage.
○ If the parties are closely related (e.g., ascendants and descendants, or
siblings), the marriage is void for being incestuous (ART. 37, FC)
○ If one or both parties are already married, the marriage is void for being
bigamous (ART. 35, FC).

On consent:
● The consent must be freely given and not obtained through duress or fraud.
○ If the consent is vitiated, the marriage is voidable (ART. 45, FC).
○ If there is a mistake by one party as to the identity of the other, the
marriage is void (ART. 35, FC).
● The consent must be given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.

On authority of the Solemnizing Officer:

● The following persons may solemnize a marriage:
○ Any incumbent member of the judiciary within the court’s jurisdiction
■ Appellate court justice may solemnize marriage anywhere in the
Philippines.
 ■ Trial court judges may solemnize marriage only within their
respective jurisdiction.
● Any priest, rabbi, imam, or ministry of any church or religious section, provided
that:
○ The priest, etc. is duly authorized by his church or religious sect and acts
within the limits of such written authority;
○ The priest, etc. is registered with the civil registrar general; and
○ At least one of the contracting parties belongs to the solemnizing
officer’s church or religious sect.
● Any ship captain or airplane chief, provided that:
○ The marriage is in articulo mortis (at the point of death);
○ The marriage is between passengers or crew members; and
○ The marriage is performed while the ship is at sea or the plane is in
flight, or during stopovers at ports of call.
● Any military commander of a unit, provided that:
○ The marriage is in articulo mortis;
○ The marriage is performed during a military operation;
○ The marriage is between persons within the zone of military operation,
whether members of the armed forces or civilians;
○ The military commander is a commissioned officer; and
○ The chaplain assigned to the military unit is absent.
● Any consul-general, consul or vice consul of the Ph, n marriages between
Filipino citizens abroad.
● A municipal mayor.

Note:
● Marriages solemnized by persons without authority are void, unless the
parties were in good faith, believing that the solemnizing officer had
authority.
● If the solemnizing officer acted outside his jurisdiction, the marriage is
not void. It is mere irregularity which renders the solemnizing officer
administratively liable.

On the marriage ceremony:

● No prescribed form or religious rites for the solemnization of the marriage is
required.
● Requirements:
○ The parties must appear personally before the solemnizing officer.
○ The parties must declare that they take each other as husband and wife;
and
○ The declaration must be in the presence of at least 2 witnesses.
● The marriage shall be solemnized publicly in the chambers of the judge or in an
open court, in the church, chapel or temple, or in the office of the consul or
mayor.
○ When the marriage may be solemnized in a different venue:
■ Marriage on the point of death or in articulo mortis;
 ■ Marriage in remote places where there is no means to
transportation;
■ Upon request in writing of the parties.

On the marriage license:

● It is issued by the local civil registrar of the city or municipality whether either
contracting party habitually resides, upon application separately filed by the
parties;
● The local civil registrar shall verify the legal capacity of the parties by requiring
their birth certificates and, if applicable, proof that a previous marriage has
been terminated by death or by a juridical decree.
○ In case of a foreigner applicant, he/she must submit a certificate of legal
capacity from his/her consular office.

*Parental Consent or Advice:

● Parental (or guardian’s) consent is required if the contracting party is between
18 to 21 years old. Without parental consent, the marriage license will not be
issued.
● Parental advice is required if the contracting party is between 21 to 25 years
old. If there is no such advice, the marriage license will not be issued until after
3 months following the publication of the application for marriage license by
posting for 10 consecutive days.

*Marriage counseling:
● Required when parental consent or parental advice is required
● Marriage counseling shall be conducted by the priest, etc. authorized to
solemnize marriage, or a government accredited marriage counselor.
● If no certificate of marriage counseling is submitted, the marriage license will
not be issued until after three months following the publication of the
application for marriage license.

*Validity of a marriage license:

● Valid for 120 days from the date of issuance.
● Valid to be used anywhere in the Philippines.
● Upon expiration of the 120-day period, the marriage license is legally
inexistence or void.

Exemption from the Marriage License Requirement:

● In case either both of the contracting parties are at the point of death,
● If the residence of either party is so located that there is no means of
transportation to enable such party to appear personally before the local civil
registrar,
● Marriage among Muslims or among members of the ethnic cultural
communities, and
● In case the man and the woman have lived together as husband and wife for at
least five years and without any legal impediment to marry each other.
CASES ON THE MARRIAGE LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
● An irregularity in any of the formal requisites of marriage does not affect its
validity but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity are civilly,
criminally, and administratively liable. (Alcantara v. Alcantara, G.R No. 167746)

● The falsity of the affidavit cannot be considered as a mere irregularity in the

formal requisites of marriage. The law dispenses with the marriage license
requirement for a man and a woman who have lived together and exclusively
with each other as husband and wife for a continuous and unbroken period of at
least five years before the marriage. X x x the false affidavit which petitioner
and respondent executed so they could push through with the marriage has no
value whatsoever; it is a mere scrap of paper. They were not exempt from the
marriage license requirements. Failure to obtain and present a marriage license
renders their marriage void ab initio. (De Castro v. De Castro, G.R No. 160172)

MIXED MARRIAGES
● A mixed marriage is a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner,
whether celebrated here or abroad.
● Extrinsic validity is governed by lex loci celebrationis (ART. 26, FC). if it is valid
in the place where it was celebrated, it is valid here in the Philippines.
○ Extrinsic validity refers to the formalities or formal requisites, such as
authority of the solemnizing officer, marriage license, and marriage
ceremony.
● Intrinsic validity governed by the national law of the parties
○ Intrinsic validity goes into the essential requisites of marriage, such as
legal capacity and consent. Thus:
■ If the Filipino spouse was a minor at the time of the marriage, the
marriage is void even if at the place of celebration of the
marriage, a minor may marry.
■ Philippine law on status and capacity applies to Filipinos and
follows them wherever they may be.

DIVORCE OBTAINED ABROAD

ART. 26, second paragraph of the Family Code, provides:
Where marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated
and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him
or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have capacity to remarry under
Philippine law.
● The former interpretation is that it should be the foreigner spouse who had
obtained the divorce. If it was the Filipino spouse who secured the divorce, ART.
26 is not applicable and the divorce obtained by the Filipino spouse will not
capacitate him/her to remarry.
The new rule, under Republic v. Manalo, G.R No. 221029, April 24, 2018, provides
that:
A Filipino citizen has the capacity to remarry under Philippine law after initiating
a divorce proceeding abroad and obtaining a favorable judgment against his or her
alien spouse who is capacitated to remarry.
In this case, the Filipina spouse, who was married to a Japanese national in the
Philippines, obtained a divorce in Japan and, after that, filed a petition in the
Philippines to have her marriage certificate cancelled.

This is not automatic, there must be a process

enforcement or recognition of a foreign divorce before that
Filipino spouse can remarry under the Philippine law.