Important Legal Matters on Marriage

Important Legal Matters on Marriage

1. Essential Requisites for Marriage

According to the Family Code of the Philippines in Art.2, No marriage shall be valid unless these essential requisites are present:

a. Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be male and female

b. Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.

2. Formal requisites of Marriage:

According to Art. 3., the formal requisites of marriage are:

a. Authority of the solemnizing officer;

b. A valid marriage license;

c. A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance of the contracting parties before the 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.

Art. 4 The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35 (2). A defect in any of the essential requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable. (n)

3. Annulment of a Marriage

- Legal process of filing a petition of making a marriage null and void ab initio as if no marriage took place. If petition is granted, the legal effect is that the couple can re-marry.

Art. 45 Enumerates the grounds for annulment

• One of the contracting parties is 18 years of age or over but below 21 and without parental consent.

• Either party was of unsound mind.

• Consent of either party was obtained by fraud force and intimidation;

• Either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the other;

• Either party was afflicted with STD.

4. Legal Separation

- Legal process of filing a petition of legal separation for married couples. If petition is granted, the legal effect is that the couples are separated but they cannot re-marry....