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Jan. 13, 2004 A Primer on Annulment Target Audience: (Unhappily?) Married people, lower middle class up. On Jan.4, 2004, rumors circulated that pop star Britney Spears got married to her childhood friend in Louisiana. Even before it was confirmed, they were filing for annulment. Evening of Jan. 5, the annulment was granted. Their marriage lasted barely 55 hours. What exactly does annulment do to marriage? What is annulment? An annulment is a court procedure that dissolves a marriage. It treats the marriage as though it never happened because one or both parties lacked the necessary freedom, understanding, or ability. According to "The 'Lectric Law Library's Lexicon," an annulment is a legal decree that states that a marriage was never valid. An annulment has the legal effect of wiping out a marriage as though it never existed. What are other ways of dissolving a marriage? Under the 1998 Family Code, there are two other ways to change the status of marriage aside from annulment. These are legal separation and declaration of nullity of void marriages. In other countries, as well as our Muslim brothers, divorce is accepted. How do these differ from annulment? Legal separation does not end a marriage. The grounds for this arise only after marriage so the marriage is considered valid. The separating spouse will be living under two different roofs but both of them can never remarry. An action for declaration for nullity of marriage is oftentimes confused with an action for annulment. While both severe marital ties, the grounds differ. In declaration of nullity, something was not legally right in the marriage from the very start, and so it is void to begin with. Divorce, like legal separation recognizes the validity of marriage. Unlike legal separation though, divorce ends the marriage and allowed both spouse to remarry again. What are the grounds for annulment? Article 45 of the Family Code lists the following as causes for an action for annulment, 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; (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 (6) That either party was afflicted with a sexually transmissible disease found to be serious and appears to be incurable. (85a) What constitutes fraud that will give the ground for an action for annulment? Article 45 of the Family Code lists the fraud that will cause an action for annulment: (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; (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. Who may file for an annulment? Grounds Persons Who May File Action 1.No parental consent 1.The party whose parent or guardian did not give consent 2. Use of force, intimidation or undue influence 2. The injured party 3. Employment of fraud 3. The injured party 4.Insanity 4. a.)The sane spouse who had no knowledge of his spouse's insanity b.) any relative, guardian or any person having legal charge of the insane spouse c.) the insane person herself. If this would be the case, he/she should file it at a time when her mind is clear (lucid interval) or after regaining sanity. 5.Impotence 5. The injured party 6. Affliction with a sexually transmittable disease 6. The injured party Is there a prescriptive period to file an annulment? Yes, there is. Also stated in Article 47 of the Family Code, a person may file an annulment within a particular time frame depending on the ground: Grounds Persons Who May File Action 1. No parental consent 1.If brought by the party whose parents did not give their consent, within five years after reaching the age 21; If brought by the parent/guardian of said party, action must be filed before the party turns 21. 2. Use of force, intimidation or undue influence 2. Within five years from the time force, intimidation, undue influence stopped 3. Employment of fraud 3. Within five years after discovery of fraud 4.Insanity 4. Anytime during the lifetime of either party 5.Impotence 5. Within five years from the time the marriage was celebrated. 6. Affliction with a sexually transmittable disease 6. Within five years from the time the marriage was celebrated. How long does an action for annulment take? The time element in litigating your case depends on the convergence of a number of factors. The perennial clogging of court dockets in the Philippines is a primary consideration. The number of issues and the liveliness of the debate will also govern the duration of your case. The busy schedule of the judge assigned is another factor. An annulment case or absolute nullity of marriage usually lasts an average of about 3 months up to one year or more. How much does an annulment cost? Annulment costs, as well as attorney's fees, vary widely. In Manila, attorney's fees for matrimonial dissolution cases range from approximately P20,000 to P1,000,000.00 or more. On top of these initial fees, many lawyers charge appearance fees ranging from an estimated sum of P500.00 per appearance to approximately P10,000 or more in distant places. The filing fee for annulment of marriage, as of Mar.2000, starts with a nominal fee of P250.00 and works its way up. Many factors affect the price tag of legal services. Some of these includes the amount of work and research to be done to best serve their client's interests; contested annulments which take more time and effort and often require more money to litigate; the substance of the allegations in your petition will control the amount of filing fees you have to pay to the clerk of court; the higher the value of properties and damages you allege in your complaint the more legal or filing fees you have to pay. Checklist of expenses: Legal/filing fees, attorney's fees, experts fees, paralegal fees, copying services, discovery expenses, investigation fees, publication charges, service of summons, reimbursement of witnesses, stenographer's fees, interpreter's fees, travel costs, postage and phone charges. Does the Catholic Church recognize annulment? Yes, it does. While the church value the sanctity of marriage, annulment does not terminate a marriage-it was never valid from the start. Therefore the bond of marriage, which the church values, has never existed in the first place. When can an annulment be denied? An annulment can be denied if: 1. a collusion between the couple was found to exist, as stated in Sec.9, Par.2 of the NEW RULE ONDECLARATION OF ABSOLUTE NULLITY OF VOID MARRIAGES AND ANNULMENT OF VOIDABLE MARRIAGES(Supreme Court A.M. N0. 02-11-10) 2. if at the pre-trial conference, the judge found an opportunity for reconciliation. 3. if there is a failure to comply with the requirements stated in Sec. 5 of the NEW RULE ONDECLARATION OF ABSOLUTE NULLITY OF VOID MARRIAGES AND ANNULMENT OF VOIDABLE MARRIAGES(Supreme Court A.M. N0. 02-11-10) If the marriage is not valid from the start, does that make the children illegitimate? The law was done in such a way that the children would not be accounted for their parent's mistake. According to Article 54 of the Family Code, children conceived or born before the judgment of annulment (or absolute nullity of the marriage under Article 36) has become final and executory shall be considered legitimate. However, children born after the finality of judgment of annulment are illegitimate. What are the advantages of having an annulment in the Philippine law? Annulment allows people to have the liberty to get out of the confines of a deceitful marriage-a marriage that should not have been done in the first place. A valid marriage is freely entered by mature persons who understand and have the ability to assume the essential rights and responsibilities of marriage. If otherwise, it is only right that this marriage be never recognized as such. It allows a person to have the liberty to experience being single again, and the chance to remarry. What are the disadvantages of having an annulment in the Philippine law? One major disadvantage would be that people tend to use annulment as an escape to their marriage, without even trying to see if reconciliation is possible. More often than not too, the grounds are fabricated, with both spouse merely putting on a show or are in conspiracy -unknown to the judge and prosecutors-just to have their marriage dissolved, even if it really is very valid. While the advantages of an annulment outweigh the disadvantages, we have to take consideration on having the former eliminated altogether. But no matter what the disadvantages are, annulment is really a good decree to formalize a non-existent marriage. The members of the law practice should just be careful in recognizing a void from a valid marriage. The lawyers especially, must not disregard the sanctity of marriage, and should not condone a client who is simply trying to escape the bond of matrimony. The Public Attorney's Office and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines are offering free legal assistance to people who have not enough means to file an action for annulment. For more information, contact: PUBLIC ATTORNEY'S OFFICE Office of the Chief Public Attorney 1104 NIA Road Diliman Q.C. Telephone: 929-9010 Fax: 927-6810 INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES National Legal Aid Committee Doņa Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Telephone: 631-3016; Fax: 631-3013 | back to writings main page |

copyright 2004 by jennifer c. estrada university of the philippines diliman, quezon city