You thought you’ve found your perfect match. You thought your marriage is bound to last forever, or, at the very least, until the last breath. You’ve thought wrong, you say, and you now think of seeking legal remedy to end your marriage. Here are “steps” or suggestions in deciding whether to step out of the ring or not (for the court procedure, see Procedure in Annulment of Marriage and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage):
1. Make sure it is the last resort. As stated in a previous post, love and marriage are supposed to be forever. Try all options, like counseling, to make it work. If there’s no progress, weigh your options. On the other side of the scale is the reality that getting into another relationship or marriage, while the first marital bond is still existing, is a sure way of courting criminal liability (adultery, concubinage, bigamy). A subsequent petition for declaration of nullity/annulment of marriage is not a defense in the criminal action.
2. Realize that it will cost you. Getting out of marriage is sometimes more expensive than getting into one. Expenses include the fees for your lawyer or counsel, filing fees, professional fees for the psychiatrist or psychologist (if the ground is psychological incapacity), etc.
3. Discuss the custody of children, visitation rights, property arrangements and support. Custody over children and separation of properties in annulment are among the most bitter issues in annulment. As much as possible, discuss and agree on these matters beforehand.
4. Make sure to invoke a valid ground. Marriage is an inviolable social institution and any doubt is resolved in its favor. Hence, make sure there’s sufficient basis to go through the procedure discussed below.
5. Prescriptive period. Make sure that the petition is filed within the time provided under the law. There are separate rules for counting of the prescriptive period for each ground. [See Prescriptive Periods for Annulment of Marriage]
The procedure is provided under the Rules on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages. [See Procedure in Annulment of Marriage and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage]
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Good day!
Nais ko lang po sanang humingi ng legal advice regarding sa sitwasyon ng kinikilala kong asawa.
Actually, nalaman ko lang po ang tunay nyang katayuang sibil 2 years ago. we live together for 5 years now but as live in partner, meron na rin kaming anak(1). 3 taon nya inilihim sa akin ang katotohanang sya ay kasal na. Base po sa kwento nya, it was a secret marriage and their oth 25 years old then. But since they got married on 1999, hindi po sila nagsama bilang husband and wife sa iisang bubong at hindi rin po sila nagkaanak. And within the year na kasal sila, nagkaroon po sila ng problem, kung saan involved ang pamilya ng babae. Until they ended their relation. Pinaghatiaan na rin nila ang kanilang konting naimpundar noon. Pero hindi po sila dumaan sa legal na proseso sa kanilang paghihiwalay. at sa loob ng mahigit 7 taon wala silang komunikasyon. Itong taon lang po sila muling nagkausap thru phone, para ayusin ang kaso ukol sa sitwasyon nila at mailapat ang kaukulang batas na makakapagpalaya sa kinikilala kong asawa mula sa kasal nya sa legal nyang asawa, dahil na rin po sa kahilingan ko at ng relihiyon na kinaaniban namin ngayon sapagkat pinagbabawal po dito ang live-in. Na pinagpasyahan na rin po naming magpakasal ngaunit dahil nga po problemang ito kaya di po natuloy.
Isa rin po sa nais kong malaman yung ukol sa batas regarding sa abandonment of marriage na kapag ang mag-asawa ay 7 taong walang komunikasyon, sinuman sa kanila ay pwede na ulit magpakasal sa iba.Meron po ba ito, exsisting ba ito? In case na meron po, ano ang dapat namin/nyang gawin? At paano? Or else, Suitable po ba ang annulment sa kaso nila o yung declaration of nullity of marriage ang dapat? atnais ko rin po sanang itanong kung saan sya(ang kinikilala kong asawa) makakalapit na humahawak ng ganitong kaso para sa mga “low-badget client”?
Hanggang dito na lang.umaasa po ako at hihintayin ko po ang inyong kasagutan at payo?
maraming salamat po! God bless!
hello po atty.
ako poy ofw dine sa middle east. sa 3 taon ko d2 na hindi umuwi napagpasyahhan po naming magasawa na maghiwalay na..paanu po ang proseso sa pag apply ng annulment ng kasal namin. kami poy ikinasal sa simbahan noong 1998 at mayroon na rin po kaming dalawang supling na babae..at pwede ko bang makuha ang custody sa dalawa kong anak??
hello,
i just want to seek your advice regarding annulment issue. i just recently married to a filipino last january 2008 at the city hall. we’ve been in a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship for 7 years before we decided to get married. we had a long distance relationship. he’s working abroad and i’m working here in manila. after a few months of marriage he decided to file for annulment because I just didn’t say that i filed for a loan to help my family. is this a valid reason for annulment? pls. help me because i have no knowledge regarding legal matters.
thank you. hoping for your soonest reply.
10. Issuance of Decree of annulment. The court issues the Decree after: (i) registration of the entry of judgment granting the annulment in the Civil Registry where the marriage was celebrated and in the Civil Registry of the place where the court is located; (ii) registration of the approved partition and distribution of the properties of the spouses in the proper Register of Deeds where the real properties are located; and (iii) delivery of the children’s presumptive legitimes in cash, property, or sound securities.
11. Registration of the Decree. The Decree must be registered in the Civil Registry where the marriage was registered, the Civil Registry of the place where the court is situated, and in the National Census and Statistics Office.
Atty.Fred, regarding section 11., Who will be in charge of the registrations? Will the CLIENT need to go to the said Civil Registries to take care of the registrations?
If yes,would there still be additional charges for these registrations? as far as i know, the NSO charges around 200 pesos for a marriage certificate and not more than a thousand…How about the registrations of the decree in the Civil Registries, do they charge additional fees for it?
hi there sir,
i just want to ask the difference between annulment and legal separation? thank you so much!!
Hello Sir!
Hi how are you? I just have a question?. Is it possible for me to file a Divorce or annulment in my marriage, knowing that my husband is cheating at me? Like i already know he’s cheating at me but still i tried to make it work but, he continue to cheat at me and keep having a relationship with different filipina girl. He’s an american man and we’re married in the philippines (where i lived). He continued to support this girl and telling her “i love you, i miss you”, sending her flowers , money etc. I can’t afford anymore being dumped and being bullshit, and i would like to know if my case is possible for a ANNULMENT?. Please help me or answer my question, this is so important to me, i don’t want to be stack forever to my husband who don’t love me anymore, i just want him to go and make him and that girl that he’s in love with be happy. So i want an annulment if it’s possible? I’ll be waiting for an answer. Coz if i can’t Annul or Divorce our marriage, i might end up killing my self. Thank you.
good day to you sir, my husband and i were separated literraly for more than 3 years now. He’s living with someone else for i think 3 years already and he admitted it to me and to my family after i found out about it. We have one child 6 years old and he’s currently under his custody because of the fact that i dont have a job,but we havent filed any petition for child custody yet. I just want to know if i can file a petition for annulment for the grounds Psychological incapacity, he has this addiction in alcohol and very iresponsible at the time that were still living together, he rarely have a job and he’s always drunk,comes home very late at night from gimik with his friends. What happens to the other woman, can also file a case againts her because she’s been sending me foul messages through text, and im not sure if their relationship started after we separated. Or can i file a case againts them? Adultery? thanks *NINA*
hello attorney, im seeking for advice in my situation. im an ofw. i have a 2 yr old daughter. all this time me and my parents support the upbringing of my daughter. i gave chance to the father of my daughter to make up for everthing. he’s been in and out of my life, he doesnt help me financially, and i manage that for almost 4 years. i thought that getting married will help him boost up and drive him to be responsible, yet alas im still struggling to send money to him cuz i encouraged him to study culinary to make it his resource for work. but he’s still not working. i am so tired of sending him money all the time. and in the process im neglecting the needs of my child. i want to nullify our marriage. we’ve been married for only 7 months. i dont want him to use the opportunity to go to canada as an excuse. i wont allow him to use me as his passport. when we got married civil, he didnt have the proper documentation and his birth certificate was wrong spelling (he was still fixing it) but still they married us. what grounds do i have to have our marriage nullified? my family doesnt like him because of him being tamad. please please do help me. thanks.
Gud pm attorney,
the situation is: when i was in the phils, weekly lang uwi ko sa family ko sa bulacan. In manila, i lived w/ my mother (that’s lasted for 7yrs). W/ that, dami kong sikreto na di nya nalalaman. But we’re still living as husband & wife. Before i went here in AUS last year, cnabi ko sa kanyang matagal ko na syang di mahal. Now i have the money, i’m planning to file an annul (as discussed w/ her). Is there any chance that being not inlove (anymore)& hiding too many secrets can be a ground for annulment (under Psychological incapacity perhaps?) tnx.
hi, i hope my question will be answer even in a brief explanation..
i want to know what should we do if someone is married to a person that used fake birth certificate on their wedding? is it voidable? is it the same with the costs to other filed cases? please answer.