atty, is this a strong nullity case?

here is the situation. in feb 2003, a couple appeared at the manila city hall for marriage. no license or certificate was issued, only a receipt and a promise that the couple may come back for the marriage certificate at a later date. after some weeks, the wife flew to the middle east for job deployment, the husband stayed back in the Philippines. after a couple more weeks, the wife found out that she is pregnant, and being in the middle east she needs a proof of marriage. a month after she was sent a marriage certificate dated march 2003 and solemnized in Caloocan city. the couple did not mind this and used the marriage certificate for all legal transactions, the mc was authenticated by the nso and some foreign embassies even. but not all is rosy, the wife now wants to file for declaration of nullity of marriage. can she use as a ground the fact that there never was a marriage that took place in Caloocan in march 2003, that there was never a wedding that took place in fact even though they were in manila in feb? they have 2 kids, btw.

It is my considered view that she need not even have it judicially declared null and void because in the first place there is really no marriage to speak of. Thus, assuming one of the parties will contract a subsequent marriage, no case of bigamy will even prosper.

An act which bears no semblance to a valid marriage needs no judicial declaration of nullity. (Morigo Case G.R. No. 145226)

You mentioned that they have two kids, take note that they are illegitimate, having born outside a valid marriage.



Now assuming that during their union, they acquired properties. Their property relations shall be governed by co-ownership.

drummer_boy999 wrote:It is my considered view that she need not even have it judicially declared null and void because in the first place there is really no marriage to speak of. Thus, assuming one of the parties will contract a subsequent marriage, no case of bigamy will even prosper.

An act which bears no semblance to a valid marriage needs no judicial declaration of nullity. (Morigo Case G.R. No. 145226)

You mentioned that they have two kids, take note that they are illegitimate, having born outside a valid marriage.



Now assuming that during their union, they acquired properties. Their property relations shall be governed by co-ownership.

Thanks drummer boy... do you mean an annulment case need not be filed? she can get married straight away? what about the records in the government agencies? there is an existing authenticated nso marriage certificate, and children's birth certificates.

they do have a house and lot which the wife keeps, seems that the husband does not give a care about it anymore although it is under the couple's names. what does she have to do about it?

If the issue is whether a declaration of nullity of the first marriage is still necessary in order one of the parties may contract a subsequent marriage without incurring any criminal liability arising from bigamy; then I say that it is no longer necessary because of the Morigo case.

But if it is for the purpose that records of marriage appearing in the NSO and other govt agencies be rectified accordingly then for her convenience she may file a a petition for declaration of nullity. Now, whether or not she has good grounds? Apparently she has because their “marriage” was patently null and void from the beginning.

I dissent with drummer_boy999's opinion. In the Morigo case there was NO MARRIAGE CEREMONY AT ALL that was performed. In manika's case, she only mentioned that both the marriage license and marriage contract were issued at a later date. It appears that a marriage celebration actually took place in Manila but in the marriage certificate it was made to appear that it took place in Caloocan.

The marriage may be avoided on some other ground like lack of license but a declaration of nullity is still necessary.

manika wrote:here is the situation. in feb 2003, a couple appeared at the manila city hall for marriage. no license or certificate was issued, only a receipt and a promise that the couple may come back for the marriage certificate at a later date. after some weeks, the wife flew to the middle east for job deployment, the husband stayed back in the Philippines. after a couple more weeks, the wife found out that she is pregnant, and being in the middle east she needs a proof of marriage. a month after she was sent a marriage certificate dated march 2003 and solemnized in Caloocan city. the couple did not mind this and used the marriage certificate for all legal transactions, the mc was authenticated by the nso and some foreign embassies even. but not all is rosy, the wife now wants to file for declaration of nullity of marriage. can she use as a ground the fact that there never was a marriage that took place in Caloocan in march 2003, that there was never a wedding that took place in fact even though they were in manila in feb? they have 2 kids, btw.

I humbly submit that no marriage could have taken place, because in the foregoing facts, the wife left for middle east even before they were able to get hold of the marriage license.

You can get married even without a marriage license. That is why one of the grounds for invalidating a marriage is lack of marriage license.

The law does not prescribe any form of marriage celebration so, however short it may be, a celebration could have taken place when the couple went to Manila City Hall. That is also probably why they were given a receipt.

If manika follows the Morigo case as you have advised her and the same is not applicable then she would be committing the crime of bigamy.

I am not sure whether my last reply was posted. let me re-write…

considering both opinions of hlslaw and drummer boy, my questions are:

1. will it not suffice to say that there was no marriage ceremony that took place in Caloocan on march 2003? this is not possible because she is not physically present in the country. they both did not appear in front of the solemnizing officer who signed the marriage certificate.
2. the ceremony that took place in manila on february 2003 was not registered. in fact, there was no record of the said marriage. it’s as if it never happened. the receipt was also a fake one I would think, I mean hindi ito ung official receipt issued by government agencies.
3. acceptable po ba ang post dated marriage certificate?
4. could a fake marriage license be a ground for nullity? kasi none of them are residents of Caloocan and none were present when it was issued.