Do I need a court declaration for a marriage that is void ab initio?

Hello Attorney,

I got married in Singapore to a fellow Philippine citizen. A few years later, when I wanted to register the marriage with the Philippine embassy in SG, my husband said it wasn't necessary because he doesn't have any plans of going back to the Philippines anyway.

After a year, we returned to the Philippines and separated. When I initiated legal proceedings, I found out that he has a subsisting marriage in the Philippines to a Philippine citizen.

This new development has made things easier for me. My question is, how do I have my marriage declared null and void?

The marriage was solemnized in SG by a non-Philippine authority and it was not registered through the embassy or in any Philippine registrar.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Your marriage in Singapore would be under the laws of Singapore. If there is divorce in Singapore you can file it there and the Philippine Court will respect it.

shad_marasigan wrote:Your marriage in Singapore would be under the laws of Singapore. If there is divorce in Singapore you can file it there and the Philippine Court will respect it.

Thanks. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. We're both Philippine citizens so it doesn't matter which one of us initiates it in SG. No Philippine court would recognize a divorce granted outside. So, it's just a waste of time filing for one.

The problem is not having it registered when it was supposed to have been registered. If it had been, I think it would be easier for me to have it declared null here in the Phils.

the problem for you is that you will be vulnerable to a charge of bigamy if someone is able to acquire your records from the singaporean marriage.