null & void

Hi, I'm Gwen...I would like to seek legal advise.
I have a bf na recently nagtapat lang sakin na 2 x syang kinasal. The first one was secret marriage, isa lang ang witness nung girl. This was done when my bf was 20 yrs. old. The girl was 18 yrs. old. They did not end up together. After the secret marriage, they did not live-in together. They broke up. After a few yrs, naunang nagasawa yung girl. Yung bf ko waited for a few more yrs. Pero nagpakasal din sa iba....Bale second marriage na nya yun. Pero 6 yrs. na silang hiwalay nung 2nd marriage... I want to know if null & void both marriages? What procedure should be done para maging clear ang status ng bf ko because he wants to marry me?

@Gwen

1. The first marriage of your BF was valid. Although, the Family code requires two witnesses, the presence of only one witness is considered only as an irregularity, which does not make the marriage void. However, the parties responsible thereto will be liable civilly/administratively.

Similarly, although both parties were below 21 y.o. when they entered into the first marriage, and the law requires that there be parental consent and advice, its absence makes the marriage only voidable, not void. A voidable marriage is valid until anulled. The said marriage may be anulled on the ground of lack of parental consent until the parties reach the age of 21. Concommitantly, the same may only be anulled on the ground of lack of parental advice within 5 years from the time they reach age 21.

2. The second marriages which they respectively entered are bigamous (i.e. void) due to the subsistence of the first marriage. The first marriage was only voidable, not void. And like I said, a voidable marriage is valid until anulled as contradistinguished from a void (ab initio) marriage which is void from the very beginning i.e. it is as if the marriage did not take place at all.

3. Your boyfriend must first petition to have the first marriage declared anulled so the two of you can get married. Also, just to make sure, the second marriage must also be declared void ab initio.

Hi Atty...

Thanks for your reply below. I would very much appreciate if you can guide us one by one on how to go about the procedure of annuling the first and second marriage. Can he file both annulment at the same time? Or should he act on the first annulment first? How long will it take for the annulment to be approved for both marriages? Do you have any cellphone no. para my bf can contact you directly and discuss further his case?

thanks in advance for your assistance atty....
i'll be waiting for your reply....

My advice is you hire a lawyer near your place. He knows the procedure. I am based in Cebu. God bless!

i know of a very similar case and how it was resolved.

The guy married a girl at 20 and she was 18. Secret marraige sa Cavite and not sa Pampanga. They did not live together and broke up. Tatlo ang witness ng girl. The girl is now married to a US guy or guy sa US.

After a few years, he marries again and is now separated for 6 years. The only difference is that she broke up with him kasi married na pala siya but the guy keeps on telling people that the girl knew before hand na kasal na sila.

Tell your BF not to worry about bigamy charges, chances are bothe wives have moved on and want real marriages too. The sooner they can break-off with his marriage, the better for them too. Better to void the second marraige first as the first marriage is the basis to remove it. Once second case is void, have the first marraige annuled.

I can update you on the status of the case I mentioned above, just pm me or send me mail at pattyreyes96 at yahooo also, for the case you mentioned, is your BF with the last name starting with S and middle name with S din? If so, he has a kid with one of the wives which will complicate things a bit but I have the info to help you void the first 2 previous marraiges. just contact me. If that is not the same person, I still have info to help you as I know what the people I mentioned above did.