Petition for Nullity of Marriage or Annulment?

I met a woman sometime between July and August of 1997 and her mother (very conservative) pressured us to get married for her reason that we've (her daughter & I) been frequently going out together and so concern that their neighbors will have a wrong impression about our sweetness to each other. In short, we got married last December 17, 1997 by the judge. Though we've been married, we have not been living together in one roof since her mother still prefer to have a church wedding (which we never had) then we can live together. On January of the following year, I just learned from my wife that she had been processing her papers in order for her to work abroad long before we've met and never told me about it because she thought it was still too premature to hand me the information and that same day told me that she had decided to leave on the month of July. Feeling cheated, disgusted, and disrespected I kept my self away from her till that day she left for Manila on February 1998 and left abroad on July of the same year. Since then we never had any conversation, communication or whatsoever until year 2000 when she called me and informed me that she wanted to settle down in another country and let bygones be bygones...that was the last time I heard from her. Now, it's 10 years past and I wanted to settle down too...May I know on what grounds can I file for me to have my marriage be null and void. Can I file for petition for nullity of marriage?

A friend of mine told me that our marriage wasn't consummated...what does this mean?

I appreciate much for your time and advice on this matter. God bless and more power!

did you have sexual relations with her after the wedding? actually, it is not a ground by tself, to have the marriage annulled.

try to contact her and ask whether she acquired foreign citizenship and a divorce. if she did, your remedy is to have the divorce recognized in court here.

if not, i recommend you contact a lawyer to review the case thoroughly and see if there is another ground other than psychological incapacity, which is hard to prove.

if it is impossible to contact her, you can also explore filing a petition in court to have her declared presumptively dead and you can validly remarry. note though, if she reappears and files an affidavit of such reappearance, the marriage will be dissolved.

yes we did.

the problem is that I don't have any idea where to contact her. I've been to POEA and DFA already to trace her whereabouts but the only thing I got there is the information that she left for HongKong on July 1998 and returned to the country on year 2000 and left again for Israel on 2001 and there was no records of return after that. I even went to their former house where their family is renting but they're not there anymore.

I did file to the court in South Cotabato province a petition for presumption of death last 2006 and the decision was denied on 2009 last year.

Can I still file an appeal for the petition for presumption of death? Is it necessary to have the other party in order to file annulment?

Thank you for the reply...I really appreciate your time with me. It just that, I'll be getting 40 and really wanted to settle down without hang-ups...hope you understand.

Looking forward for your next reply. God bless!

why was your petition for declaration of presumptive death denied? if you've changed address, you can try filing again.

nothing on social networking sites?

I don't honestly have any idea why my petition was denied. I never received any copy of the decision only the lawyer texted me to inform that my petition was denied and the decision is final and executory.

By the way, I am now residing in central visayas region. Does that mean I can file again here an another petition for presumption of death?

What do you mean "nothing on social networking sites?"...If you mean, if I tried finding her on social networking sites, the answer is yes I did and failed.

Thank you again for the response. The Lord bless your heart for all of this.

no facebook account, huh. yes, i do mean those sites. try her friends, family. no way that no one in her family has one of these accounts.

you should not rely on a mere text from your lawyer, and it should not be that you are informed only when it's too late to even file a motion for reconsideration or appeal. you should try to get a copy; demand it from your lawyer or send a representative with an authorization letter.

i believe a prior petition for presumption of death petition does not bar a re-filing unless the supposed deceased re-appeared. you should allege a supervening fact, that this time, you exerted every possible effort to find your wife. remember, it is your burden to prove that there is a well-grounded belief that she is dead.