Advice for Legal Separation/Annulment

Hi Atty.,

I had a failed marriage and we separated already for 10yrs, with no communication at all. I thought that our marriage is not valid since we did not pass anything, we didn't even had a marriage license to begin with. We just went to a city hall, had witness and get married signed papers. No documents sent. I even didn't use his last name but my kids are using his last name because I gave birth only in our house and he showed the so called our marriage certificate to the midwife for our children to be registered under his last name. I want "sana" to file for a legal separation or if ever, is this case for annulment as well? since we have record in NSO when I checked last May 2017. Or is it okay to say that since 10yrs have passed and no communication with my ex means that our marriage is no longer valid? He's not even supporting his kids though. So I want everything to be untied so that I have no connections anymore with him. Annulment is very expensive and I cannot afford that. Please give me an advise on how to proceed.

Thank you very much

you are still married regardless of how long you have no communication with your ex. only the court can declare a marriage invalid, void or annulled hence, you have to file a case.

mmendoz2 wrote:Hi Atty.,

I had a failed marriage and we separated already for 10yrs, with no communication at all. I thought that our marriage is not valid since we did not pass anything, we didn't even had a marriage license to begin with. We just went to a city hall, had witness and get married signed papers. No documents sent. I even didn't use his last name but my kids are using his last name because I gave birth only in our house and he showed the so called our marriage certificate to the midwife for our children to be registered under his last name. I want "sana" to file for a legal separation or if ever, is this case for annulment as well? since we have record in NSO when I checked last May 2017. Or is it okay to say that since 10yrs have passed and no communication with my ex means that our marriage is no longer valid? He's not even supporting his kids though. So I want everything to be untied so that I have no connections anymore with him. Annulment is very expensive and I cannot afford that. Please give me an advise on how to proceed.

Thank you very much

You could file a petition for legal separation and cite abandonment for more than one (1) year as a ground.

Marriages in the Philippines (or anywhere, I guess, for that matter) do not automatically invalidate themselves by the mere expediency of the lapse of time, without one of the parties obtaining a decree from the government dissolving the same.

Unfortunately, non-communication is not a ground for annulment or declaration of nullity.