Grounds for Annulment

 

The Philippines is a Christian country. Many people live with the standards set by the Christian faith and one of them being the sanctity of marriage. Unsurprisingly, there is no absolute divorce in the Philippines. One can only resort to annulment to void a marriage. 

Annulment is a legal procedure that makes a marriage void ab initio which means void from the beginning. Annulment is a legal procedure that makes a marriage void on the grounds that are existing at the time of marriage (wedding). Grounds for annulment are not after the wedding. It has to be present during the celebration of marriage. 

The following are the grounds of annulment under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines:

1. One of the parties is 18 or above but below 21, and there is no parental consent. 

Note: If one of the spouses is below 18 years of age, the marriage is also void ab initio.

2. Either party was of unsound mind (insanity).

3. The consent of either party was obtained through fraud.

            This includes:

• None disclosure of previous conviction by final judgement of a crime involving moral turpitude.
• Concealment of STD
• Concealment of drug addiction, habitual alcoholism, homosexuality, lesbianism which is/are existing at the time of marriage. 
• Concealment of the wife that she is pregnant with another man at the time of the marriage. 

Note: Marriage cannot be annuled if the wife concealed that she had an illegitimate child. (Shrady v. Logan)

4. The consent of either party to marry was obtained through force, intimidation, or undue influence.

5. Either party is physically incapable of consumating the marriage (impotence).

Note: If both the parties are impotent, the marriage cannot be annulled because no parties are agrieved.

6. Either party has a serious and incurable sexually-transmissible disease.

Note: Even if the other party knows the STD of the other, it does not matter.

Interesting Fact: Refusal of a husband to have sex was interpreted to be PI. A man who can't but won't is PI. PI means psychological incapacity which is ground to void marriage under Article 36 of the Family Code.

References: Family Code of the Philippines and Supreme Court Reports Annotated

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