I. Introduction

In Philippine law, marriage is not just a romantic partnership; it is a legal and social institution that creates mutual obligations. One of the most basic of these is support—the duty of spouses to provide for each other and their common children.

But what happens when a husband or wife simply stops providing support?

Many people immediately ask:

“Pwede ko na ba siyang ipa-annul dahil hindi na siya nagpo-provide?”

The short answer is: failure to provide support, by itself, is generally not a direct ground for annulment. However, it can trigger a whole range of civil, criminal, and administrative remedies, and in some situations it can indirectly support a case for nullity of marriage, legal separation, or judicial separation of property.

This article walks through, in the Philippine context:

The legal concept of support between spouses and for children
Why non-support is not a straightforward ground for annulment
When non-support can be used to support nullity, legal separation, and other family law actions
Civil, criminal, and protective remedies available when a spouse stops providing support
Practical considerations when deciding which remedy to pursue

This is general legal information, not legal advice; actual cases should always be reviewed with a Philippine lawyer.

II. Legal Basis: The Duty of Support in Philippine Law

Under the Family Code of the Philippines, “support” is a technical term with a specific legal meaning.

A. What is “support”?

Support typically includes:

Food
Dwelling (housing)
Clothing
Medical care
Education (for children)
Transportation and other expenses needed for decent living, according to the family’s means

This is not limited to cash; it can also be met in kind (e.g., providing housing, paying bills directly).

B. Who is obliged to support whom?

Under the Family Code, the following are legally obliged to support one another:

Spouses (husband and wife)
Parents and their children, legitimate or illegitimate
Ascendants and descendants (e.g., grandparents and grandchildren) in certain circumstances

For spouses specifically, the Family Code provides that:

Spouses are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect, and fidelity, and render mutual help and support.
The spouses must fix the family domicile and manage the household and family finances according to their means.

The obligation to support is reciprocal and continuous—it does not end simply because one spouse leaves the common home, unless there is a lawful reason or a court order altering the arrangement.

III. When a Spouse Stops Providing Support: Legal Issues

A spouse may stop providing support in many scenarios:

The spouses still live together, but one simply refuses to contribute
The spouse leaves the conjugal home (abandonment) and gives nothing
The spouse is abroad (e.g., OFW) and cuts off remittances
The spouses are de facto separated (separated in fact but not by court order)

In most of these situations, the spouse who stops providing support may be:

Violating civil obligations under the Family Code
Potentially committing economic abuse under special laws (e.g., RA 9262)
Exposing themselves to civil and criminal liability where children are involved

But this does not automatically “annul” the marriage. Annulment and nullity have very specific grounds, which we turn to next.

IV. Annulment vs. Declaration of Nullity vs. Legal Separation

Before talking about remedies, it’s crucial to distinguish three major legal actions:

Declaration of Nullity of Marriage (Void Marriage)
Annulment of Voidable Marriage
Legal Separation

A. Declaration of Nullity (Void Marriage)

A void marriage is considered invalid from the beginning, as if it never existed in law. Grounds include, among others:

Lack of essential or formal requisites:
- No valid marriage license (with limited exceptions)
- No authority of the solemnizing officer (in some circumstances)
One or both parties were already married (bigamous or polygamous marriage)
Incestuous marriages or those void for reasons of public policy
Psychological incapacity of a spouse to perform essential marital obligations, present at the time of marriage (Article 36, Family Code)

Failure to provide support by itself is not expressly listed as a ground. However, chronic, unjustified refusal or inability to support may be cited as evidence of psychological incapacity—if it shows that the spouse was, from the start, incapable of performing essential obligations of marriage.

This is complex and highly fact-intensive; courts have set strict standards for psychological incapacity.

B. Annulment (Voidable Marriage)

An annulment deals with voidable marriages—valid until annulled. Grounds include:

Lack of parental consent (for a party between 18–21 at the time of marriage)
Insanity at the time of marriage (unless later ratified upon regaining sanity)
Fraud (e.g., concealment of pregnancy by another man, of a criminal conviction, etc.)
Force, intimidation, or undue influence
Impotence existing at the time of the marriage and continuing
Serious and incurable sexually transmissible disease existing at the time of marriage

Again, failure to support is not one of the grounds for annulment.

So, you cannot file an annulment petition solely because your spouse refuses to support you or your children. What you can do is:

File separate civil and/or criminal actions to compel support or punish non-support
In some cases, argue that the pattern of non-support is evidence of psychological incapacity in a petition for declaration of nullity (Article 36), not technically annulment

C. Legal Separation

In legal separation, the marriage bond remains, but spouses are allowed to live separately, and property relations and support obligations are judicially adjusted.

Grounds for legal separation include:

Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct
Attempt to corrupt or induce a spouse or child into prostitution
Conviction of a spouse for a crime with penalty of imprisonment of more than six years
Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism
Lesbianism or homosexuality (in the legal sense used in the Family Code)
Bigamy; sexual infidelity or perversion
Attempt on the life of the petitioner
Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without just cause for more than one year

While non-support per se is not a separate ground, abandonment often includes both:

Leaving the spouse and/or children
Failing to provide support without just cause

In such a case, a spouse’s refusal to provide support can help prove abandonment, thus supporting a petition for legal separation.

V. Economic Abuse and RA 9262 (Violence Against Women and Their Children)

One of the strongest legal responses when a husband or partner stops providing support is Republic Act No. 9262 (the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act).

A. What is economic abuse?

Under RA 9262, economic abuse is a form of violence. It can include:

Withdrawal of financial support, or failing to provide the women and children with support
Depriving or threatening to deprive the woman or her children of financial resources and the right to use conjugal, community, or property owned in common
Controlling the victim’s own money or properties
Destroying household property or economic resources

So when a husband deliberately refuses to support his wife and children, especially to control, punish, or manipulate them, this may constitute economic abuse.

B. Who can file under RA 9262?

Wives or former wives
Women with whom the offender has or had a sexual or dating relationship
Mothers of the offender’s child (even without marriage, if within the law’s definition)
The children themselves, under certain circumstances

C. Remedies under RA 9262

RA 9262 provides for:

Criminal liability – the offender may be prosecuted and imprisoned if found guilty.
Protection Orders – these may contain provisions forcing the respondent to:
- Give support to the woman and/or children
- Stay away from the home, workplace, or school
- Surrender firearms, if any
Barangay Protection Orders (BPO) – issued quickly by the barangay to stop the violence and some forms of harassment, though they usually have limited duration and coverage.
Temporary Protection Orders (TPO) and Permanent Protection Orders (PPO) – issued by the courts and can include detailed support directives.

This law is particularly useful where non-support is part of a pattern of control, harassment, or abuse.

VI. Civil Action for Support

Even if you don’t file for annulment, legal separation, or RA 9262, you may file an independent civil action for support.

A. Who may file?

A civil action for support may be filed by:

A spouse, against the other spouse
A child, usually represented by the custodial parent or guardian, against the other parent
Other entitled family members in certain situations

B. What does the court look at?

The court usually considers:

Needs of the person asking for support – living expenses, education, health, etc.
Financial capacity of the spouse or parent obliged to support – income, assets, standard of living
Existing family obligations (e.g., support owed to other children)

Support is typically proportional to:

The needs of the person requiring support, and
The means of the person obliged to give it.

C. Provisional (temporary) support

When a court case is filed (e.g., petition for support, annulment, nullity, or RA 9262 case), the court may grant support pendente lite (temporary support while the main case is ongoing). This helps prevent the spouse or children from suffering during often lengthy proceedings.

Support may be in cash or in kind, and may be paid monthly, or as otherwise ordered by the court.

D. Enforcement of support orders

Once the court issues a judgment or order for support, it can be enforced by:

Writ of execution against the property of the spouse who must provide support
Garnishment of salaries, wages, or bank accounts
In some cases, indirect contempt of court if the spouse refuses to comply with the support order despite having the means

VII. Judicial Separation of Property

If a spouse not only refuses to support but also mismanages or dissipates family property, the other spouse may seek judicial separation of property, even without annulling the marriage.

Grounds may include:

Abandonment of the spouse or children
Failure to comply with family obligations
Losses in the family property because of the other spouse’s reckless or dishonest management

Effect: the court segregates the spouses’ properties; each spouse then manages their own assets, which can help protect the property of the spouse who is actually supporting the children from being dragged down by the other’s debts or irresponsibility.

Once property relations are judicially separated, the support due can more easily be computed from each spouse’s separate assets and incomes.

VIII. Interaction with Annulment or Nullity Cases

Even though non-support is not a stand-alone ground for annulment or nullity, it interacts with those cases in several ways.

A. Psychological incapacity (Article 36)

In a petition for declaration of nullity based on psychological incapacity, the petitioner must show:

A root cause of a psychological nature
Existing at the time of marriage
Serious and incurable
Rendered the spouse incapable of performing essential marital obligations

A spouse’s persistent refusal to provide support, extreme irresponsibility in finances, or complete disregard of family obligations over time may be evidence that they were, from the beginning, psychologically incapable of being a spouse. But:

Courts require strong psychological and factual proof, often including expert testimony;
Not every case of non-support rises to this level; sometimes it is simply selfishness, infidelity, or criminality, which may not meet the legal threshold of psychological incapacity.

B. Incidental issues in annulment/nullity cases

In an annulment or nullity case, the court also decides:

Support for the children, and sometimes for a financially dependent spouse
Custody of children
Property relations (e.g., liquidation of absolute community or conjugal partnership)

If the spouse has a history of non-support, this can influence:

How the court assesses their credibility,
The amount and mode of support ordered, and
The allocation of property and liability for debts.

IX. Criminal Liability Outside RA 9262

While RA 9262 is the main law used for economic abuse against women and their children, other laws may apply, particularly when children are involved:

Child abuse and neglect laws (e.g., acts of neglect may be punished when they amount to abuse or endangerment).
Certain provisions of the Revised Penal Code penalize abandonment or neglect of dependents in specific situations (though these are less commonly used than RA 9262 and child protection statutes in modern practice).

Neglecting children’s basic needs—for food, shelter, education, medical care—can lead to criminal charges, especially when deliberate and severe.

X. Barangay-Level and Administrative Remedies

Before going straight to court, there are often barangay-level mechanisms and other administrative remedies:

A. Katarungang Pambarangay (Barangay Justice System)

For disputes between spouses or family members living in the same city or municipality (and not falling under exceptions like serious crimes or some RA 9262 situations), the parties may be required to undergo conciliation at the barangay.

The barangay may help:

Mediate agreements on support, visitation, and similar issues
Issue a certification to file action if no settlement is reached, which is often a precondition to filing certain civil cases in court

However, in cases involving violence, threats, or RA 9262, barangay conciliation may be bypassed or handled differently.

B. Barangay Protection Orders (BPO)

Under RA 9262, Barangay Protection Orders can be issued to:

Immediately prohibit the respondent from harming or threatening the woman or her children
Sometimes include directions relating to residence or contact, though not as comprehensive as court-issued orders

These can complement court actions that handle the larger questions of support and property.

XI. Special Situations

A. OFW spouse who stops sending remittances

If the supporting spouse is an overseas Filipino worker (OFW):

The spouse in the Philippines can still file a civil action for support and/or RA 9262 case.
Enforcement can be more complicated because the respondent is abroad, but:
- Property in the Philippines may still be reached,
- Employers in the Philippines might be compelled to garnish income passing through local institutions,
- Coordination with foreign jurisdictions may sometimes be pursued via international cooperation.

B. Common-law relationships (live-in partners)

Even without marriage:

RA 9262 still applies if the relationship fits the law’s definitions (e.g., dating relationship, common child, etc.).
Children—whether legitimate or illegitimate—are still entitled to support from both parents under the Family Code.
However, annulment and nullity actions themselves do not apply if there was no marriage in the first place.

C. Foreign divorce and support

If a foreign spouse obtains a foreign divorce which is later recognized in the Philippines (for the Filipino spouse’s benefit):

The marriage bond may effectively be severed under Philippine law (once judicially recognized),
But support obligations for children often continue, subject to the court’s orders and applicable law.

XII. Practical Steps for a Spouse Facing Non-Support

If your spouse has stopped providing support, possible steps include:

Document everything
- Record dates and amounts of support previously given (if any)
- Keep receipts and proof of expenses for you and your children
- Keep communications where the spouse refused support or made threats
Try informal or mediated settlement
- Some spouses agree to a support arrangement when confronted informally or via barangay mediation.
- Get any agreement in writing, and if possible, documented at the barangay.
Consult a lawyer or legal aid office
- To assess which remedy best fits your situation:
  - Civil action for support
  - RA 9262 case for economic abuse
  - Legal separation or declaration of nullity if other grounds exist
  - Judicial separation of property where needed
Consider protection orders
- If non-support is part of abuse, threats, or coercion, protection orders under RA 9262 can be powerful and relatively fast remedies.
Think long-term: marriage status vs. immediate survival
- Ask: “What do I need right now?”
  - Money/support to feed and educate children? → Civil/RA 9262 support remedies
  - Safety from violence or harassment? → Protection orders and criminal complaints
  - Freedom from a marriage with deep-rooted incapacity, abuse, or infidelity? → Nullity or legal separation, depending on grounds

Often, support actions and RA 9262 cases are filed first, with annulment/nullity or legal separation considered later when the immediate financial and safety needs are stabilized.

XIII. Conclusion

In the Philippines, a spouse’s refusal or failure to provide support is a serious legal matter, but it does not automatically entitle the other spouse to annulment.

Instead:

Non-support is directly addressed through civil actions for support, judicial separation of property, and child protection laws.
When it is part of a pattern of abuse, particularly against women and children, it may constitute economic abuse under RA 9262, with both criminal and protective remedies.
In specific and well-documented cases, chronic and severe non-support may also serve as evidence of psychological incapacity or abandonment, supporting actions for nullity or legal separation.

If you or someone you know is in this situation, the most important step is to seek individualized legal advice from a Philippine lawyer or legal aid group, bringing with you all documents and evidence related to the marriage, children, and history of support or non-support. That is the best way to match these legal concepts to the concrete facts of your case.