The declaration of nullity of marriage is a judicial action that establishes a marriage as void ab initio—invalid from the moment of its celebration, producing no legal effects whatsoever. Philippine law treats marriage as a special contract and a fundamental social institution under Article XV, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, yet it expressly permits the absolute nullity of marriages that fail to meet the essential requisites prescribed by law. The governing statute is the Family Code of the Philippines (Executive Order No. 209, as amended), which classifies void marriages into those lacking essential or formal requisites (Articles 35, 37, and 38), those vitiated by psychological incapacity (Article 36), and those rendered void by specific policy provisions (Articles 40, 41, 44, and 53). A judicial declaration is mandatory before any party may remarry (Article 40) and to determine the status of children, property relations, and other civil effects.

This article exhaustively examines every statutory ground, the precise requirements for initiating and proving a petition, the governing procedure, evidentiary standards, jurisprudential guidelines, effects of a decree, and special applications.

Distinction Between Declaration of Nullity and Annulment

A void marriage never existed in law. It may be attacked collaterally in any proceeding and the action to declare its nullity is imprescriptible. A voidable marriage, by contrast, is valid and produces all legal effects until a final decree of annulment is issued under Article 45 (lack of parental consent for ages 18–21, unsound mind, fraud, force/intimidation/undue influence, impotence, or serious sexually transmitted disease). Annulment actions prescribe: five years for most grounds, except for minority (until age 21 or five years after attaining majority) and fraud (five years from discovery). The procedural rules, parties, and effects also differ; only nullity actions are the subject of this article.

Legal Framework

The Family Code took effect on 3 August 1988. It repealed inconsistent provisions of the Civil Code of 1950. The Supreme Court promulgated the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages (A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC, effective 15 March 2003), which supplies the procedural template. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the public prosecutor are indispensable participants to protect the State’s interest in the sanctity of marriage and to prevent collusion.

Grounds for Declaration of Nullity

1. Marriages Lacking Essential or Formal Requisites (Article 35)

Article 35 declares the following void from the beginning:

(1) Minority – Both or either party below 18 years of age at the time of celebration, regardless of parental consent. The age of legal capacity for marriage is fixed at 18; no exception exists.

(2) Lack of authority of solemnizing officer – The marriage is void unless at least one party acted in good faith believing the officer was duly authorized. Good faith is a question of fact; a mere defect in designation does not automatically validate if the parties knew or ought to have known of the lack of authority.

(3) Absence of marriage license – No valid license issued by the local civil registrar, except the five classes of license-exempt marriages under Articles 27–34:

Articulo mortis (one party at point of death);
Remote place (no civil registrar within 15 km and no means of transportation);
Cohabitation for at least five years without legal impediment, with affidavit of cohabitation;
Marriage between Muslims or members of indigenous cultural communities under their customs;
Marriage solemnized by a ship captain or airplane chief in the cases provided.

A license that is defective in form but duly issued is not “absent” and does not render the marriage void.

(4) Bigamy or polygamy – A second or subsequent marriage while a prior valid marriage subsists, except the qualified exception in Article 41.

(5) Mistake in identity – The error must concern the physical identity of the other contracting party, not merely personal qualities or attributes. It is extremely rare and requires proof that the petitioner would not have consented had the true identity been known.

(6) Subsequent marriage under Article 53 – A marriage contracted without first recording the final judgment of nullity or annulment of the previous marriage, the partition and distribution of properties, and the delivery of presumptive legitimes to common children.

2. Psychological Incapacity (Article 36)

A marriage is void if, at the time of its celebration, one or both parties were psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage: mutual love, respect, support, fidelity, and cohabitation. The incapacity must be:

Grave – A serious and substantial personality disorder, not mere refusal, neglect, or difficulty in performing duties.
Juridically antecedent – Must exist at the time of the marriage celebration, although its manifestations may appear only later.
Incurable – Not curable by ordinary medical or psychological means, or the cure is beyond the capacity or willingness of the afflicted spouse.

The root cause must be medically or clinically identified, alleged in the petition, proven by expert testimony (usually a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist), and clearly explained in the decision. The totality of evidence, however, governs; personal examination of the respondent is desirable but not indispensable if other evidence convincingly establishes the incapacity.

Common illustrations recognized in jurisprudence include:

Severe personality disorders (narcissistic, antisocial, borderline, dependent, or schizoid) that render the person incapable of sustaining a marital relationship;
Sexual disorders that prevent the performance of marital duties (e.g., total refusal to consummate coupled with a deep-seated psychological aversion);
Chronic abandonment or refusal to live together when rooted in a pre-existing personality disorder;
Pathological gambling, drug addiction, or alcoholism when shown to be a symptom of a graver psychological condition existing at the time of marriage.

Mere sexual infidelity, emotional immaturity, irreconcilable differences, habitual drunkenness, or failure to provide support, without proof of a grave, antecedent, and incurable psychological disorder, do not qualify.

3. Incestuous Marriages (Article 37)

Absolutely void regardless of consent or good faith: (1) Between ascendants and descendants of any degree, legitimate or illegitimate; (2) Between full or half-blood brothers and sisters, legitimate or illegitimate.

4. Marriages Void by Reason of Public Policy (Article 38)

Void irrespective of consent: (1) Between collateral blood relatives (legitimate or illegitimate) up to the fourth civil degree (includes first cousins); (2) Between step-parents and step-children; (3) Between parents-in-law and children-in-law; (4) Between the adopting parent and the adopted child; (5) Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child; (6) Between the surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter; (7) Between an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter; (8) Between adopted children of the same adopter; (9) Between parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed the latter’s spouse or his or her own spouse.

5. Additional Specific Grounds

Article 40 – A judicial declaration of nullity of a previous marriage is an indispensable requirement before a subsequent marriage may be contracted. Absence of the declaration renders the subsequent marriage void.
Article 41 – A subsequent marriage contracted after a judicial declaration of presumptive death is valid only if the absent spouse was in fact dead or the declaration complied with all requirements. If the absent spouse reappears and the second marriage was contracted in bad faith, it is void.
Article 44 – If both parties to a marriage under Article 41 acted in bad faith, the marriage is void.
Article 53 – Failure to comply with the recording and liquidation requirements before remarriage after nullity or annulment.

Requirements for Filing the Petition

Who may file
Only the husband or the wife. The action survives the death of one spouse if the purpose is to settle property relations or inheritance rights, but the surviving spouse must still be the petitioner.

Venue
The petition shall be filed in the Family Court of the city or municipality where the petitioner or respondent has resided for at least six months prior to filing. If neither resides in the Philippines, the petition may be filed in the place where the petitioner resides.

Prescription
The action for declaration of absolute nullity is imprescriptible. It may be filed at any time, before or after the death of one or both spouses, subject only to the rules on res judicata and the finality of prior judgments.

Contents of the Petition
The petition must be verified and allege:

Personal circumstances of the parties;
Facts constituting the ground(s) for nullity;
The specific root cause, manifestations, and incurability (for Article 36);
That there is no collusion;
Prayer for nullity, custody (if applicable), support, and property liquidation.

Supporting documents: marriage certificate, birth certificates of children, psychological evaluation report (for Article 36), and other relevant evidence.

Indispensable Parties
The OSG and the public prosecutor must be furnished copies and allowed to participate. The prosecutor conducts an investigation to determine collusion. If collusion is found, the petition may be dismissed.

Procedure

Filing and raffle to a Family Court judge.
Issuance of summons (or publication if respondent cannot be located).
Prosecutor’s investigation report on collusion.
Pre-trial conference (mandatory).
Trial on the merits.
Promulgation of judgment.
Motion for reconsideration or appeal to the Court of Appeals (Rule 41). Further appeal to the Supreme Court on questions of law only (Rule 45).
Entry of judgment after all remedies are exhausted or periods lapse.

Proceedings are confidential; records are not open to the public.

Evidence and Burden of Proof

The petitioner bears the burden of proving the ground by preponderance of evidence. For Article 36, the evidence must include:

Expert testimony identifying the psychological disorder, its gravity, antecedence, and incurability;
Testimony of the petitioner and corroborating witnesses describing the marital history and manifestations;
Documentary evidence (medical records, school records, employment history, etc.).

The court may appoint its own expert if necessary. The respondent’s failure to appear or submit a psychological report does not relieve the petitioner of the burden.

Effects of a Final Decree of Nullity (Article 54 and Related Provisions)

The marriage is deemed never to have existed.
Children conceived or born before the decree are legitimate if at least one parent acted in good faith.
Property regime: If the marriage is void under Article 35 or 36 and both parties are in good faith, absolute community or conjugal partnership applies as if valid; if one or both in bad faith, the regime is governed by Articles 147 or 148 (co-ownership rules with forfeiture for the guilty party).
Donations propter nuptias remain valid if the donee is in good faith; otherwise revoked.
The decree dissolves the marital bond completely; both parties regain capacity to remarry upon finality and entry of judgment.
The decree must be recorded in the local civil registry and the Register of Deeds where properties are located.

Notable Jurisprudential Guidelines

The Supreme Court has refined the application of each ground through landmark decisions. For psychological incapacity, the leading cases established and later clarified the standards: the root cause must be identified, the incapacity must be grave, antecedent, and incurable, and expert evidence is generally required though not invariably indispensable when the totality of evidence is convincing. Courts have consistently rejected “mere incompatibility,” “emotional immaturity,” or isolated acts of infidelity as sufficient. For bigamy, the prior marriage must be proven valid and subsisting. For lack of license, the absence must be total, not merely defective. Good-faith exceptions are strictly construed. The OSG’s participation is mandatory; its non-participation may nullify the proceedings.

Special Applications

Foreign marriages involving Filipinos – Governed by Philippine law on capacity and consent (Article 26, Family Code). A foreign divorce obtained by the alien spouse may dissolve the marriage for the Filipino, but nullity is a separate action.
Mixed marriages – Capacity of the foreign spouse is governed by his or her national law; the Filipino spouse by Philippine law.
Death of a party – The action survives for purposes of property settlement and legitimacy of children.
Remarriage without declaration – Automatically void; no good-faith defense for the second marriage.

A decree of nullity is not lightly granted. The State’s interest in preserving marriage requires strict proof, meticulous compliance with procedural safeguards, and clear and convincing evidence that the marriage suffers from a defect rendering it void from its inception. Every ground, requirement, and effect flows directly from the Family Code provisions, the 2003 Rule, and the body of jurisprudence that has interpreted them since 1988.