Legal Age to Marry Without Parental Consent (Philippines)

General information only; not legal advice. For a specific situation, consult a Philippine lawyer or your Local Civil Registry (LCR).

The short answer

Minimum age to marry: 18. Anyone below 18 cannot marry; any such marriage is void and, since 2021, arranging or officiating a child marriage is a crime.
Marrying at 18–20: You need parental consent. If you skip it, the marriage is voidable (it’s valid unless annulled on that ground within the periods set by law).
Marrying at 21–25: You don’t need consent, but you must seek parental advice. Skipping the advice does not affect validity; it can delay the marriage license issuance.
Marrying at 26 or older: No parental consent or advice is required.

Ages and their legal effects

1) Under 18

Capacity: No capacity to marry, even with any parent’s/guardian’s permission.
Civil effect: Marriage is void ab initio (as if it never existed). It cannot be “cured” by ratification or cohabitation later.
Criminal overlay: “Child marriage” (where a party is under 18) is criminalized; facilitation, solemnization, or cohabitation under a child marriage can lead to penalties under special law.

2) 18 to 20 years old (inclusive)

Capacity: You can marry only with parental consent.
What “consent” means: A written consent from the father, mother, surviving parent, or legal guardian (or the person having legal charge), typically presented to the LCR with your marriage license application. If parents disagree, parental authority rules apply; if a parent is absent/incapacitated, the other qualifying person may consent.
Civil effect if missing: Voidable marriage on the ground of lack of parental consent.
- Who may sue & when:
  - The parent/guardian whose consent was required may bring an action before the party turns 21.
  - The party who needed consent may sue after turning 21, but only within the statutory period (a short, specific window in the Family Code).
- Ratification: If, after turning 21, the spouses freely cohabit as husband and wife, the defect is cured and annulment on this ground is barred.

3) 21 to 25 years old (inclusive)

Consent: Not required.
Parental advice: You must seek it and submit the written advice (favorable or unfavorable) with your license application.
- If parents refuse/are silent, you submit a sworn statement that you sought advice.
- Sanction for non-compliance: The LCR may withhold the marriage license for three (3) months from completion of publication.
- Validity: Lack of parental advice does not invalidate the marriage.

4) 26+

No consent or advice required. Proceed with the usual license and ceremony requirements.

Where the “consent” rule shows up in practice

Marriage license stage: LCRs will ask for the proper consent/advice based on your age. Without it (for 18–20), the LCR should not issue a license.
License-exempt marriages: Even in license-exempt situations (e.g., Article 34 marriages after five years’ cohabitation without legal impediment, or emergency marriages in remote places/in articulo mortis), the age/consent rules still matter for validity: a marriage involving a party under 18 remains void, and a marriage with a party 18–20 who lacked parental consent is voidable.

Who may give parental consent (18–20)

Father and/or mother with parental authority (for illegitimate children, the mother has sole parental authority).
If a parent is dead, absent, or incapacitated, the surviving or available qualifying person gives consent.
If both are absent/incapacitated, a legal guardian or the person having legal charge of the minor may consent.

Formality: The consent must be in writing, usually acknowledged and presented to the LCR together with IDs and supporting civil registry documents.

Grounds, timelines, and curing (for 18–20 without consent)

Ground: Lack of parental consent (while the party was 18–20).
Who sues:
- Parent/guardian whose consent was required: may sue before the party turns 21.
- The party who needed consent: may sue after turning 21 but within the Family Code’s prescriptive period for this ground.
Cure (ratification): Free cohabitation after age 21 bars annulment on this ground.

(Exact prescriptive cutoffs are technical; a lawyer can compute the last day to file based on your dates.)

Related, but different: parental advice (21–25)

Purpose: Encourage guidance—not veto power.
How it works: File the written advice (even if unfavorable) or a sworn statement that you sought it.
If missing: The LCR delays the license for three months from the end of publication; no effect on validity of a later marriage.

Other essentials that still apply at any age (18+)

Essential requisites:
1. Capacity (age, no legal impediment);
2. Consent freely given before the officiant.
Formal requisites:
1. Authority of the officiant;
2. Marriage license (unless a legal exemption applies);
3. Ceremony with personal appearance and two witnesses.
Effect of defects:
- Under 18: void.
- No license (and no exception): void.
- Officer with no authority: void (subject to limited “putative” protections).
- Lack of parental consent (18–20): voidable (curable).
- Vitiated consent (force, intimidation, fraud): voidable (curable).

Foreign and special-law angles

Filipinos marrying abroad: Capacity (including minimum age) follows Philippine law. A Filipino under 18 marrying abroad where it’s allowed remains incapacitated under Philippine law; such marriage is not recognized here and may also trigger criminal liability under the child-marriage law for facilitators.
Religious/customary marriages: Special laws (e.g., for Muslim or indigenous customary marriages) may have distinct procedures, but no special law allows marriage below 18 for Filipinos under the general regime; child marriage is criminalized.

Practical checklists

If you are 18–20

Get written parental consent (right parent/guardian, properly executed).
Bring IDs and civil registry documents to the LCR.
Ensure all other license/ceremony requirements are met.
Do not proceed without consent—doing so risks a future annulment case.

If you are 21–25

Seek parental advice and submit it; if refused or silent, prepare a sworn statement.
Expect up to a 3-month license issuance delay if advice is missing/unfavorable.
Proceed once the license is issued; validity is unaffected by the advice issue.

If you are 26+

No consent/advice required; just comply with the usual license and ceremony requisites.

Key takeaways

The bright line is 18. Below that is no-go and void.
18–20: You need parental consent; without it, marriage is voidable (and later cohabitation after 21 can cure it).
21–25: Only advice is required; it can delay the license but won’t invalidate the marriage.
26+: You stand on your own consent—no parental involvement required.
These age rules sit on top of all other Family Code requisites (license, authority, ceremony) that must still be satisfied.