Marriage without a License under Article 34 of the Family Code of the Philippines
A comprehensive doctrinal, jurisprudential, and practical guide
1. Statutory Framework
| Provision | Key idea |
|---|---|
| Family Code, Art. 3(2) | A marriage license is a formal requisite of marriage. |
| Family Code, Arts. 27–29, 33–34 | Enumerate the exceptions to the license requirement. |
| Family Code, Art. 34 | Marriage after five-year cohabitation. Text:> “No license shall be necessary for the marriage of a man and a woman who have lived together as husband and wife for at least five (5) years and without any legal impediment to marry each other. The contracting parties shall state the foregoing facts in an affidavit to be executed before the person solemnizing the marriage.” |
2. Elements of an Article 34 marriage
Five (5)-year cohabitation
- Continuous, exclusively with each other, immediately preceding the wedding date.
- Cohabitation begun while either party was legally incapacitated (e.g., still married) does not count.
Absence of legal impediment for the entire five-year period
- Both parties must have been capacitated to marry each other from Day 1 of living together (e.g., single, divorced abroad & recognized here, or widow/er).
- An impediment that disappears (e.g., annulment granted in Year 3) can restart the clock, but the five-year count recommences only when both are free to marry.
Sworn affidavit of cohabitation
- Executed before or at the ceremony, signed by both parties (best practice: also by two witnesses).
- Must expressly state (a) the dates of cohabitation, (b) that no impediment has ever existed, and (c) intent to marry without a license under Art. 34.
Authority of the solemnizing officer
- Any officer authorized by Art. 7 (judge, priest/minister/imam, mayor, consul, or duly accredited religious elder) may solemnize if convinced the elements exist.
- The officer must attach the affidavit to the marriage certificate to be filed with the Local Civil Registry (LCR).
Other requisites remain
- Essential: Legal capacity (≥18 yrs) & mutual consent.
- Formal: Authority of solemnizing officer, a valid ceremony, and registration with LCR.
- Parental consent/advice: Still required if a party is 18–24 yrs old (Arts. 14–15). Article 34 waives only the license, not these age-based rules.
3. Comparison with other license-free weddings
| Article | Scenario | Main rationale | Distinctive requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | In articulo mortis in remote place | Humanitarian, urgency | Doctor/major witness attesting illness |
| 28 | Military operation/combat zone | Operational necessity | Commanding officer report |
| 33 | Customary marriages among Muslims / cultural minorities | Respect for custom | Must comply with tribe/religious code |
| 34 | Five-year cohabitation | Reality of stable union, legal capacity | Sworn affidavit of cohabitation |
4. Leading Supreme Court jurisprudence
| Case | G.R. No. / Date | Holding & Key lesson |
|---|---|---|
| Morigo v. People | 145226, 6 Feb 2002 | First marriage void for lack of license; Art. 34 inapplicable because parties did not prove continuous 5-year cohabitation and no affidavit had been executed. |
| People v. Court of Appeals (Cortes) | 12477, 25 Jan 1994 | Conviction for bigamy affirmed; Art. 34 defense fails without the required affidavit even if five-year live-in alleged. |
| Navarro v. Domagtoy | A.M. MTJ-91-623, 3 Aug 1993 | Judge disciplined for solemnizing Art. 34 marriage without verifying the affidavit; stresses duty of solemnizing officer. |
| People v. Tabug | 166792, 25 Jan 2012 | Discrepancy in dates on affidavit cast doubt on five-year period; marriage declared void ab initio. |
| Dayot v. Hon. Ca-Bay, et al. | 175581, 23 Mar 2009 | Affidavit executed after the ceremony is fatally defective; formal requisite unmet. |
Patterns: The Court insists on strict compliance: continuous five-year period, capacity throughout, and the affidavit as contemporaneous documentary proof.
5. Procedural checklist (practitioner’s view)
| Step | Action | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Draft affidavit (use PSA-recommended template) | Include dates of cohabitation & statement of no impediment. Notarization optional but recommended. |
| 2 | Secure CENOMARs (Certificate of No Marriage) | While not required by statute, many officiants/LCRs demand it to verify capacity. |
| 3 | Present IDs / age proof | Needed to determine parental consent/advice obligations. |
| 4 | Solemnization | Officer administers oath to parties re truth of affidavit. |
| 5 | Registration | Within 15 days, officer forwards marriage certificate with affidavit to LCR for entry & transmission to PSA. |
| 6 | Post-registration remedies | If affidavit missing/defective, parties may be compelled to file a late affidavit, but marriage risks being void. |
6. Common pitfalls & misconceptions
“We lived together on-and-off for five years—ok na ’yan.” Breaks in cohabitation restart the clock.
“Annulment filed two years in—five-year count continues.” Five-year period only starts when both are free to marry.
“Walang affidavit, pero judge naman ang nag-kasal.” Absence of affidavit = absence of a formal requisite; marriage is void ab initio (Art. 4).
“No marriage license means no parental consent needed.” Wrong—the age-based consent/advice rules are separate.
“Bigamy won’t apply if first marriage invalid.” You must prove invalidity; otherwise bigamy stands.
7. Policy rationale & critique
Rationale: Encourages otherwise capable couples in stable unions to regularize their status, protecting women and children from the insecurity of informal cohabitation.
Criticisms:
- Open to abuse—affidavits may be falsified to hide existing impediments.
- LCRs have uneven enforcement; some require documentary proof beyond the statute, others do not.
- Does not cover same-sex couples, who remain unable to marry under current law.
Proposals have surfaced (but not yet enacted) to (a) require corroborating documents, (b) criminalize false affidavits under Art. 34 specifically, and (c) harmonize with barangay civil registries to verify cohabitation history.
8. Interaction with related laws
| Law | Relevance |
|---|---|
| Revised Penal Code, Art. 349 (Bigamy) | A void Art. 34 marriage cannot support bigamy conviction, but failure to satisfy Art. 34 requisites exposes parties to liability. |
| RA 9858 (Legitimation of children born to parents below valid marriage) | Children conceived before a void Art. 34 marriage remain illegitimate unless subsequently legitimated or parents validly marry later. |
| RA 9262 (Anti-VAWC) | Even without a license, Art. 34 spouses are “persons similarly situated to spouses,” covered by VAWC protections. |
| Civil Registry Law & PSA Circulars | Mandate attachment of the affidavit to registry files; PSA will not annotate “License not required” unless affidavit present. |
9. Practical drafting tip: model affidavit (core clauses)
We, Juan Dela Cruz and Maria Santos, both of legal age, Filipino citizens, and residents of Barangay Mabini, Batangas City, after having been duly sworn, depose and state:
- That we have lived together continuously as husband and wife since 15 June 2020, a period of more than five (5) years immediately preceding this date;
- That throughout said period, no legal impediment to our marriage has existed;
- That we desire to solemnize our marriage on 20 July 2025 without obtaining a marriage license pursuant to Article 34, Family Code. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we hereunto affix our signatures…
Attach photocopies of government IDs and latest CENOMARs for good measure.
10. Conclusion
Article 34 offers a limited but powerful pathway to marriage without the usual 10-day license application. Parties must scrupulously comply with its three pillars—five-year continuous cohabitation, absence of impediment from the start, and a contemporaneous sworn affidavit. Philippine jurisprudence strictly enforces these requisites; lapses render the marriage void ab initio and expose participants (and even officiants) to criminal or administrative sanctions. Handled correctly, however, an Art. 34 marriage regularizes a long-standing union, secures inheritance rights, and removes the stigma of illegitimacy for future offspring—fulfilling the Family Code’s overarching policy of protecting the family as the foundation of the nation.
This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. For specific cases, consult a Philippine lawyer or your local civil registrar.