A Philippine legal article on the essential and formal requisites, licensing rules, authority to solemnize, special cases, and the legal effects of defects.

I. State Policy and Governing Framework

Philippine law treats marriage as a special contract of permanent union and the foundation of the family, which the State protects. The primary statute governing marriage for most Filipinos is the Family Code of the Philippines (Executive Order No. 209, as amended). Related rules appear in the Civil Code (in limited residual matters), the Revised Penal Code (for certain marriage-related crimes), civil registry laws, and—importantly for specific communities—the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines (PD 1083) and certain rules recognizing indigenous customs in specific contexts.

This article focuses on marriages governed by the Family Code (the default regime for civil marriages and most religious marriages in the Philippines).

II. What “Valid Marriage” Means in Philippine Law

A marriage is valid when it satisfies:

Essential requisites (substantive requirements that go to the existence of marriage), and
Formal requisites (legal formalities required by law).

Failure in an essential or formal requisite can result in a marriage being void (treated as if it never existed) or voidable (valid until annulled), depending on the defect.

III. Essential Requisites (Family Code, Art. 2)

A valid marriage requires both essential requisites:

A. Legal Capacity of the Contracting Parties

“Legal capacity” means each party is legally qualified to marry. In practice, capacity is evaluated through these core elements:

Age
- Minimum age: 18 years old.
- A person below 18 lacks legal capacity to marry; a marriage involving a party below 18 is void.
Sex/Gender (under current statutory text)
- The Family Code’s framing historically contemplates marriage between a man and a woman. In Philippine legal practice, same-sex marriage is not recognized under the Family Code regime.
No existing valid marriage (no prior subsisting marriage)
- A person already married cannot validly marry again unless the prior marriage has been legally terminated or declared void/annulled with the required legal finality. A subsequent marriage while a prior valid marriage subsists is generally void (bigamous).
No prohibited relationship
- Certain blood/adoptive relationships bar marriage absolutely (see Section IX on void marriages).
Mental capacity
- Parties must be of sound mind to give valid consent. Certain mental conditions can affect capacity or consent and may render the marriage void or voidable, depending on the legal ground and proof.

B. Consent Freely Given in the Presence of the Solemnizing Officer

Consent must be:

Personal (no marriage by proxy under the Family Code regime),
Free and voluntary (not forced, coerced, or unlawfully induced), and
Given in the presence of a duly authorized solemnizing officer.

Consent issues commonly arise in:

Force, intimidation, undue influence (voidable),
Fraud of a legally relevant kind (voidable, but only for specific statutory frauds),
Mistake as to identity (can be a basis for nullity in extreme cases), and
Psychological incapacity (a separate void ground that is not merely “lack of consent,” but a serious, juridically recognized inability to assume essential marital obligations).

IV. Formal Requisites (Family Code, Art. 3)

A valid marriage requires all formal requisites:

Authority of the solemnizing officer
A valid marriage license, except in cases where the law expressly dispenses with a license
A marriage ceremony with specific legal features

Each is discussed in detail below.

V. Authority to Solemnize Marriages

A. Who May Solemnize (Family Code, Art. 7)

Marriages may be solemnized by:

Members of the judiciary (within their jurisdiction, subject to rules)
Priests, rabbis, imams, or ministers of any church or religious sect, provided they are:
- duly authorized by their church/sect, and
- registered with the civil registrar general, and
- acting within the limits of their authority
Ship captains or airplane chiefs, but only in specific, exceptional situations (typically in articulo mortis during voyage/flight and under statutory conditions)
Military commanders (in certain situations such as in articulo mortis in the field and when no other authorized solemnizing officer is available, subject to statutory conditions)
Consuls, vice-consuls, or consular agents (for marriages abroad in certain cases, commonly involving Filipino citizens, under applicable rules)

B. Effect of Lack of Authority

As a rule, a marriage solemnized by a person without legal authority is void.
A key protective doctrine exists: if either or both parties believed in good faith that the solemnizing officer had authority, the law may treat certain defects differently for civil effects—though authority issues are still high-risk and often litigated.

VI. The Marriage Ceremony Requirements

A. What the Ceremony Must Include (Family Code, Art. 6)

A valid ceremony requires:

Personal appearance of both parties before the solemnizing officer, and
A declaration that they take each other as husband and wife, and
The declaration is made in the presence of at least two witnesses of legal age.

B. Form of the Ceremony

No specific script is required. What matters is the substance:

the parties personally express consent,
before an authorized officer,
with two adult witnesses.

VII. Place of Solemnization

A. General Rule (Family Code, Art. 8)

Marriage should be solemnized publicly in any of the following:

chambers of the judge or open court,
church, chapel, or temple,
office of the consul/vice-consul/consular agent (as applicable),
or other places as may be legally allowed.

B. Exceptions (Allowed Places)

Marriage may be solemnized elsewhere in situations such as:

Marriage in articulo mortis (one party at the point of death),
Marriage in remote places where no means of transportation make it possible for parties to appear at the proper venue,
Marriage in a house or place designated by the parties, provided special statutory requirements are met (commonly requiring a sworn statement and justification).

Improper venue issues may not always void the marriage by themselves, but they can be relevant depending on the violation and proof.

VIII. Marriage License: The Central Formal Requisite

A. General Rule

A marriage license is required before marriage, unless the marriage falls under a license-exempt category expressly provided by law.

B. Where to Apply

Application is generally filed with the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) of:

the city/municipality where either contracting party habitually resides.

C. Core Steps and Requirements (Typical Legal Structure)

While document checklists vary by LCR implementation, the Family Code structure commonly involves:

Filing an application for a marriage license;
Posting/publication of notice for a required period (commonly 10 consecutive days in the bulletin board of the city/municipal building);
Affidavits/consents/advice when applicable (especially for ages 18–25);
Payment of prescribed fees, and compliance with legally mandated counseling/briefings implemented by local rules consistent with law.

D. Validity Period of the License

A marriage license is generally valid for 120 days from date of issue and is effective anywhere in the Philippines within that period. After expiry, a new application/license is required.

IX. Special Age Rules: Parental Consent and Parental Advice

Even if 18+ is the minimum age for capacity, the Family Code imposes additional requirements for younger adults:

A. Ages 18 to 20 (below 21): Parental Consent

Marriage requires written parental consent (from parent(s) or guardian as defined by law).
Absence of required consent can lead to legal consequences; marriages in this bracket implicate license issuance rules and may trigger disputes about validity depending on compliance and circumstances.

B. Ages 21 to 24 (below 25): Parental Advice

Parties must seek parental advice.
If advice is not obtained or is unfavorable, the issuance of the license may be affected (often through waiting periods or procedural safeguards). This typically impacts license regularity rather than capacity itself.

X. When a Marriage License Is NOT Required (Family Code, Arts. 27–34)

Philippine law recognizes limited situations where marriage is valid without a license. These are strictly construed.

1. Marriage In Articulo Mortis (Art. 27)

When one or both parties are at the point of death.
The marriage remains valid even if the sick party later survives, provided legal conditions were met.

2. Marriage in Remote Places (Art. 28)

When parties are in a location where no means of transportation make it possible to appear before the local civil registrar.

3. Marriage Among Muslims or Members of Ethnic Cultural Communities (Art. 33, and special laws)

The Family Code acknowledges marriage among Muslims and members of ethnic cultural communities in accordance with their customs/laws, subject to recognition rules and registration requirements.
For Muslims, PD 1083 (Code of Muslim Personal Laws) is central.

4. Marriage by Cohabitation (Art. 34)

Often called the “common-law” license exemption (though it is not a common-law marriage system), it requires:

The man and woman have lived together as husband and wife for at least five (5) years, and
They are without any legal impediment to marry each other during that period, and
They execute an affidavit stating these facts, and
The solemnizing officer executes a sworn statement that the requirements have been ascertained.

This is a frequent source of litigation. If the five-year cohabitation or “no impediment” condition is untrue, the marriage may be void for lack of a valid license.

5. Marriages Solemnized Abroad Under Certain Conditions

Depending on facts (citizenship, place, and applicable conflict-of-laws rules), a marriage abroad may be recognized if valid where celebrated, subject to Philippine public policy limitations and required registration/reporting to Philippine authorities.

XI. Registration and Documentation (Proof vs Validity)

A. Marriage Certificate and Civil Registry Reporting (Family Code, Art. 23 and related rules)

After solemnization, the person who solemnized the marriage generally must:

Prepare and sign the marriage certificate, and
Send/submit it to the local civil registrar within the period required by law and implementing regulations.

B. Effect of Non-Registration

As a general rule:

Failure to register does not by itself void the marriage, but it can create serious problems of proof, benefits claims, legitimacy presumptions, property relations, and civil status records.

XII. Legal Impediments and Defects: Void vs Voidable vs Irregular

Understanding validity requires distinguishing among:

Void marriages (invalid from the beginning),
Voidable marriages (valid until annulled), and
Irregularities (do not void the marriage but can create liability).

A. Void Marriages (Family Code, Arts. 35–38, 36, 37–38)

A marriage is void in common situations such as:

One or both parties below 18 (even with parental consent).
Solemnized by a person without authority (subject to limited good-faith doctrines in certain contexts).
No marriage license, when a license is required (and no valid exemption applies).
Bigamous or polygamous marriage (a prior valid marriage is still subsisting).
Mistake in identity (rare, extreme cases—mistake as to the person).
Psychological incapacity (Art. 36): a serious, clinically or juridically relevant incapacity existing at the time of marriage to assume essential marital obligations.
Incestuous marriages (Art. 37): e.g., between ascendants/descendants, siblings (full or half), and other relationships expressly covered.
Marriages void by public policy (Art. 38): e.g., certain collateral relatives by blood, step relationships, in-laws in specified degrees, adoptive relationships and their enumerated extensions, as provided by law.

Key practical point: For void marriages, the proper legal remedy is generally an action to declare nullity of marriage. Despite being void from the start, parties often need a judicial declaration for civil status correction and remarriage safety.

B. Voidable Marriages (Family Code, Art. 45)

Voidable marriages are valid until annulled. Grounds include:

Lack of parental consent for a party aged 18–20 (where required),
Unsound mind (unless the party freely cohabited after regaining sanity),
Fraud (only specific statutory kinds; not every lie is “fraud” legally),
Force, intimidation, undue influence,
Physical incapacity to consummate (generally incurable and existing at the time of marriage),
Serious and incurable sexually transmissible disease existing at the time of marriage.

Voidable marriages require an action for annulment within specified prescriptive periods, and are subject to defenses like ratification/cohabitation in some cases.

C. Irregularities That Do Not Necessarily Void the Marriage (Family Code, Art. 4 and related doctrines)

Some defects—especially procedural missteps—may not void the marriage if the essential and formal requisites exist. Examples can include certain licensing process irregularities or registration delays, though consequences can include:

administrative liability for officials,
evidentiary complications, or
civil/criminal exposure in exceptional cases.

XIII. Foreign Nationals and Mixed Marriages

A. Capacity and National Law Principles

Philippine conflict-of-laws principles often look at a foreign national’s national law to determine capacity (e.g., age capacity, prior marriage, divorce capacity), while the lex loci celebrationis (law of the place of celebration) governs formalities for marriages celebrated abroad.

B. Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage

For marriages in the Philippines involving a foreign national, local civil registrars typically require proof that the foreigner is legally free to marry—commonly a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage from the foreigner’s embassy/consulate or equivalent proof required by Philippine administrative practice consistent with the Family Code framework.

C. Divorces and Prior Marriages

If a foreigner (or a Filipino formerly married to a foreigner) has a prior marriage and claims freedom to remarry, the documentary trail is critical:

divorce decrees, annulment judgments, death certificates,
and, where relevant under Philippine recognition rules, evidence necessary to establish the fact and effect of foreign divorce in the Philippines.

XIV. Special Contexts

A. Muslim Marriages (PD 1083)

Muslim marriages may be governed by the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, which recognizes forms and rules distinct from the Family Code, including rules on solemnization and registration within that system.

B. Indigenous Cultural Communities

The Family Code recognizes marriages among members of ethnic cultural communities in accordance with their customs in certain circumstances, but recognition and registration remain crucial for civil status documentation and third-party effects.

C. Premature Marriage as a Penal Concept (Historical/Criminal Law Overlay)

Certain acts surrounding marriage (e.g., bigamy) are criminalized. Historically, the Revised Penal Code also penalized certain “premature marriage” situations for widows under specific conditions. Even where criminal law is implicated, it does not automatically determine civil validity under the Family Code; civil validity depends on the essential/formal requisites and void/voidable grounds.

XV. Practical Compliance Checklist (Philippine Setting)

A marriage is on the strongest legal footing when all of the following are satisfied:

Both parties are at least 18 and otherwise legally free to marry (no subsisting marriage; no prohibited relationship).
Consent is free, voluntary, and personally given.
The marriage is solemnized by an authorized solemnizing officer acting within authority.
A valid marriage license is issued and unexpired, unless a clear license exemption applies (e.g., Art. 34 cohabitation with no impediment).
The ceremony includes the parties’ declaration in the presence of the officer and two adult witnesses.
The marriage certificate is correctly accomplished and registered with the civil registrar for reliable proof and civil status recording.
If a party is 18–20, parental consent is secured; if 21–24, parental advice procedures are observed to avoid licensing issues.
For foreigners, documentary proof of capacity to marry and freedom from prior marriage is properly established.

XVI. Bottom Line

In Philippine law, a “valid marriage” is not merely a ceremony or relationship—it is a status created only when the essential requisites (capacity and consent in the officer’s presence) and the formal requisites (authority, license or valid exemption, and a proper ceremony) are met. Where defects exist, the legal classification—void, voidable, or irregular but valid—determines remedies, timelines, burdens of proof, and the civil effects on property, legitimacy presumptions, inheritance, and the right to remarry.