This article is for general information in the Philippine legal context and is not legal advice.

1) The core idea: surname use is tied to marital status—and to what the law recognizes as a “marriage”

In the Philippines, a person’s legal name is primarily established by civil registry records (birth certificate and, where applicable, marriage records and their annotations). A married woman’s use of a husband’s surname is traditionally treated as a legal option/privilege arising from marriage, not an absolute obligation in all circumstances.

When a marriage ends or is judicially declared invalid, the key question becomes:

Is there still a legal basis to use the spouse’s surname as a married name?
What do civil registry rules and government agencies require your name to be after the court decree?
If you wish to keep or drop the surname, what procedure is needed to align your records?

The answers depend heavily on whether the case involves annulment of a voidable marriage or a declaration of nullity of a void marriage.

2) Annulment vs. declaration of nullity: why the distinction matters for surnames

A. Voidable marriage (annulment)

A voidable marriage is valid until annulled. It produces legal effects from the start, unless and until a court issues a final decree of annulment.

Common grounds (Family Code) include:

Lack of parental consent (in certain age brackets)
Fraud
Force/intimidation
Impotence
Serious, incurable sexually transmissible disease

Surname implication: because the marriage was legally effective before annulment, the spouse’s surname may have been lawfully used during the marriage. After annulment, the legal basis as “spouse” ends.

B. Void marriage (declaration of nullity)

A void marriage is void from the beginning (void ab initio), though a judicial declaration is generally required before remarriage (Family Code, Art. 40).

Common grounds include:

No marriage license (with limited exceptions)
Bigamous/polygamous marriage
Incestuous marriages
Marriages void by public policy
Psychological incapacity (Family Code, Art. 36)
Others under the Family Code

Surname implication: in strict legal theory, there was never a valid marital status to begin with. That can affect whether continued use of the spouse’s surname is recognized as a “married name” after the declaration.

3) The legal bases on surnames (Philippine framework)

A. Civil Code provisions on surnames (general naming rules)

The Civil Code contains the traditional rules on names and surnames, including the long-standing principle that a married woman may use the husband’s surname in several forms (commonly cited in practice as Civil Code provisions on names and surnames, including the article that enumerates the formats a wife may use).

Separately, the Civil Code also recognizes contexts like legal separation and widowhood for surname use.

Important: these Civil Code surname provisions were written against the assumption of a valid marriage. When the marriage is later annulled or declared void, the question becomes whether the continued use of the spouse’s surname is still anchored on any recognized legal status (wife, widow, legally separated spouse)—or whether it becomes a matter of changing/retaining a name under rules on names rather than a marital right.

B. Family Code provisions on effects of nullity/annulment

The Family Code details:

The need for a final judgment declaring nullity for certain purposes (notably remarriage)
Effects on property regimes, legitimacy/legitimation concepts, and obligations
Requirements to record/annotate decrees with the civil registry

While the Family Code is more explicit on property and status effects than on surnames, it is central because it determines whether the marriage is treated as having existed and what civil registry steps must be followed.

C. Civil Registry Law and annotations (PSA/Local Civil Registrar)

A decree of annulment or nullity is typically recorded and annotated on:

The marriage certificate, and often
Related civil registry documents, depending on the case and instructions of the court/civil registrar

In practice, the annotated civil registry documents are what many agencies rely on to decide what surname you should use on IDs and official records.

4) After annulment (voidable marriage): can the wife keep using the husband’s surname?

A. General rule in practice: you revert to your maiden surname as a matter of civil status

After a final decree of annulment, the person is no longer a spouse. As a result, most government and institutional processes expect the person to resume the maiden surname in official records, consistent with the change in civil status.

B. Can you keep it anyway?

This is where practice becomes nuanced, because “name” and “surname use” involve overlapping concepts:

As a “married name,” continued use is difficult to justify after annulment because the marital tie has been severed.
As a personal name used in fact (e.g., professionally), some people continue using the former spouse’s surname socially or professionally (e.g., stage name, byline, business reputation). But using it as a legal name across official records may require additional steps if it differs from what the civil registry and agency rules require.
Potential court involvement for retention: If retention is contested or if an agency requires a court basis to keep using the former spouse’s surname on official documents, the issue may effectively become a name question—and name questions sometimes require a judicial petition (or compliance with administrative name correction rules, depending on what exactly is being changed and why).

C. If there are children

Children’s surnames and legitimacy rules follow different provisions; a parent resuming a maiden surname does not change the child’s surname by default. However:

You may prefer consistency for day-to-day dealings (school, travel), but that preference alone does not always control what agencies will encode as your legal name after annulment.

5) After a declaration of nullity (void marriage): can the wife keep using the spouse’s surname?

A. Stricter logic applies: no valid marriage, no “married name” foundation

Because a void marriage is treated as never having been valid, continued use of the spouse’s surname as a married surname becomes harder to support as a matter of legal status.

B. Practical reality: people may have used the surname for years

Even if the marriage is void, individuals may have:

Used the spouse’s surname on passports, SSS/GSIS, PhilHealth, banks, PRC records, employment records
Built professional identity with that surname

But after the civil registry annotation, many agencies treat the correct legal name as the one consistent with the person’s birth record (maiden surname), unless there is a separate legal basis to retain the other name.

C. When retention becomes a “change of name” issue

If a person wants to keep using the spouse’s surname across official records despite the nullity, agencies may treat that as an attempt to keep a surname not supported by current civil status—meaning it can be treated as a name change/retention question rather than a marital incident.

That can raise hurdles such as:

Requests for a court order specifically addressing the name
Requirements to align with PSA/Local Civil Registrar annotations
Agency-level rules that default to maiden surname once the marriage is declared void

6) The “how” part: what happens to your records after the decree

A. Civil registry annotation is pivotal

Once the decree is final, it is typically registered with the Local Civil Registrar and transmitted to the PSA for annotation. Many institutions will not process name adjustments without:

A certified true copy of the court decision/decree, and/or
A PSA-issued marriage certificate with annotation, and sometimes
A PSA birth certificate and other supporting documents

B. Updating IDs and accounts: common patterns

While each agency has its own rules, you often see these patterns:

Passport: frequently requires annotated PSA documents (and sometimes additional supporting documents) to reflect the correct surname consistent with the annotated civil registry record.
SSS/GSIS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG: typically require the court decree and annotated PSA documents to update civil status and name.
PRC (licensed professionals): often requires documentary basis for name changes/updates (marriage, annulment/nullity decree, annotated PSA docs), and may treat continued use of a spouse’s surname as requiring specific supporting legal basis.
Banks, employers, schools: usually follow the name on government IDs and PSA documents.

C. Expect differences between:

Civil status field (single/married/annulled, etc.), and
Name field (what surname is encoded)

After annulment/nullity, your civil status changes, and agencies usually expect your surname to align accordingly.

7) Using the former spouse’s surname vs. misrepresenting civil status

Using a surname by itself is not always the same as claiming to be married, but problems can arise when someone:

Signs documents indicating “married to X” despite annulment/nullity
Uses the surname in a way that causes legal confusion or misrepresentation in official acts (e.g., transactions where civil status is material)

In many official forms, civil status is a separate required entry. The risk usually comes less from the surname alone and more from what you represent your status to be in official records and sworn statements.

8) Special situations that often come up

A. What if you never changed your surname during the marriage?

If you consistently used your maiden surname even while married, then after annulment or nullity you typically have less administrative friction—many records are already aligned with your birth record.

B. What if you partially changed records?

If some IDs/accounts use the spouse’s surname and others use your maiden surname, agencies will often require you to “normalize” your identity records based on the annotated PSA documents. This can involve multiple updates and documentary submissions.

C. What if the spouse objects to your continued use of the surname?

A spouse’s objection can matter if it becomes part of a broader dispute (e.g., harassment claims, fraud allegations, or contested identity in litigation). But surname disputes are usually resolved through:

The governing rules on names and civil status, and
The court’s authority where a name issue is squarely raised

D. What about Muslim Filipinos under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws?

Muslim personal law recognizes different marital dissolution mechanisms (including divorce in some cases). Naming conventions may be influenced by Islamic and cultural practice, but official civil registry documentation and agency rules still heavily shape what appears on government records.

9) Practical takeaways (Philippine context)

Annulment (voidable marriage): the marriage was valid until annulled; after the decree, continued use of the spouse’s surname as a “married name” is generally not treated as standard, and reversion to the maiden surname is commonly expected in official records.
Void marriage (declaration of nullity): the marriage is treated as void from the start; many official processes default more firmly to the maiden surname once the nullity is recorded/annotated.
Civil registry annotations drive outcomes: what appears on your PSA documents (and what agencies require based on those documents) often determines what surname you can practically use across IDs and records.
Keeping the surname can shift from “marriage incident” to “name issue”: if you seek to retain the spouse’s surname across official documents after annulment/nullity, it may be treated as a name question that can demand stronger legal basis, sometimes including a court order depending on the agency and circumstances.

10) Conclusion

In the Philippines, the ability to use a spouse’s surname is closely connected to a legally recognized marital status and to civil registry documentation. After an annulment of a voidable marriage, agencies commonly expect reversion to the maiden surname; after a declaration of nullity of a void marriage, the expectation to use the maiden surname is typically even stronger because the marriage is treated as void from the beginning. In both settings, the decisive practical factor is the final court decree and its annotation in the civil registry, because these documents anchor how government agencies and institutions encode your legal name.