Daily Serving of Legal Matters

Considering that we have no DIVORCE in our country, we could not file any petition to that effect.  However, the Family Code of the Philippines provides instances on which the spouses may file an action in court when it comes to matters affecting their marriages. Specifically, the same Family Code discusses the grounds on which the contracting parties may invoke either for Declaration of Nullity or Annulment of Marriage or for Legal Separation as the case may be. In my previous posts, what were discussed are the grounds for declaration of nullity and the annulment of marriage. In this post, what would be discussed is the differences between legal separation and the declaration of nullity or annulment of marriage. 1.  In Legal Separation, the bond of marriage is not severed.  The spouses remain married to each other, however, they may be separated from bed and board.  While it permits the partial suspension of marital relations, the marriage bond sti...

Philippine Laws do not warrant DIVORCE in the country.  It is enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution that: "Marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State.  Hence, the State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation.  Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively promote its total development." What is not warranted in our laws is the ABSOLUTE DIVORCE that is enjoyed by people in the some foreign States.  Although we do not have this ABSOLUTE DIVORCE, but our laws provide instances on which a PARTIAL DIVORCE may be sought.  This PARTIAL DIVORCE is known in the country as ANNULMENT. In the Philippines, a marriage may be declared null and void or be annulled depending on the grounds attendant to the situation. In this post, what would be discussed are those marriages that are void from the beginning and the procedures on declaring the ab...