Article 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the FAMILY CODE.

Question 1

What is ARTICLE 2 of the FAMILY CODE?

Answer 1

No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are present:

1. Legal Capacity of the contracting parties who must be male and female; and
2. Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.

Question 2

What is ARTICLE 3 of the FAMILY CODE?

Answer 2

FORMAL REQUISITES of marriage are:

1. Authority of solemnizing officer
2. Valid marriage license except in the cases provided for in Ch. 2 of this Title and
3. Marriage Ceremony which takes place with the (1) appearance of the contracting parties before the (2) solemnizing officer and their (3) personal declaration that they take each other as husband and wife in the presence of not less than (4) two witnesses of legal age.

Question 3

What is ARTICLE 4 of the FAMILY CODE?

Answer 3

• The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the amrraige void ab initio, except as stated in Article 35(2)

^{*Article 35(2) - Those solemnized by any person NOT LEGALLY authorized to PERFORM marriages <u>UNLESS</u> marriage was contracted in GOOD FAITH believing the person had the auth to do so.}

• A defect in any of the essential requisites shall render the marriage voidable as provided in Article 45.
• An irregularity in the formal requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally, and administratively liable.

Question 4

What is ARTICLE 5 of the FAMILY CODE?

Answer 4

Any male or female of the age of 18 years or upwards not under any of the impediments mentioned in 37 and 38, may CONTRACT MARRIAGE.

Question 5

What is ARTICLE 6 of the FAMILY CODE?

Answer 5

No prescribed form or religious rite for the solemnization of the marriage is required. It shall be necessary, however, for the contracting parties to

^{<strong>1. appear <u>personally</u> before the solemnizing officer</strong> and}

^{<strong>2. <u>declare</u></strong> in the presence of not less than}

^{<strong>3. <u>two witness of legal age</u></strong> that they take each other as husband and wife.} This declaration shall be contained in the marriage certificate which shall be signed by the contracting parties and their witnesses and attested by the solemnizing officer. (55a)

In case of marriage in articulo mortis, when the party at the point of death is unable to sign the marriage certificate, it shall be sufficient for one of the witnesses to the marriage to write the name of said party, which fact shall be attested by the solemnizing officer.

Question 6

What is LEGAL CAPACITY?

Answer 6

MUST BE 18 years and above – AGE OF MAJORITY
If below, marriage is VOID even w/ parental consent and supervision.

Must not be:

• Incestuous
• against public policy
• married already unless previous nullified

Question 7

THE SEX OF THE PARTIES?

Answer 7

Must be MALE and FEMALE

*EFFECT OF SEX CHANGE

when it comes to marriage, consideration of gender in birth v. gender upon marriage is taken.

Question 8

SILVERIO V. REPUBLIC

FACTS:

Silverio had sex change from male to female. Wanted to amend birth certificate to female and get married to partner.

ISSUES:

W/N his (or her) marriage is valid. IS IT?

Answer 8

NOPE.

Sex determined by looking at genitals of the baby when born is IMMUTABLE – no law recognizes gender sex change.

Question 9

REPUBLIC V. CAGANDAHAN

FACTS:

Respondent had CONGENITAL ADRENAL HYPERPLASIA (CAH) wherein he had both penis and vagina. He secreted male hormones and had no period or breasts. Identified self as male.

ISSUES:

W/N his gender in marriage would be male.

Answer 9

HELD:

To respect natural diversity and privacy as to how life is lived, court held that respondent has let nature take course and live as a man. It would be unjust for the court to dictate what the man has naturally accepted.

Question 10

What are the REQUIREMENTS of CONSENT?

Answer 10

REQUIREMENTS OF CONSENT:

1. Freely given
2. Made in presence of solemnizing officer
3. Child shall have freedom of choosing spouse w/o undue influence of parents

*If CONSENT ABSENT, marriage is VOID

*If Consent was obtained through fraud, force, and other similar acts, it is only ANNULLABLE

^{Meaning, marriage is still valid until officially annulled. Such manner merely renders consent defective but not absent.}

Question 11

What is FREE CONSENT?

Answer 11

When parties willingly entered marriage; Intelligently understood nature and consequences of marriage

• Presence of officer required for PUBLICATION
• PROXY MARRIAGE not allowed!

Question 12

AUTHORITY OF SOLEMNIZING OFFICER

Answer 12

Presence or absence of person itself is not the requirement but the presence or absence of THE AUTHORITY of the person

Duties of officer include:

1. If license has been issued by competent official
2. Ascertain details when in marriage in articulo mortis
3. Ascertain Qualifications

^{<strong>Can be held liable if not authorized (imprisonment between 1 mon. – 2 years) + fine of P50 – 2,000.</strong>}

Question 13

When is a MARRIAGE LICENSE valid?

Answer 13

• Must be issued by local civil registrar where application was filed
• Lifetime of 120 days – cannot be used beyond time or abroad
• Other requirements are DIRECTORY – if not followed, it’s okay! (merely irregular)

Question 14

Give an example of voidable marriage.

Answer 14

When person acquires license by false representation but was

w/n legal age (wanted to avoid consent of parents w/c was directory), marriage is only VOIDABLE.

Question 15

Whens is a MARRIAGE voidable?

Answer 15

• One party did not disclose prior marriage, Lied about residence, forged consent – all of this are only voidable
• License to enter a relationship which the parties are incapable of achieving is VOID
• Same sex marriage
• Family relations marriage

Question 16

What is the PURPOSE of the Marriage Ceremony?

Answer 16

The purpose of doing it in front of property authority is to protect rights of parties and their offspring.

No requirement as to HOW and WHERE, just that:

1. Parties personally appear before officer
2. They declare to each other husband and wife

*Agreement itself is important not the form

Question 17

What is the PURPOSE of WITNESSES in a MARRIAGE CEREMONY?

Answer 17

Form of ceremony not needed BUT witnesses are important.

AT LEAST 2 witnesses of legal age so as to witness presence of such matrimonial union.

Absence of such only an irregularity BUT whoever causes such absence is liable

DOES NOT INVALIDATE the marriage. What is important is the AGREEMENT.

Question 18

BALOGBOG V. COURT OF APPEALS

FACTS:

No marriage can be presumed as there was no proof of exchange of vows other than the presence of two witnesses in the ceremony.

Answer 18

HELD: It can already be presumed from the presence of the two witnesses in the ceremony that such exchange of vows were made.

Question 19

What are COMMON LAW marriages? Are they VALID? Are they recognized in the Philippines? WHY?

Answer 19

informal marriage by agreement entered by male and female w/ capacity to marry without compliance to marriage licenses.

Required CONSUMMATION in form of:

1. COHABITATION as hub and wife
2. REUPUTATION that public will recognize couple has hub and wife

NOT RECOGNIZED IN THE PHILIPPINES

*Because state has great interest in the matter, it cannot just be done privately w/o law procedure.

Question 20

What is the GENERAL RULE when it comes to the ABSENCE or DEFECT in requirements?

Answer 20

ABSENCE/DEFECT IN REQUIREMENTS

General rule:

ABSENCE of any essential requirement makes marriage VOID.

Ex:

Expired license = unusable = void!
MARRIAGE BY JEST = void!

Question 21

MCLURG V. TERRY

FACTS:

Girl and boy came from outing with friends. Out of excitement, girl jokes boy to marry her on the spot. Boy accepts and asks proper justice to solemnize. Judge is skeptical but does it anyway. People hear of it and question the legality.

ISSUE:

W/N it is VOID or only VOIDABLE?

Answer 21

HELD:

Mere jest means parties did not fully understand what they were getting into. No relationship can be built by such premises.

VOID MARRIAGE.

Question 22

REPUBLIC V. ALBIOS

FACTS:

Fringer agreed to marry Albios on the basis that Albios would pay Fringer $2000 to help her acquire American citizenship. Albios then files for annulment since they never went through with the deal and that the marriage did not fully materialize since the consent that was agreed upon did not consummate.

ISSUES:

W/N the marriage is VOID or VOIDABLE?

Answer 22

HELD:

Contrary to Albios said, parties DID give their consent: they particularly knew that the only way for Albios to acquire citizenship was through marriage and thus they consented to the agreements.

Marriage is not based on the motive of the agreement but on the validity and requirements of it. Law cannot dictate what kind of marriages should be valid or not due to marital privacy. It is also NOT VOIDABLE since there was no use of fraud

Question 23

Does the ABSENCE of the MARRIAGE LICENSE invalidate the MARRIAGE?

Answer 23

ABSENCE OF MARRIAGE LICENSE does not invalidate marriage with:

1. Articulo mortis
2. Marriages of two people who are unable to appear before local registrar due to distance
3. Marriage with Muslims and other cultural minorities performed in accordance to their rules
4. Couples w/o impediment to get married living together as hub and wife for at least 5 years
5. Solemnizer was not authorized but was believed by the couple in good faith

*Judge who tells couple to just get license AFTER ceremony is IMPROPER. Marriage must be void:

• if HAVE license but FORGOT, still valid
• if NO LICENSE AT ALL, void!!!

Question 24

Examples or IRREGULARITIES which do not INVALIDATE marraige

Answer 24

IRREGULARITIES W/C DO NOT INVALIDATE

1. Absence of two witnesses of legal age
2. Absence of marriage certificate
3. Solemnization in place other than public chambers of judge or open court, church, temple, consul office etc.
4. Issuance of license in city not residence of either party
5. Unsworn application for marriage license
6. Failure to present birth/baptismal certificates because local reg. did not ask
7. Failure to get parental consent for those between 18-21
8. Failure to exhibit advice of parents
9. Failure to undergo marriage counseling
10. Failure of registrar to post req. notices
11. Issuance of license despite absence of publication (or prior to completion of 10-day publication)
12. Failure of parties to pay fees for license
13. Failure of solemnizer to send copies to local civil registrar
14. Failure of registrar to enter applications of licenses on registry book

Question 25

Is a breach of promise to marry ACTIONABLE?

Answer 25

A mere breach to marry is NOT ACTIONABLE WRONG.

Offended cannot file case to compel person to marry them

Question 26

WASSMER V. VELEZ

Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another that is contrary to morals, good customs, and public policy shall compensate the latter for damages!

Answer 26

With this, the husband must at least indemnify the wife for the costs of the supposed wedding.