V.B. Repeal and Amendment
The State recognizes the
Family Code 254
Art. 254. Titles III, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, XI, and XV
of Book 1 of Republic Act No. 386, otherwise
known as the Civil Code of the Philippines, as
amended, and Articles 17, 18, 19, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31,
39, 40, 41, and 42 of Presidential Decree No. 603,
otherwise known as the Child and Youth Welfare
Code, as amended, and all laws, decrees, executive
orders, proclamations, rules and regulations, or
parts thereof, inconsistent herewith are hereby
repealed.
VI. Marriage and Personal Relations Between
Spouses
A. Concept of Marriage
FC Article 1. Marriage is a special contract of
permanent union between a man and a woman
entered into in accordance with law for the
establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the
foundation of the family and an inviolable social
institution whose nature, consequences, and
incidents are governed by law and not subject to
stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix
the property relations during the marriage within the
limits provided by this Code. (52a)
NCC Art. 52. Marriage is not a mere contract but an
inviolable social institution. Its nature,
consequences and incidents are governed by law
and not subject to stipulation, except that the
marriage settlements may to a certain extent fix the
property relations during the marriage. (n)
FC Art. 149. The family, being the foundation of
the nation, is a basic social institution which public
policy cherishes and protects. Consequently, family
relations are governed by law and no custom,
practice or agreement destructive of the family shall
be recognized or given effect. (216a, 218a)
Consti Art 2 Section 12.
sanctity of family life and shall protect and
strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social
institution. It shall equally protect the life of the
mother and the life of the unborn from conception.
The natural and primary right and duty of parents in
the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the
development of moral character shall receive the
support of the Government.
Consti Art 15 Section 2. Marriage, as an inviolable
social institution, is the foundation of the family and
shall be protected by the State.
B. Nature of Marriage in Philippine Law
Family Code 255
Art. 255. If any provision of this Code is held
invalid, all the other provisions not affected thereby
shall remain valid.
Marriage and Personal Relations Between Spouses
The Concept of Marriage
Article 1. Marriage is a special contract of
permanent union between a man and a woman
entered into in accordance with law for the
establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the
foundation of the family and an inviolable social
institution whose nature, consequences, and
incidents are governed by law and not subject to
stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix
the property relations during the marriage within the
limits provided by this Code. (52a)
RULEs of Evidence 131
Burden of Proof and Presumptions
SECTION 1.Burden of proof. — Burden of proof is
the duty of a party to present evidence on the facts
in issue necessary to establish his claim or defense
by the amount of evidence required by law. (1a, 2a)
Sec. 2.Conclusive presumptions. — The following
are instances of conclusive presumptions:
(a)Whenever a party has, by his own declaration,
act, or omission, intentionally and deliberately led
to another to believe a particular thing true, and to
act upon such belief, he cannot, in any litigation
arising out of such declaration, act or omission, be
permitted to falsify it:
(b)The tenant is not permitted to deny the title of his
landlord at the time of commencement of the
relation of landlord and tenant between them. (3a)
Sec. 3.Disputable presumptions. — The following
presumptions are satisfactory if uncontradicted, but
may be contradicted and overcome by other
evidence:
(a)That a person is innocent of crime or wrong;
(b)That an unlawful act was done with an unlawful
intent;
(c)That a person intends the ordinary consequences
of his voluntary act;
(d)That a person takes ordinary care of his
concerns;
(e)That evidence willfully suppressed would be
adverse if produced;
(f)That money paid by one to another was due to the
latter;
(g)That a thing delivered by one to another
belonged to the latter;
(h)That an obligation delivered up to the debtor has
been paid;
(i)That prior rents or installments had been paid
when a receipt for the later one is produced;
(j)That a person found in possession of a thing
taken in the doing of a recent wrongful act is the
taker and the doer of the whole act; otherwise, that
things which a person possess, or exercises acts of
ownership over, are owned by him;
(k)That a person in possession of an order on
himself for the payment of the money, or the
delivery of anything, has paid the money or
delivered the thing accordingly;
(l)That a person acting in a public office was
regularly appointed or elected to it;
(m)That official duty has been regularly performed;
(n)That a court, or judge acting as such, whether in
the Philippines or elsewhere, was acting in the
lawful exercise of jurisdiction;
(o)That all the matters within an issue raised in a
case were laid before the court and passed upon by
it; and in like manner that all matters within an issue
raised in a dispute submitted for arbitration were
laid before the arbitrators and passed upon by them;
(p)That private transactions have been fair and
regular;
(q)That the ordinary course of business has been
followed;
(r)That there was a sufficient consideration for a
contract;
(s)That a negotiable instrument was given or
indorsed for a sufficient consideration;
(t)That an endorsement of negotiable instrument
was made before the instrument was overdue and at
the place where the instrument is dated;
(u)That a writing is truly dated;
(v)That a letter duly directed and mailed was
received in the regular course of the mail;
(w)That after an absence of seven years, it being
unknown whether or not the absentee still lives, he
is considered dead for all purposes, except for those
of succession.
The absentee shall not be considered dead for the
purpose of opening his succession till after an
absence of ten years. If he disappeared after the age
of seventy-five years, an absence of five years shall
be sufficient in order that his succession may be
opened.
The following shall be considered dead for all
purposes including the division of the estate among
the heirs:
(1)A person on board a vessel lost during a
sea voyage, or an aircraft with is missing,
who has not been heard of for four years
since the loss of
(4)If a married person has been absent for
four consecutive years, the spouse present
may contract a subsequent marriage if he or
she has well-founded belief that the absent
spouse is already death. In case of
disappearance, where there is a danger of
death the circumstances hereinabove
provided, an absence of only two years shall
be sufficient for the purpose of contracting a
subsequent marriage. However, in any case,
before marrying again, the spouse present
must institute a summary proceedings as
provided in the Family Code and in the rules
for declaration of presumptive death of the
absentee, without prejudice to the effect of
reappearance of the absent
spouse.chanrobles virtua law library
(x)That acquiescence resulted from a belief
that the thing acquiesced in was
conformable to the law or fact; the vessel or
aircraft;
(2)A member of the armed forces who has
taken part in armed hostilities, and has been
missing for four years;
(3)A person who has been in danger of death
under other circumstances and whose
existence has not been known for four years;
(y)That things have happened according to the
ordinary course of nature and ordinary nature habits
of life;
(z)That persons acting as copartners have entered
into a contract of copartneship;
(aa)That a man and woman deporting
themselves as husband and wife have
entered into a lawful contract of marriage;
(bb)That property acquired by a man and a
woman who are capacitated to marry each
other and who live exclusively with each
other as husband and wife without the
benefit of marriage or under void marriage,
has been obtained by their joint efforts, work
or industry.
(cc)That in cases of cohabitation by a man
and a woman who are not capacitated to
marry each other and who have acquire
properly through their actual joint
contribution of money, property or industry,
such contributions and their corresponding
shares including joint deposits of money and
evidences of credit are equal.chanrobles
virtua law library
(dd)That if the marriage is terminated and
the mother contracted another marriage
within three hundred days after such
termination of the former marriage, these
rules shall govern in the absence of proof to
the contrary:
(1)A child born before one hundred eighty
days after the solemnization of the
subsequent marriage is considered to have
been conceived during such marriage, even
though it be born within the three hundred
days after the termination of the former
marriage.
(2)A child born after one hundred eighty
days following the celebration of the
subsequent marriage is considered to have
been conceived during such marriage, even
though it be born within the three hundred
days after the termination of the former
marriage.
(ee)That a thing once proved to exist
continues as long as is usual with things of
the nature;
(ff)That the law has been obeyed;
(gg)That a printed or published book,
purporting to be printed or published by
public authority, was so printed or
published;
(hh)That a printed or published book,
purporting contain reports of cases adjudged
in tribunals of the country where the book is
published, contains correct reports of such
cases;
(ii)That a trustee or other person whose duty
it was to convey real property to a particular
person has actually conveyed it to him when
such presumption is necessary to perfect the
title of such person or his successor in
interest;
(jj)That except for purposes of succession,
when two persons perish in the same
calamity, such as wreck, battle, or
conflagration, and it is not shown who died
first, and there are no particular
circumstances from which it can be inferred,
the survivorship is determined from the
probabilities resulting from the strength and
the age of the sexes, according to the
following rules:
1.If both were under the age of fifteen
years, the older is deemed to have
survived;
2.If both were above the age sixty, the
younger is deemed to have survived;
3.If one is under fifteen and the other
above sixty, the former is deemed to
have survived;
4.If both be over fifteen and under sixty,
and the sex be different, the male is
deemed to have survived, if the sex be
the same, the older;
5.If one be under fifteen or over sixty,
and the other between those ages, the
latter is deemed to have survived.
(kk)That if there is a doubt, as between two
or more persons who are called to succeed
each other, as to which of them died first,
whoever alleges the death of one prior to the
other, shall prove the same; in the absence
of proof, they shall be considered to have
died at the same time. (5a)
Sec. 4.No presumption of legitimacy or illegitimacy.
— There is no presumption of legitimacy of a child
born after three hundred days following the
dissolution of the marriage or the separation of the
spouses. Whoever alleges the legitimacy or
illegitimacy of such child must prove his allegation.
(6)
NCC Art. 220. In case of doubt, all presumptions
favor the solidarity of the family. Thus, every
intendment of law or facts leans toward the validity
of marriage, the indissolubility of the marriage
bonds, the legitimacy of children, the community of
property during marriage, the authority of parents
over their children, and the validity of defense for
any member of the family in case of unlawful
aggression.
Muslim Code PD 1083
Art. 14. Nature. — Marriage is not only a civil
contract but a social institution. Its nature,
consequences and incidents are governed by this
Code and the Shari'a and not subject to stipulation,
except that the marriage settlements may to a
certain extent fix the property relations of the
spouses.
Art. 15. Essential requisites. — No marriage
contract shall be perfected unless the following
essential requisites are compiled with:
(a) Legal capacity of the contracting parties;
(b) Mutual consent of the parties freely given;
(c) Offer (ijab) and acceptance (qabul) duly
witnessed by at least two competent persons after
the proper guardian in marriage (wali) has given his
consent; and
(d) Stipulation of customary dower (mahr) duly
witnessed by two competent persons.
Art. 16. Capacity to contract marriage. — (1) Any
Muslim male at least fifteen years of age and any
Muslim female of the age of puberty or upwards
and not suffering from any impediment under the
provisions of this Code may contract marriage. A
female is presumed to have attained puberty upon
reaching the age of fifteen.
(2) However, the Shari'a District Court may, upon
petition of a proper wali, order the solemnization of
the marriage of a female who though less than
fifteen but not below twelve years of age, has
attained puberty.
(3) Marriage through a wali by a minor below the
prescribed ages shall be regarded as betrothal and
may be annulled upon the petition of either party
within four years after attaining the age of puberty,
provided no voluntary cohabitation has taken place
and the wali who contracted the marriage was other
than the father or paternal grandfather..chan robles
virtual law library
Art. 17. Marriage ceremony. — No particular form
of marriage ceremony is required but the ijab and
the gabul in marriage shall be declared publicly in
the presence of the person solemnizing the marriage
and two competent witnesses. This declaration shall
be set forth in an instrument in triplicate, signed or
marked by the contracting parties and said
witnesses, and attested by the person solemnizing
the marriage. One copy shall be given to the
contracting parties and another sent to the Circuit
Registrar by the solemnizing officer who shall keep
the third.
Art. 18. Authority to solemnize marriage. —
Marriage may be solemnized: .chan robles virtual
law library
(a) By the proper wali of the woman to be wedded;
(b) Upon authority of the proper wali, by any person
who is competent under Muslim law to solemnize
marriage; or
(c) By the judge of the Shari'a District Court of
Shari'a Circuit Court or any person designated by
the judge, should the proper wali refuse without
justifiable reason, to authorize the solemnization.
Art. 19. Place of solemnization. — Marriage shall
be solemnized publicly in any mosque, office of the
Shari'a judge, office of the District or Circuit
Registrar, residence of the bride or her wali, or at
any other suitable place agreed upon by the parties.
Art. 20. Specification of dower. — The amount or
value of dower may be fixed by the contracting
parties (marh-musamma) before, during, or after the
celebration of the marriage. If the amount or the
value thereof has not been so fixed, a proper dower
(mahr-mithl) shall, upon petition of the wife, be
determined by the court according to the social
standing of the parties.
Art. 21. Payment of dower. — Subject to the
stipulation of the parties, the dower may be fully or
partially paid before, during, or after the marriage.
The property or estate of the husband shall be liable
for the unpaid dower, or any part thereof.
Art. 22. Breach of contract. — Any person who has
entered into a contract to marry but subsequently
refuses without reasonable ground to marry the
other party who is willing to perform the same shall
pay the latter the expenses incurred for the
preparation of the marriage and such damages as
may be granted by the court.
Section 2. Prohibited Marriages. —
Art. 23. Bases of prohibition. — No marriage may
be contracted by parties within the prohibited
degrees:
(a) Of consanguinity;
(b) Of affinity; and
(c) Of fosterage.
Art. 24. Prohibition by consanguinity (tahrimjbin-
nasab). — No marriage shall be contracted between:
(a) Ascendants and descendants of any degree;
(b) Brothers and sisters, whether germane,
consanguine or uterine; and
(c) Brothers or sisters and their descendants within
the third civil degree.
Art. 25. Prohibition by affinity (tahrim-bill-
musahara). — (1) No marriage shall be contracted
between:
(a) Any of the spouses and their respective affinal
relatives in the ascending line and in the collateral
line within the third degree;
(b) Stepfather and stepdaughter when the marriage
between the former and the mother of the latter has
been consummated;
(c) Stepmother and stepson when the marriage
between the former and the father of the latter has
been consummated; and
(d) Stepson or stepdaughter and the widow,
widower or divorcee of their respective ascendants.
(2) The prohibition under this article applies even
after the dissolution of the marriage creating the
affinal relationship.
C. Agreements Prior to Marriage
1. Stipulations Prior to Marriage
Art. 221. The following shall be void and of no
effect:
(1) Any contract for personal separation between
husband and wife;
(2) Every extra-judicial agreement, during marriage,
for the dissolution of the conjugal partnership of
gains or of the absolute community of property
between husband and wife;
(3) Every collusion to obtain a decree of legal
separation, or of annulment of marriage;
(4) Any simulated alienation of property with intent
to deprive the compulsory heirs of their legitime.
2. Breach of Promise to Marry
NCC Art. 19. Every person must, in the exercise of
his rights and in the performance of his duties, act
with justice, give everyone his due, and observe
honesty and good faith.
Art. 20. Every person who, contrary to law, wilfully
or negligently causes damage to another, shall
indemnify the latter for the same.
Art. 21. Any person who wilfully causes loss or
injury to another in a manner that is contrary to
morals, good customs or public policy shall
compensate the latter for the damage.
NCC Art. 2176. Whoever by act or omission causes
damage to another, there being fault or negligence,
is obliged to pay for the damage done. Such fault or
negligence, if there is no pre-existing contractual
relation between the parties, is called a quasi-delict
and is governed by the provisions of this Chapter.
Art. 1403. The following contracts are
unenforceable, unless they are ratified:
(2) Those that do not comply with the Statute of
Frauds as set forth in this number. In the following
cases an agreement hereafter made shall be
unenforceable by action, unless the same, or some
note or memorandum, thereof, be in writing, and
subscribed by the party charged, or by his agent;
evidence, therefore, of the agreement cannot be
received without the writing, or a secondary
evidence of its contents:
(c) An agreement made in consideration of
marriage, other than a mutual promise to marry;
D. Requisites for a valid marriage
1. Toletino 222-269
 2. Kinds of requisites and effects of non-
compliance
FC 2,3,5,45
FC Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless these
essential requisites are present:
(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who
must be a male and a female; and
(2) Consent freely given in the presence of the
solemnizing officer. (53a)
FC Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are:
(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer;
(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases
provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and
(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the
appearance of the contracting parties before the
solemnizing officer and their personal declaration
that they take each other as husband and wife in the
presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age.
(53a, 55a)
FC Art. 5. Any male or female of the age of
eighteen years or upwards not under any of the
impediments mentioned in Articles 37 and 38, may
contract marriage. (54a)
FC Art. 45. A marriage may be annulled for any of
the following causes, existing at the time of the
marriage:
(1) That the party in whose behalf it is sought to
have the marriage annulled was eighteen years of
age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage
was solemnized without the consent of the parents,
guardian or person having substitute parental
authority over the party, in that order, unless after
attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely
cohabited with the other and both lived together as
husband and wife;
(2) That either party was of unsound mind, unless
such party after coming to reason, freely cohabited
with the other as husband and wife;
(3) That the consent of either party was obtained by
fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full
knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely
cohabited with the other as husband and wife;
(4) That the consent of either party was obtained by
force, intimidation or undue influence, unless the
same having disappeared or ceased, such party
thereafter freely cohabited with the other as
husband and wife;
(5) That either party was physically incapable of
consummating the marriage with the other, and such
incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or
(6) That either party was afflicted with a sexually-
transmissible disease found to be serious and
appears to be incurable. (85a)
NCC Art. 53. No marriage shall be solemnized
unless all these requisites are complied with:
(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties;
(2) Their consent, freely given;
(3) Authority of the person performing the
marriage; and
(4) A marriage license, except in a marriage of
exceptional character (Sec. 1a, Art. 3613).
Art. 350. Marriage contracted against provisions of
laws. — The penalty of prision correccional in its
medium and maximum periods shall be imposed
upon any person who, without being included in the
provisions of the next proceeding article, shall have
not been complied with or that the marriage is in
disregard of a legal impediment.
If either of the contracting parties shall obtain the
consent of the other by means of violence,
intimidation or fraud, he shall be punished by the
maximum period of the penalty provided in the next b. Age
preceding paragraph.
Art. 35. The following marriages shall be void from
Art. 351. Premature marriages. — Any widow who the beginning:
shall marry within three hundred and one day from
(1) Those contracted by any party below
the date of the death of her husband, or before
eighteen years of age even with the consent
having delivered if she shall have been pregnant at
of parents or guardians;
the time of his death, shall be punished by arresto
mayor and a fine not exceeding 500 pesos. (2) Those solemnized by any person not
legally authorized to perform marriages
The same penalties shall be imposed upon any
unless such marriages were contracted with
woman whose marriage shall have been annulled or
either or both parties believing in good faith
dissolved, if she shall marry before her delivery or
that the solemnizing officer had the legal
before the expiration of the period of three hundred
authority to do so;
and one day after the legal separation.
(3) Those solemnized without license,
3. Essential requisites
except those covered the preceding Chapter;
a. Legal Capacity
Gender FC 2, 148
FC (1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who (4) Those bigamous or polygamous
must be a male and a female; and marriages not failing under Article 41;

Art. 148. In cases of cohabitation not falling under
the preceding Article, only the properties acquired
by both of the parties through their actual joint
contribution of money, property, or industry shall
be owned by them in common in proportion to their
respective contributions. In the absence of proof to
the contrary, their contributions and corresponding
shares are presumed to be equal. The same rule and
presumption shall apply to joint deposits of money
and evidences of credit. E.
(5) Those contracted through mistake of one
contracting party as to the identity of the
other; and
(6) Those subsequent marriages that are void
under Article 53.
c. Absence of impediment

If one of the parties is validly married to another,

his or her share in the co-ownership shall accrue to
the absolute community or conjugal partnership
existing in such valid marriage. If the party who
acted in bad faith is not validly married to another,
his or her shall be forfeited in the manner provided
in the last paragraph of the preceding Article.

The foregoing rules on forfeiture shall likewise

apply even if both parties are in bad faith.