10 Common Question About Annulment or Nullity of Marriage

Many people said love is sweeter the second time around. This is not only applicable to boyfriend/girlfriend relationship but also with people who are victims of broken marriages and want to start a new and make it right.

There are many couples nowadays who want to end their union legally but don't know where to start. 

The following are a common question on annulment or nullity or marriage prepared by Atty. Anna Fiona Bojos and Atty. Magdelena Lepiten of Lepiten and Bojos Law Office, with an office address of 21 F Don Pedro Rodriguez Street, Cebu City with contact number (032) 410 6157. For further inquiries, please email them at mlepiten@gmail.com and fionahbojos@gmail.com.

Read: 15 Steps and Procedure for OFWs to File Annulment in the Philippines

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ) on Annulment/Nullity

1. What is annulment or nullity of marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity?

What we usually call annulment refers to “nullity of marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity.” But leave it to the lawyer to differentiate between annulment and nullity of marriage.

Most petitions for nullity of marriage are based on the psychological incapacity of the other spouse. Once you get a final court decision declaring the marriage is void, you can remarry again, subject to the annotation of the decision in your marriage certificate.
The basis for this petition is Art. 36 of the Family Code which states that “A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of the celebration, was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage, shall likewise be void even if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its solemnization.” The marriage is void or did not even legally exist in the first place.

Hence, for the purposes of remarriage, a void marriage must be declared and there must be a Judicial Declaration of Absolute Nullity of a prior subsisting marriage before contracting another. Otherwise, you commit bigamy.

For more on annulment, please go to question no. 10.

Read: The Difference Between Legal Separation and Annulment and What are the Grounds for Filing

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2. What is psychological incapacity?

This psychological incapacity is not necessarily insanity but it means that the other spouse has certain dysfunction, or psychological trait or makeup which prevents the person to comply the obligations of marriage.

Some signs of psychological incapacity include alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, domestic violence, gambling, habitual lying, abandonment, extreme selfishness, laziness, and others.

It is so encompassing and maybe, general that gives lawyers and litigants a leeway on how to prove the case. But there are already various Supreme Cases that will guide the practicing lawyer and litigants of whether their case will fall in this category.

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3. Can I file a petition for nullity of marriage even while I am abroad?

Yes, you can file a petition for nullity of marriage even while you are abroad. What is required is for you to have the verification of your petition and your affidavit notarized before the nearest Philippine Embassy or Consulate in the country where you are residing or working.

4.Can I file the petition for nullity of marriage without the signature/consent of the other spouse?

Yes, you do not need to get the consent or the signature of the other party. This is not divorce proceedings where parties can both sign and file for a no-contest divorce.

As a rule, parties are not allowed to come to an agreement about the filing of the petition. That is why the Office of the Solicitor General, through the prosecutor (fiscal), conducts an investigation for collusion, in order to determine whether or not the parties have colluded with each other in filing the petition or are involved in fabricating evidence.

5. What do I need to prepare?

Please prepare your funds for the filing of the petition, marriage certificate if available, the birth certificate of children (if any) and the titles or tax declarations of the property (if applicable.) Provide a brief background about your story so that the lawyer can prepare your petition.

6. What is the estimated cost and expense for filing this petition?

The total estimated cost for a case filed in Cebu City and that case is uncontested is around P150,000 to P200,000. The cost will vary depending on the circumstances of the case, delays, if there are properties, other factors like the court, etc.

7. How long does it take for the proceedings to be completed?

Based on the cases we have handled in Cebu City, if it is an uncontested case, meaning the other party will not oppose your petition for nullity of marriage, it will take an average of a year and a half for a case to be finished.

This is because of the caseload of the courts, the availability of the prosecutor, judge, and court personnel, as well as the availability of the petitioner and the psychologist, have to be considered.

The time frame may vary for other places like Manila or Davao.

8. How many times do I need to be personally present at the proceedings?

You will need to personally appear at least three times.

The first will be before the city or provincial prosecutor during the investigation for collusion between the parties.

The second will be during the pre-trial stage. If you are working abroad and have executed a special power of attorney in favor of your lawyer authorizing him/her to appear in your behalf for the pre-trial, then you may not attend the pre-trial stage. This is usually allowed if the petitioner is working abroad.

The third time is when you will be presented before the court to give your testimony about your marriage and your relations with your spouse.

9. Is it true that if the parties have been separated for 7 years or more, the marriage is automatically annulled?

No, that is not true. There is no automatic dissolution of the marriage, you will have to file a petition in court for the nullity of the marriage.

10. What is annulment?

Annulment is when the marriage is valid from the very beginning but can be annulled on various grounds. This is the term commonly used by Filipino layman but it is not commonly used by Filipino lawyers because it is more difficult to prove and in most cases, the circumstance of the married person does not fall in this category. Art. 45, of the Family Code, provides the grounds for Annulment of Marriage.

Declaration of Nullity, on the other hand, is for a marriage that is null and void due to the absence of one or more of the essential or formal requisites of marriage as stated in Art. 2 and 3 of the Family Code.

A Filipino can marry again once there is a final judgment from the court that declares the marriage as null and void from the very beginning. The case that will be filed is what we call “petition to declare the marriage as null and void” and commonly called as “petition for nullity of marriage”.

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The Difference Between Legal Separation and Annulment and What are the Grounds for Filing

When couples cannot work out their differences, an annulment may be the last option for them to move on and to start all over again. We all know that divorce is not yet allowed in the country. So if you feel that you are trapped in your marriage, you can seek an annulment. They said this is the only recourse for problematic marriages in the Philippines.

However, there are marriages that cannot be annulled and only qualified for legal separation.

(Watch: Annulment & Legal Separation)

But how annulment differs from legal separation? The basic difference is this – in a legal separation, the spouses are still considered married to each other, and, thus, may not remarry.

Legal separation is a judicial process where the marital obligations of the spouses to live together as husband and wife as well as their property relations are terminated. 

(Watch: Legal Separation Explained)

Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines enumerates the different grounds for legal separation. These are the following:

• Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.
• Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation.
• The attempt of the respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement.
• Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned.
• Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent.
• Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent.
• Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad.
• Sexual infidelity or perversion.
• An attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner.
• Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.

What is the effect of legal separation?

Base on Article 63 of the Family Code of the Philippines, the following are the effect of legal separation.

• The spouses shall be entitled to live separately from each other, but the marriage bonds shall not be severed
• The absolute community or the conjugal partnership shall be dissolved and liquidated but the offending spouse shall have no right to any share of the net profits earned by the absolute community or the conjugal partnership, which shall be forfeited in accordance with the provisions of Article 43(2)
• The custody of the minor children shall be awarded to the innocent spouse, subject to the provisions of Article 213 of this Code
• The offending spouse shall be disqualified from inheriting from the innocent spouse by intestate succession. Moreover, provisions in favor of the offending spouse made in the will of the innocent spouse shall be revoked by operation of law.

You may file a petition for legal separation before the Family Court of the place where you or your husband has been residing for at least six months prior to the date of filing or in case your husband is a non-resident, in the place where he may be found in the Philippines.




On the other hand, the following are the grounds for a declaration of nullity of marriage?

• Minority (those contracted by any party below 18 years of age even with the consent of parents or guardians).
• Lack of authority of solemnizing officer (those solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages, unless such marriages were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so).
• The absence of marriage license (except in certain cases).
• Bigamous or polygamous marriages (except in cases where the other spouse is declared as presumptively dead).
• A mistake in identity (those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity of the other).
• After securing a judgment of annulment or of absolute nullity of marriage, the parties, before entering into the subsequent marriage, failed to record with the appropriate registry the: (i) partition and distribute the properties of the first marriage; and (ii) delivery of the children’s presumptive legitime.
• Incestuous marriages (between ascendants and descendants of any degree, between brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half-blood).
• Void by reason of public policy. Marriages between (i) collateral blood relatives whether legitimate or illegitimate, up to the fourth civil degree; (ii) step-parents and step-children; (iii) parents-in-law and children-in-law; (iv) adopting parent and the adopted child; (v) surviving spouse of the adopting parent and the adopted child; (vi) surviving spouse of the adopted child and the adopter; (vii) an adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter; (viii) adopted children of the same adapter; and (ix) parties where one, with the intention to marry the other, killed that other person’s spouse, or his or her own spouse.
• Psychological Incapacity. Psychological incapacity, which a ground for annulment of marriage, contemplates downright incapacity or inability to take cognizance of and to assume the basic marital obligations; not a mere refusal, neglect or difficulty, much less, ill will, on the part of the errant spouse. Irreconcilable differences, conflicting personalities, emotional immaturity and irresponsibility, physical abuse, habitual alcoholism, sexual infidelity or perversion, and abandonment, by themselves, also do not warrant a finding of psychological incapacity. 

Other than these there are still other grounds to declare a marriage as null and void.

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Lawyers admit, Annulment in the Philippines is very expensive

Getting married is expensive in the Philippines, as well as getting out of marriage.

Aside from costly process, annulment of marriage is also a physically and mentally exhausting according to Business Mirror lawyer Marjorie de Castro.

She said, if you are a petitioner in an annulment case, it will take a lot of your time as well as your resources.

A petitioner is a person who makes a formal application to a court for a writ, judicial action in a lawsuit.

“The first step, of course, is to consult a lawyer if a married person is thinking of having his or her marriage annulled,”

Some lawyers charge their client per hour, while others offer a package which includes attorney’s fees, appearance fees, and other legal fees, de Castro noted.


Business mirror quoted, renowned family lawyer Lorna Kapunan who said, some psychologists would charge as much as P120,000, which include examination and court appearance.

Kapunan was quoted as saying that single practitioner lawyers would charge at least P100,000 package fee for annulment, while those with law firms usually charge per hour of appearance.

After consultation, petitioner of annulment cases needed to come up with a detailed narration of his or married life and the circumstances that pushed him to seek dissolution of the marriage.

“Nire-require ko ’yung client to submit a detailed narration para madaling ma-determine ’yung mga points that needed clarification,”

Once the detailed narration is submitted, de Castro said she would refer the petition to a psychologist for assessment.

The psychologist would interview the petitioner, as well as the respondent, to establish whether the ground of psychological incapacity exists.

The findings of the psychologist would form part of the evidence of the petitioner.

(WATCH:Annulment of Marriage in the Philippines (based on Psychological Incapacity)



Once the petition is filed before the court, the respondent will be given 15 days from service of summons to answer, based on Supreme Court AM 02-11-10 or the “Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages,”

If the respondent fails to file an answer, the court shall not declare him or her in default. (WATCH:LegalHD Episode 80: Annulment & Legal Separation)

The court then will order the public prosecutor to investigate whether collusion exists between the parties.

Within one month, the public prosecutor is required to submit a report to the court stating whether the parties are in collusion. If the public prosecutor finds that collusion exists, the court will set the report for hearing and, if convinced that the parties are in collusion, the petition will be dismissed.

However, if the public prosecutor reports that no collusion exists, the court shall set the case for pre-trial, it was highlighted.

The court may reportedly require a social worker to conduct a case study and submit the corresponding report at least three days before the pretrial.

(WATCH:SONA: Annulment, mahaba at hindi madaling proseso)

At the pretrial, the court would determine whether the parties are willing to enter into agreements, their respective claims disputed factual and legal issues, as well as all the evidence to be presented, including the expert opinion, if any.

At the pretrial, the court may also refer the issues to a mediator who shall assist the parties in reaching an agreement on matters not prohibited by law. The mediator is mandated to come up with a report within one month from referral.

After which, a trial may ensue if no agreement is reached by the parties.

De Castro added that the entire process of annulling a marriage may go beyond one year depending on many factors, such as the availability of the judge, parties, the counsels, and other unforeseen events.

Indeed, getting out of marriage is a tedious process that is why when you are married, do everything to save it.

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