Annulment

i dont think u will be getting married in  the near future ,annulment can take months

As far as I know.. 7 years straight without communication and seeing each other it will consider null and void..

You are just married in the Philippines. If you want to get married abroad and you will not report to any Philippine embassy then there could be no complication in it. Annulment is a very hassle process so better to Fly to London and get married there.

she cant just fly to london and get married    -wont they look proof of capacity to marry?

Hi I was interested in your case. I am also looking for atty here. Anyone know???
If you want to marry your bf.. advice you to check in Edinburgh or gretna, Scotland... check with them very little requirements. When I get married there I don't have to show evidence of singleness. I am here in Qatar. We apply my visa and was approve within 2 days.

I also need to annul my marriage since I'm single for over  seventeen years. Is it enough that I can remarry or do I have to inform any agency about it and apply for it. Thank you.

separation is not ground for annulment

Dear ladies,
First of all if u want your second marriage to be valid and legal,  and be recognize in all countries in the world, U should annul your Philippine marriage first... What if u get married successfully by chance without annulment? Effect: your second marriage is Void and your legal husband can sue you for bigamy and that's a criminal case...
Do not worry  that your husband will not sign and agree for the annulment because first of all he doesn't have to agree and sign anything.. Annulment is not divorce.. No mutual consent needed... In annulment u have to prove to the state that your marriage is not working anymore because your husband or you is peychologically incapacitated to perform marital obligation.. It is actually your marriage VS. the state and not you vs your husband...  I strongly recommend that u should consult a lawyer on these matters..... Lastly, if u want to correct mistakes, pls do it right and legally right otherwise the big mess is even worse... Hope this helps

Are you a filipina? If you are in Qatar just go to the embassy or Phil.consulate in Qatar and get an advice from them.if you want to annul your previous marriage you have to get a lawyer to handle your case and file in court to nullify your previous marriage.

Im going to auckland new zealand first week of june I want to meet friends who can accommodate me for my stay for a few week or has anyone know a cheaper place to stay on

Correct.

It is stated in the Family Code of Philippines as follows:

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.

Separation alone is NOT a reason for annulment.


To have a marriage declared null & void (i.e., it never happened and you were never married), see Art. 35 of the law. Search Google for " Philipines marriage laws."

In the Philippines. you are married for life. Yes you can go to another country and divorce, BUT the Phil. will NOT recognize it.

IF you marry without annulment and EVER return to the Phil., as stated you can be arrested for bigamy IF anyone files a complaint.

girl go london.n get married,,,,,don't take ne advice from ne atty or lawyer....
unless they say they do 4 you free ur annul....

in the lasr 100 years only 1 case of bigamy ever recorded...nbthat was a politicians wiffe wanting piso from him...that will take 50 years to go through the courts....by that time they all be dead...both atty's n man n wife...

you worry for nothing...when you marry in london ....get a uk passport n u be dual citizen...

you can never ever to have mention you are marry pinoy...cuz ur government in PI will never care...

go london make many baby n have happy life...

"Good" advice if you are brave enough to possibly face a bigamy charge. And you are incorrect. MORE than one case has been tried, all with the same result. cases have been filed. I would not be that brave. In such a case te bigamous spouse faces 5 years in orison, and the "new" spouse deportation for life if not pinoy.

I could be wrong about this part, but as I remember, it is not only the first spouse that can file a bigamy charge. I will check on that and post later.

Of course, if you never retyrn to the Philipines it "might" be OK, IF your new country does not find out either!

who say only one case of bagamy recorded - becareful to give false information to unwititing readers

Look it up on google as I did.

even if ur separated for 10 yrs u need to go to court so ur marriage will be annull

all u need to do is consult a lawyer...i have a friend who was separated from her hubby for more than 18 yrs, now she and her bf wants to get married, what we did was we went to the legal office  of one of the the city here in metromanila and asked for advise theirs different advise depending on the situation of marriage, she still need to file annullment in court...my situation is different my ex hubby had a previous marriage prior to our marriage, i just need to file a declaration of nullity , its cheaper than annullment.....by the way we were not asked to pay for the consultation...

OK. She has consulted a lawyer. he said the cost for a certificate of nullity would be 100,000 pesos (not a problem), a COURT HEARING is required, and it would TAKE 1 YEAR.

Really? 1 YEAR? I know things in the Philippines take time but 1 year! So:

1. I believe the lawyer is correct about needing a court hearing. IS THIS CORRECT?

2. I assume she can not file for a certificate of nullity on her own, to the court. Correct?

3. Any way to make the wait less than 1 YEAR ???

Thanks in advance.

for filing annullment the only ground u can make against ur husband/wife is psychological incapacity, unless he/she have prior marriage,thast different story...the big Question here is>>> will the other party subject him/herself to a psycholigal test?  some dont like to go to the process especially the men, unless both parties agreed to have their marriage annulled but the court shud not know that , or court will say there is connivance between the parties...in ur 1st n 2nd Question Mildoc819, ur right she needs a lawyer...and the waiting  process will depends on the lawyer...i knew someone who's marriage got annulled it only took them more or less 4 months, her lawyer is her friend, so talagang nagpursige sila to end the process of the case in a short period of time....

i just hear takes years for annulment and 95% denied unless you  know  someone high up.thats why on dating sites you see  widow. in pino  you are married for life untill  someone die

What do you mean by "Dating Site" What are those?

internet dating sites for relationships between men and women

I was just kidding....where my girl and I met actually.

yes  no problem.

MilDoc819 wrote:

OK. She has consulted a lawyer. he said the cost for a certificate of nullity would be 100,000 pesos (not a problem), a COURT HEARING is required, and it would TAKE 1 YEAR.

Really? 1 YEAR? I know things in the Philippines take time but 1 year! So:

1. I believe the lawyer is correct about needing a court hearing. IS THIS CORRECT?

2. I assume she can not file for a certificate of nullity on her own, to the court. Correct?

3. Any way to make the wait less than 1 YEAR ???

Thanks in advance.

1. yes, the will be court hearing as required by law. OSG will even intervene to validate whether there is collusion between the parties.
2. she can file annulment case with or without her husband. the other party may or may not answer
3. yes, there is. depending on the strength of your evidence and how the lawyer present its case. provided further that no appeal is filed.

I am up to any questions regarding this topic. (moderated)
thank you

You're still legally married, thus an annulment is a must. Being apart for 7 years or so doesn't invalidate your marriage.

Annulment in Phils would take years, sad to say. It'll take longer if it's contested or potentially contested. Uncontested could take a year or two, and depending on which district (court) you filed it. Some judges are conservative so they condone it; thus less chances of winning. So you have to find a good lawyer who really knows the ins and out of annulment and has got good network.

Hello everyone
I filed my annulment last may 2011
Everything runs smoothly.Im almost inthe final stage when the judge who handle our case resign.He resign last 2012 and our case still unresolved.The problem is till now there is no judge replacement on that court.we plan to move in other court but we have to start all ouer again.or wait?pls give us an advice

hi everyone..

just joined expat-blog.. read about your vast knowledge and personal experience on annulment.. may i ask for some personal questions and advice?

i have a friend who's married for two years but had been with his wife for almost nine years.. unfortunately, marriage did not work for them a few months after their marriage.. he wants to be annulled but sadly, reading on the grounds for annulment, his situation doesn't fit any.. to be straight, them together is just causing more problems.. and now, he is in love with another woman who is also a dear friend of mine and they want to be together.. can he file for annulment/nullity with a good lawyer helping him out on a possible ground, whichever that might be?

also, how much would the costs be? he is just an average-earner. they have an 8-year old daughter.

Maybe there is ground that only a lawyer and a psychologist can find! Where is he residing and his ex-wife?

File an urgent motion to resolve! Sit down with your lawyer!

they are within the same city.. and they still see each other by the way, because of their daughter.. the daughter is living with my friend's parents.. the wife goes to see their daughter every weekend.. my friend though is a seaman and is currently on board..

We really need to know their family backgrounds how they met etc etc before we can say his marriage can be annulled! Another thing him and the wife should not agree or put in writing that they agree to saparate; if they do so forget about being annulled.

As to how much it is, it depends on the case!

Ms. Cynthiavilla, are you a lawyer? Can my friend file for annulment even if he is at sea?

Yes I am a lawyer! He can file his petition even if he is at sea! But there are 3 appearances that he should be in the Philippines!

I was setting at a table one night in Greenbelt, during a friends wedding celebration… at the table with me were a group men all in the legal profession in the Manila area (one from Davao), two were not yet lawyers, one who said he was a clerk, and two more who were seasoned lawyers (couple others that I didn't know what they did).  We had all been drinking quite heavy and several topics of discussion were taking place. (the seasoned teaching the not so)  One of those topics that night was over the ‘concept' of the process of annulment/and some other term I wasn't familiar with / (but I digress)… the point being, one of them stated that he represented an ex-classmate of his and succeeded with her annulment in 13 weeks, and said it cost her 42k peso.  According the this group of slightly inebriated legal souls, most lawyers will drag out the process purposely (getting as much family information as possible to access information about wealth and potential future wealth according to the future groom) to pull as much money out of the plaintiff as possible, for as long a period as they can get away with.  Sometimes splitting payoffs with judges and others in order to eek out as much money as possible… one guy was laughing about his plaintiff paying over 300k over the course of a year and a half and it still wasn't resolved.   

Just a story… maybe they were just drunk… hahaha ...it is what it is

Cynthiavilla wrote:

Yes I am a lawyer! He can file his petition even if he is at sea! But there are 3 appearances that he should be in the Philippines!

I think my friend should be informed about this, should he really decide to annul his marriage.. Those required 3 appearances could conflict with his schedule when he is at sea.. How much money would he at least need in order to file a case?