I'm not a lawyer, but I think I dug up an interesting site on the Internet, and here are some quotes and personal summaries from the site,
http://www.gtalawphil.com/family_law3.htm.
Psychological Incapacity
1. It is not necessarily insanity, but a serious (enough) psychological disorder where a spouse is proven truly incapable of complying with the essential marital obligations. It's a narcissitic (in love with self only, i.e. very selfish) and an anti-social personality disorder.
2. The essential marital obligations are
2.1 to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support;
2.2 to procreate children based on the universal principle that procreation of children through sexual cooperation is the basic end of marriage;
2.3 to jointly support the family (Art. 70), for the spouses are joint administrators in the partnership; and 2.4 Not to commit acts which will bring danger, dishonor or injury to each other or to the family (Art. 72), for the safety and security of the family at all times is a primordial duty of the spouses
3. Some examples of psychological incapacity are
3.1. By the refusal of one spouse to live, dwell and cohabit with the other after marriage, without any fault at all from the aggrieved spouse.
3.2. By the deliberate refusal to give support to the other spouse, or their common children
3.3. When marriage is unbearable due to the compulsive gambling, alcoholism, drug addiction or violent tantrums and jealousy leading to physical abuse towards the other and of the children of the respondent spouse
4. The legal basis for this is Article 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.”
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http://www.gtalawphil.com/Philippine...t%20101_4.htm]
Supreme Court Guidelines for proving Psychological Incapacity
1. The burden of proof to show nullity of the marriage belongs to the plaintiff and any doubt must be resolved in favor of the existence of marriage and against its nullity.
2. The root cause of the psychological incapacity must be:
a. medically or clinically identified;
b. alleged in the complaint;
c. sufficiently proven by experts; and
d. clearly explained in the decision
3. Incapacity must be proven to be existing at “the time of the celebration” of the marriage, although the manifestation need not be perceivable at such time.
4. Such incapacity must also be shown to be medically or clinically permanent or incurable, although the incurability may be relative only in regard to the other spouse, not necessarily absolute against everyone of the same ***. Furthermore, the incapacity must be relevant to the assumption of marriage obligations, not to those not related to marriage like the exercise of profession or employment in a job.
5. Such illness must be grave enough to bring about the disability of the party to assume the essential obligations of marriage.
6. The essential marital obligations must be those embraced by Articles 68 to 71 of the Family Code as regards the husband and wife as well as Articles 220, 221, and 225 of the same code in regards to parents and their children. Such non-compliance must also be stated in the petition, proven by evidence, and included in the text of the decision.
7. Interpretations given by the National Appellate Matrimonial Tribunal of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, while not controlling or decisive, should be given great respect by our courts.
8. The trial court must order the fiscal and the Solicitor General to appear as counsel for the state. No decision shall be handed down unless the Solicitor General issues a certification, which will be quoted in the decision, briefly stating therein his reasons for his agreement or opposition, as the case may be, to the petition. The Solicitor General, along with the prosecuting attorney, shall submit to the court such certification within fifteen (15) days from the date the case is deemed submitted for resolution of the court.
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http://www.gtalawphil.com/Philippine...t%20101_5.htm]
Proceedings
1. Petitioner files a Petition for Annulment of Marriage before the Office of the Executive Clerk of Court of the Regional Court (per address of the petitioner)
Only one of the spouses must file this, and without informing the other, lest the case be dismissed on the grounds of collusion (sabwatan).
This may be filed without having alleged an expert.
2.The Office of Executive Clerk of Court schedules the raffling of the Petition for assignment of the case to the Family Court of the Regional Trial Court
This is usually done every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
3. The Clerk of Court of the Regional Trial Court assigned in the case issues Summons to the respondent spouse
4. Respondent spouse files his/her Answer to the Petition
5. Referral of the case for case study to a social worker (optional)
6. The Court sets the case for Pre- Trial conference
7. Pre-Trial Conference
8. Referral to the Mediator (optional)
9. Termination of Pre-Trial Conference and Pre-Trial Order
10. Trial Proper
11. Submission of Memoranda
12. Decision
13. Motion for Reconsideration (if filed for)
14. Appeal (if #13 above happened)
To be done within 15 days of the decision.
15. Finality of the Decision
Decision is final after 15 days from notice to the parties if no appeal is made.
16. Issuance of the Decree of Annulment
The whole thing might take about 1 1/2 years to about 2 years.
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http://www.gtalawphil.com/annulment_1.htm]
This is neither an endorsement on annulment nor of the law office that provided the website these quotes are from. I am in no way connected with this law office.
Originally Posted by rcruman
Re: On Marriage
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