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Primary Contact

316 Mile Long Building

Amorsolo Street

Legaspi Village

Makati City

1200 Philippines

Telephone: (632) 8941441

TeleFax: (632) 8124296

e-mail: gtalaw@gtalawphil.com

Office Hours

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Monday - Friday

www.gtalawphil.com

ANNULMENT 101:  Philippine Annulment Law Made Easy

LESSON IV: ISSUES ABOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL INCAPACITY
 

Article 36 of the Family Code 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.” This means

that the husband or the wife is psychologically incapable of complying with the essential marital obligations, which will render the marriage void from the beginning. It is important that this incapacity was already present during the celebration of marriage.

Q. I have been hearing about the term psychological incapacity. Please explain to me what is “psychological incapacity” as a ground to declare the marriage void?

GTALAW: " Simply put, psychological incapacity" is a serious psychological disorder, but not necessarily insanity, that causes a spouse or both spouses to be truly incapable of complying with the essential marital obligations. This psychological condition must already exist at the time the marriage is celebrated.

Q. What are these essential marital obligations?

GTALAW: These are the obligations of the husband and wife (1) to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support; (2) to procreate children based on the universal principle that procreation of children through sexual cooperation is the basic end of marriage; (3) to jointly support the family (Art. 70), for the spouses are joint administrators in the partnership; and (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

Q. Can you tell me in simple terms what are the manifestations of psychological incapacity?

GTALAW: The following are some of the manifestations of psychological incapacity or narcissistic, anti-social personality disorder, to name a few:

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.

2. By the deliberate refusal to give support to the other spouse, or their common children

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

Q. My wife has a serious sexual libido or promiscuity problem. To my knowledge, she had slept with three men other than me during our marriage. I have almost killed a guy because of her sexual escapades. But despite this, I still accepted her due to my love and desire to keep the marriage intact. But it came to a point that I cannot take her philandering anymore. Please help me file a Petition to annul our marriage preferably due to her own psychological incapacity.

GTALAW: We truly understand and sympathize with your feelings regarding your situation. However, sexual promiscuity or sexual infidelity

of the spouse is not an example of psychological incapacity contemplated by law. The Supreme Court has recently decided a case about this issue (Please see decision Dedel vs. CA January 29, 2005). We suggest that you submit yourself for psychological examination. Based on the

information that you will supply to the Psychologist, there may be some other grounds that can be used to declare your marriage void.

 

:: Related Topics

Lesson I: Annulment of Marriage

Lesson II: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage

Lesson III: Issues About Marriage License

Lesson IV: Issues About Psychological Incapacity

Lesson V: Court procedure and evidence to prove psychological Incapacity

Lesson VI: Solutions for Petitioners Working Overseas

Lesson VII: Issues after the issuance of Annulment Decision

Lesson VIII: Divorce obtained by former Filipino citizens

Lesson IX: Our Fee Structure

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