Published — December 22, 2020
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of your own lawyer to address your legal concerns, if any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
Read also: CAN THE HUSBAND AND WIFE SELL PROPERTY TO EACH OTHER DURING THE MARRIAGE?
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Future husbands and wives must have legal capacity to enter a contract.
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Consent of the parties must be freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.
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Absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void from the beginning.
Based on the Constitution, Marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and it shall be protected by the State.
In the case of Jerrysus L. Tilar vs. Elizabeth A. Tilar (G.R. No. 214529, July 12, 2017), the Court said that the State has surrounded marriage with safeguards to maintain its purity, continuity and permanence. The security and stability of the State are largely dependent upon it. It is the interest of each and every member of the community to prevent the bringing about of a condition that would shake its foundation and ultimately lead to its destruction.
What then are the requisites in order to consider a marriage valid?
The Family Code provides that:
No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are present:
- Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female; and
- Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.
The formal requisites of marriage are:
- Authority of the solemnizing officer;
- A valid marriage license except in the cases specially provided in the Family Code; and
- 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.
The absence of any of the essential or formal requisites shall render the marriage void from the beginning, except 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.
A defect in any of the essential requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable.
Thus, as an essential requisite for marriage to be valid, parties must be male and female, and must have legal capacity to enter into a contract. Further, the consent of both parties must be freely given.
Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.
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