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AT A GLANCE:
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. (Article 36, Family Code)
Psychological incapacity is a ground to declare a marriage void. Psychological incapacity as a ground for voiding marriages is provided under Article 36 of the Family Code, which provides 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.
Psychological incapacity refers to a personal condition that prevents a spouse from complying with the fundamental marital obligations only in relation to a specific partner that may exist at the time of marriage but may have been revealed through behavior subsequent to the ceremonies.
In the case of Rosanna Tan-Andal v. Mario Victor Andal (G.R. No. 196359, May 11, 2021), the Supreme Court ruled that psychological incapacity is neither a mental incapacity nor a personality disorder that must be proven through expert opinion.
Psychological incapacity should mean “no less than a mental (not physical) incapacity that causes a party to be truly incognitive of the basic marital covenants that concomitantly must be assumed and discharged by the parties to the marriage.” Psychological incapacity must refer to “the most serious cases of personality disorders clearly demonstrative of an utter insensitivity or inability to give meaning and significance to the marriage.” (Family Code Revision Committee’s deliberations, cited in the case of Tan Andal v. Andal)
In the case of Rosanna Tan-Andal v. Mario Victor Andal (G.R. No. 196359, May 11, 2021), the Supreme Court ruled that by equating psychological incapacity to a “mental incapacity and to “personality disorders”, the definition runs counter to the intent behind Article 36 of the Family Code.
Jurisprudence says:
To summarize, psychological incapacity consists of clear acts of dysfunctionality that show a lack of understanding and concomitant compliance with one’s essential marital obligations due to psychic causes. It is not a medical illness that has to be medically or clinically identified; hence, expert opinion is not required.
As an explicit requirement of the law, the psychological incapacity must be shown to have been existing at the time of the celebration of the marriage, and is caused by a durable aspect of one’s personality structure, one that was formed before the parties married. Furthermore, it must be shown caused by a genuinely serious psychic cause. To prove psychological incapacity, a party must present clear and convincing evidence of its existence.
Further, the Supreme Court explained the reason for its ruling that psychological incapacity is neither a mental condition nor a psychological incapacity:
The reason for deleting “mental” was given by Justice Eduardo P. Caguioa, a member of the Code Committee. He said that “mental” would give the wrong impression of psychological incapacity being a vice of consent.223 If psychological incapacity was to be an acceptable alternative to divorce,224 as was intended by the Code Committee, it cannot be a mere vice of consent. Psychological incapacity must consist in a lack of understanding of the essential obligations of marriage, making the marriage void ab initio.
Psychological incapacity is also not a personality disorder, as explained by amicus curiae Dean Sylvia Estrada-Claudio (Dean Estrada-Claudio). Psychological incapacity cannot be found in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the authoritative listing of various mental, including personality, disorders recognized by the scientific community.
Psychological incapacity is not a medical but a legal concept. It refers to a personal condition that prevents a spouse from complying with fundamental marital obligations only in relation to a specific partner that may exist at the time of marriage but may have been revealed through behavior subsequent to the ceremonies. In the case of Tan-Andal v. Andal, the Supreme Court ruled that it need not be a permanent and incurable disorder. Therefore, the testimony of a psychologist or psychiatrist is not mandatory in all cases. The totality of evidence must show clear and convincing evidence to cause the declaration of nullity of marriage.
There must be proof, however, of the durable or enduring aspects of a person’s personality, called “personality structure,” which manifests itself through clear acts of dysfunctionality that undermines the family. The spouse’s personality structure must make it impossible for him or her to understand and, more important, to comply with his or her essential marital obligations.
Proof of these aspects of personality need not be given by an expert. Ordinary witnesses who have been present in the life of the spouses before the latter contracted marriage may testify on behaviors that they have consistently observed from the supposedly incapacitated spouse. From there, the judge will decide if these behaviors are indicative of a true and serious incapacity to assume the essential marital obligations.
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REQUISITES OF MARRIAGE – ALBURO LAW OFFICES
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