12 FAQs Divorce in the Philippines - Lawyers in the Philippines
In our family law practice, probably the most frequently asked question is “Can you get divorced in the Philippines?”
The short answer is no. There is still no divorce in the Philippines in 2026, although there are efforts to try to introduce it.
There are some limited exceptions such as divorce among Muslims or when a Filipino is divorced from a foreign spouse. These types of divorces are recognized in the Philippines, however;
This is not applicable to the majority of married Filipinos. For them, the only two options to dissolve a marriage are through Voidable Marriage or through Void Marriages (commonly called Annulment).
And yet, the Philippines and its stance on divorce continues to attract attention and interest. This post discusses its history, current situation and 3 available options for those wishing to separate.
Let’s just dive right in.
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As of 2026, absolute divorce is still not legal in the Philippines for the general population.
However, the legislative effort to pass a divorce law has reached its most significant milestone to date.
On May 22, 2024, the House of Representatives approved House Bill No. 9349 (the Absolute Divorce Act)on its third and final reading with a 131–109 vote.
This marked a major shift, surpassing previous legislative attempts, including the historic 2018 bill, by clearing the entire lower house rather than stalling in committee.
Despite this breakthrough in the House of Representatives, the bill has not been enacted into law.
For a divorce bill to become Philippine law, a matching bill must also be passed by the Senate and subsequently signed by the President (or allowed to lapse into law).
Because the measure has faced ongoing opposition and stalled without Senate approval, the legal framework remains unchanged: annulment, declaration of nullity, legal separation, and recognition of foreign divorce remain the only legal avenues available under Philippine law.
First, the House must pass a bill. This is what happened in 2018 and May 2024.
That is why people were so excited that the House passed the bill -it has never happened before and it was the furthest we had ever come.
Then, the Senate must pass the Bill (for reference, this has never happened).
First, a senator must sponsor the bill.
Then it must go through several readings on the Senate floor.
Then it has to be passed and forwarded to the president (who, mind you, can still void it).
So far, no Senator has sponsored it and – and we are not sure what the president thinks about divorce.
Thus, divorce is illegal in the Philippines in 2023 (again, with the exception of Muslim divorces and divorces obtained when one of the partners is a foreigner. These types of divorces are valid and if you want to figure out how to file a divorce in Philippines obtained abroad so that the Philippines recognizes it, we can certainly help you. Our post on Recognizing a Foreign Divorce in the Philippines is also a good place to start.)
The absolute divorce bill passed by the House of Representatives in May 2024 is designed to provide a legal remedy for marriages that have completely collapsed with no reasonable possibility of reconciliation.
Key provisions of the proposed framework include:
- Strict Grounds: It requires specific, valid grounds for divorce (such as domestic abuse, irreconcilable differences, or long-term separation), ensuring that "quickie" or unilateral divorces are strictly prohibited.
- Cooling-Off Period: A mandatory 60-day cooling-off period is mandated after the filing of the petition, giving the couple a final window to explore reconciliation.
- Prohibition Against Collusion: Secret arrangements or manufactured agreements between spouses to fabricate grounds for divorce remain strictly forbidden and heavily penalized.
- Court-Supervised Proceedings: Even under the proposed law, divorces would require judicial scrutiny and approval by a family court rather than an administrative shortcut.
These are big, big changes but since the divorce bill is not yet a law, you cannot yet avail of it.
The only solutions?
Void (commonly called Annulment), Voidable Marriages are the only options for Filipinos married to Filipinos or a Recognition of Foreign Divorce (if one spouse is a foreign national).
Well, chalk it up to history and religion.
The Philippines was ruled by Spain for over 300 years. Spain was firmly against divorce and only allowed something like today’s legal separation as defined by Siete Partidos.
In legal separation Philippines, spouses no longer have to live together or share property but they cannot get married again.
America introduced a limited form of divorce in 1917’s Act No. 2710 which allowed divorce in cases of a criminal conviction for adultery.
Japan expanded divorce grounds though Executive Order 141 which included dissertation, abandonment and abuse among several others.
But Philippine divorce was completely disallowed when the Philippines got its independence after WWII. And with the powerful Catholic church completely against divorce, the Filipinos have for many years only been able to resort to legal separation, void (commonly called annulment) or voidable marriages.
Interested in the legislative history of divorce? A more thorough discussion can be found in this post.
Yes, absolutely there have been efforts to have a divorce in the Philippines.
1999 The House Bill 6993 entitled “An Act Legalizing Divorce, Amending for Purpose Title II and Articles 55 to 67 thereunder of Executive Order No. 209, as amended by Executive Order No. 227 otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines” was filed.
2001 Senate Bill 782 and House Bill 878 were filed. They were similar in content to the 1999 Bill.
2005 Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza filed a divorce bill in congress. It mentioned common grounds for divorce with the Absolute Divorce Act of 2018 such as 5 year separation, 2 years legal separation or irreconcilable differences among others. It was refiled several times since.
2018 The Absolute Divorce Act of 2018 passed Congress. It is the only divorce bill to have come this far but it still has a long way to go and is still not law.
2024 The House of Representatives once again passed in third and final reading the Absolute Divorce Bill with a vote of 131 yes and 109 no. The bill sits pending in senate since then due to powerful lobbying of conservatives and political prioritie
Filipinos still seem to want to process a divorce in the Philippines.
The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted in March 2024 reveals that 50% of Filipino adults favor legalizing divorce for irreconcilably separated couples, while 31% disagree and 17% remain undecided.
Support is strongest among individuals living with partners (net agreement up to +40) and residents of Metro Manila (+40), whereas support is lowest among respondents from Mindanao (+2) and adherents of the Iglesia ni Cristo, who registered a negative net agreement score (-10).
It seems as if support for divorce is there and that Filipinos on the whole are in favor of it.
Marriage rates have fallen. This has been accompanied by an increase in cohabitation and annulment, which is the only often legal option to dissolve a marriage in the Philippines.
Abalos’s Divorce and Separation in the Philippines suggests that this may be due to economic trends. However, he also mentions that this may partially be attributable to the lack of divorce.
- 2 Filipinos divorced abroad in Dubai but they are still husband and wife in the Philippines. The decide to go through the process of annulment and are now on the 3rd year of the case. They may have wanted to do this for property and inheritance issues.
- A legal wife was awarded property bought by her husband even though the property was in the name of his common law wife.
- Illegitimate Children only inherit half of a legitimate child’s share.
While not all situations result in problems with property and inheritance, problems can certainly arise.
If there is property or children involved, it is much easier to annul a marriage and prevent possible problems.
There are 3 options to dissolve a Philippine marriage.
- If there is a foreigner spouse, then a divorce abroad can be brought to court in a Recognition of Foreign Divorce proceeding.
- If there was a flaw in the marriage certificate, ceremony, or solemnizing officer among other less likely grounds, then it can be brought to court as a voidable marriage.
- For the vast majority, the marriage will have to go through annulment.
I’ve encountered several people who want to dissolve their marriage.
They often wonder what option they should take.
For a very few, a flaw might be found in the way the marriage was performed. If there was no marriage license, there was an unauthorized solemnizing officer or it was otherwise invalid then it can be voided.
For those with foreigner spouses at the time of the divorce, Recognition of Foreign Divorce is a good option to have the divorce acknowledged by the Philippine government.
People often call annulment “divorce Philippine style” and is really the only option to end a marriage between 2 Filipinos especially since you cannot get a divorce in the Philippines
While annulment and divorce both end a marriage, there are some major differences.
- It can take at least 3 years. It can be longer due to the court’s busy schedule and if the spouses cannot compromise regarding property and children.
- Most will use psychological incapacity as a ground. This is actually difficult to prove as grounds such as infidelity, abuse, or abandonment are not by themselves enough to annul a marriage. It is only when these point to one spouse being absolutely incapable of fulfilling his marital duties that annulment is granted.
- Husband and wife cannot jointly file the petition.
- 5% of petitions are denied and when a petition is denied with finality, you cannot file again.
- It is costly.
What this means for most is that it is a long and often costly process.
There has to be a lot of evidence for annulment to be granted and a lot does depend on the discretion of the court.
(Remember that for those who have obtained a divorce from a foreigner, these divorces can be processed. I’ve detailed how to process this divorce in the Philippines in my post Recognition of Foreign Divorce process).
You will surely find vloggers in social media posting this and that about easy annulment in the Philippines, but they are just click baiting you to increase their engagements.
Most of them are not even legal practitioners!
There also aren’t middlemen or fixers who can really help. I’d actually caution you to stay away from people like this since they may just take a “down payment” and then well, let you down.
(In fact, we’ve come across several actual stories of this).
Some people also receive fake documents and find out that these are completely worthless when they want to immigrate or marry again. They end up paying again when they really shouldn’t have to.
And there is also no one who can just delete the Civil Registry copy of your marriage.
Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
In fact, the chief of the PSA’s vital statistics division Aurora Rosales said, “I don’t even have access at that level,” in a Rappler article discussing if fixers can actually delete the marriage certificate.
But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing you can do.
If you ACT responsibly, you can make sure that your annulment goes smoothly and is not unnecessarily delayed.
• Arrange all documents and proof to show your lawyer such as your marriage certificate and
a write-up as to why the marriage did not succeed. Include photos, text messages or emails
as supporting proof.
• Choose a good lawyer since a lot of the work can be done efficiently if your lawyer is
experienced in this.
• Talk to your ex-partner and work on a compromise with regard to property and children.
First, check the Supreme Court website and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
Your lawyer’s name should appear on both lists.
The reason to check both lists is that sometimes one is more updated than the other. The Supreme court will remove disbarred or deceased lawyers from its list earlier than the IBP.
(Please do spell your lawyer’s name correctly. Some people couldn’t find their lawyer but that’s because they looked for a nickname or misspelled it by one letter…)
Second, your lawyer should be communicating with you.
There is a LOT of preparation a lawyer does for an annulment case and the facts will only come from you. (Your involvement is limited to providing the documents, facts and testimony but your lawyer does a lot, lot more.)
If he isn’t reaching out to you, then something is wrong.
I’d also be really wary of lawyers who say that you can have a no-appearance, cheap, fast annulment in 6 months.
It’s not likely to happen. Be wary of things that seem too good to be true – in many, many ways, it is.
References:
- Deogracias T. Reyes, History of Divorce Legislation since 1500
- Researchgate, The Removal of Divorce: Civil Law Reform and Divorce Debates in the Mid-Twenthieth Century Philippines, 1943-1950
- GMA Network, Full text: Bill filed in Congress that would legalize divorce
- Inquirer.net, Survey: Half of Filipinos for divorce; 1/3 againts
