Legal Separation and Annulment are very different

Legal Separation does not end the marriage while Annulment (or Declaration of Nullity of Marriage) does end a marriage.

Let me explain in detail.

Legal Separation Philippines is a court case that ends marital obligations and divides property relations between the Spouses, but the marriage bond is not dissolved.

This means that Legally Separated Spouses cannot marry someone else.

In addition, Legal Separation is a combative court case where you and your Spouse are on hostile, opposing ends.

This usually means that Legal Separation is more expensive, difficult and takes longer than an Annulment.

In Annulment (or Declaration of Nullity of Marriage), the marriage bond is dissolved completely.

The effect of Annulment or Declaration of Nullity is that the marriage no longer exists and the marriage property regime is dissolved.

This allows the former Spouses to marry someone else.

In addition, Annulment is not combative and you can generally end it at less cost and in a much shorter time.

So to summarize, Annulment vs Legal Separation Philippines is a cheaper, faster, and easier case.

Annulment considers a marriage valid up to a point while Declaration of Nullity of Marriage states that the marriage was void from the beginning.

Let’s expound on this a little more.

Annulment is a court case that deems a marriage valid until a certain point. Children of this marriage are considered legitimate.

It has the following grounds:

1. One of the parties was 18-21 and did not have the consent of their parent/guardian
2. Unsound mind
3. Consent was obtained by fraud, force, intimidation or undue influence
4. Impotence
5. A sexually transmitted disease

There is a time period within which you can use these grounds – most expire within a 5 year period from the discovery of the ground or from the date of marriage.

On the other hand, a Declaration of Nullity of Marriage states that the marriage was void from the beginning.

The grounds for Declaration of Nullity of Marriage are things like incestuous, bigamous marriages (I go through the grounds in more detail below) and Psychological Incapacity. These grounds do not have a time period and can be used whenever the case is filed.

It also has a major difference in effect – with the exception of a Declaration of Nullity using Psychological Incapacity as a ground, the children of the marriage are Illegitimate.

People generally mix up Annulment and Declaration of Nullity, but they are different cases and have different effects and grounds.

Neither are the same as Divorce which does not exist in the Philippines.

But both allow for people to remarry someone else.

Time matters when filing for Legal Separation

The legal bases for filing a case for Legal Separation vs Annulment or Declaration of Nullity of Marriage are different.

Legal Separation may be granted if the court finds any of the following grounds (Family Code of the Philippines):

(a) Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the Petitioner, a Common Child (child of the marriage), or a child of the Petitioner;

(b) Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the Petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;

(c) Attempt of Respondent to corrupt or induce the Petitioner, a Common Child, or a child of the Petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement;

(d) Final Judgment sentencing the Respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if Pardoned;

(e) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the Respondent;

(f) Lesbianism or homosexuality of the Respondent;

(g) Contracting by the Respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in or outside the Philippines;

(h) Sexual Infidelity or Perversion of the Respondent;

(i) Attempt on the life of Petitioner by the Respondent; or

(j) Abandonment of Petitioner by Respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.

The Petition must be filed in court within 5 years from the time of the occurrence in the marriage of the particular Ground/s cited for Legal Separation.

The grounds for Legal Separation differ to the grounds for Annulment

The most commonly used ground for Declaration of Nullity of a Marriage is Psychological Incapacity.

Psychological Incapacity is a subjective standard.

It is when the spouses are “psychologically incapacitated to perform and comply with the essential marital obligations at the time of the celebration of their marriage”.

It is also “the downright incapacity or inability to take cognizance of and to assume the basic marital obligations.”

The subjective standard of Psychological Incapacity must be proved with evidence in court for the Grounds for Declaration of Nullity to be met.

Among other witnesses, such as the Petitioner-Spouse herself, a premium is put on getting a psychologist to testify to clinical findings that one or both of the spouses is psychologically incapacitated.

Other Grounds for Declaration of Nullity (declaring the marriage null and void) include:
• Marriages where someone was underage
• Marriages without a Marriage License
• Bigamous marriages
• Incestuous Marriages
•Absence of Consent by either of the Spouses
•Absence of Legal Capacity in either of the Spouses

What are the grounds for Annulment in the Philippines?

The full legal grounds for Annulment are as follows (Family Code of the Philippines):

(1) The party in whose behalf it is sought to have the marriage Annulled was eighteen years of age or over but below twenty-one, and the marriage was solemnized without the consent of the parents, guardian or person having substitute parental authority over the party, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife;

(2) Either party was of unsound mind, unless such party after coming to reason, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

(3) The consent of either party was obtained by fraud, unless such party afterwards, with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

(4) The consent of either party was obtained by force, intimidation or undue influence, unless the same having disappeared or ceased, such party thereafter freely cohabited with the other as husband and wife;

(5) Either party was physically incapable of consummating the marriage with the other, and such incapacity continues and appears to be incurable; or

(6) Either party was afflicted with a sexually-transmissible disease found to be serious and appears to be incurable.

To file Annulment or Declaration of Nullity of Marriage, you will first need to determine which ground you will use and assess the case with your lawyer.

Your lawyer must go through the case facts and assess the quality of the evidence.

Your lawyer may also interview other witnesses to get more evidence.

He may also engage a Psychologist if the ground being used is Psychological Incapacity.

He might also discuss how to handle this case from abroad (yes, you can file this case from abroad).

After your lawyer’s assessment, he will draft a Petition and Judicial Affidavits.

For both Annulment and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage the Petition must be filed in the Family Court of the province or city where the Petitioner or the Respondent has been residing for at least six months prior to the date of filing.

It’s not possible to convert a Legal Separation case to an Annulment

No, Legal Separation cannot be converted to Annulment later on.

Many think Legal Separation is cheaper and faster than Annulment and that they can “convert” it to an Annulment later on.

This is not possible.

These are two separate cases with different requirements and different effects.

Legal Separation ends the marriage Property Regime but it doesn’t end the marriage. While Annulment ends both the Property Regime and the marriage.

They are different cases and are not convertible.

So, if you first filed a case for Legal Separation, you have to file a new, separate case for Annulment or Declaration of Nullity if you decided that you instead wanted to end the marriage.

This will be a completely different case from the one already in court.

There are no savings in time or money when you undertake Legal Separation vs Annulment and it cannot be converted later on.   If you are still not sure which path to follow you really should discuss the Annulment vs Legal Separation Philippines options over with a lawyer.

Legal Separation cases are sometimes more expensive than an Annulment case.

No, Legal Separation is not cheaper than Annulment.

Legal Separation automatically puts the spouses on opposing sides. You and your spouse will fight it out in court. Legal Separation is often more costly and more time consuming because of this.

So, Legal Separation vs Annulment is far more expensive.

Legal Separation is appropriate when neither spouse wants to marry again and when property concerns while alive are the main issue. Legal Separation awards all property to whomever it determines is the “Innocent” spouse – so it is also a risky case.

If only property issues are your main concern, then perhaps the far more simple case Judicial Separation of Property is best. You can read more about Judicial Separation of Property here. Neither Legal Separation or Judicial Separation of Property allow remarriage so consider that carefully.

It is thus important to decide early on if what you want is Legal Separation or a truly final dissolution under Annulment or Declaration of Nullity of Marriage.

Knowing the differences between Annulment vs Legal Separation in the Philippines allows you to understand what is right for what you want to accomplish.

Atty. Francesco C. Britanico, FCB Law Office
Lawyers In the Philippines