Annulment for being underage and Declaration of Nullity of Marriage due to lack of parental consent are two different cases, although they are often confused.

The person married below 18 years old is in a marriage null and void from the beginning.

The correct case to file is called Nullity of Marriage.

A case for Nullity of Marriage means your marriage is void from the start as being a minor means there is no legal capacity to contract marriage at the time of marriage ceremony.

People who under the age of 18 are seen as children and do not have the ability to enter into such a serious and heavy contract at that age.

On the other hand –

If you married between 18 to 21, the correct case to file is called Annulment.

A case for Annulment means that your marriage is valid but is voidable.

These are legal differences that lawyers understand; for the most part, most people call both cases Annulment since they are both court cases that end a marriage.

Usually, the petition for declaration of nullity of marriage due to lack of parental consent should be filed in the regional trial court where the spouses reside.

An annulment case for lack of parental consent or for being underage follows the same rules in terms of where they should be filed.

If both spouses live in the Philippines, the case can be filed where either spouse resides.

If at least one spouse lives in the Philippines, the case can be filed where this spouse resides.

If both live abroad, the case can be filed where they last lived together as husband and wife or at their habitual place of residence.

Residence must be proved through documentary evidence such as utility bills, certificates of residence or the like.

A birth certificate is important proof of a person’s age when it comes to annulment of marriage when the contracting parties are between the ages of 18 to 21 and are using lack of parental consent as a ground.

An annulment for lack of parental consent or for being underage will require that proof of the age of both contracting parties at the time of marriage.

So, anything that proves your age is important.

These would be:

• Your birth certificate (PSA or local civil registrar certified version)
• Baptismal records
• School records
• Medical records
• Additional proof that you were underage when you married could be the testimony of witnesses and photos with dates.

These can support your case.

The court will consider documentary proof from government institutions or private institutions over witness testimony and photos.

Documentary proof is harder to get but it ensures a stronger case.

It is very hard to add evidence later on so it is better to prepare the strongest evidence you can.

Lack of evidence may mean that a case is denied on its grounds and then the annulment can never be filed again.

So, it is better to take a lot of time to get the evidence right when a case for Annulment begins.

(Incidentally, this is why there are acceptance fees. A lawyer needs time to assess the case and its evidence and recommend what other documents you need to gather, and that takes time.)

Now, filing an annulment for lack of parental consent or for underage marriages may carry a criminal penalty due to Republic Act No. 115961.

As a side note – the passage of the Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11596 or the Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties has made things a little complicated.

This law criminalized anyone who married someone underage.

This is supposed to protect children ages of 18 and below against child predators.

However, it also had the side effect of criminalizing an underage marriage where one was slightly older than the other – for example, a twenty two year old who married a seventeen year old.

Thus, it is possible that the government would try to file a criminal case against someone who did this, even if the parties are just trying to file a case for annulment of marriage.

If this is your situation, please consult with a Family lawyer first before filing a case.

An Affidavit of parental consent is a written document and is different from parental advice.

An annulment case for lack of parental consent requires additional documents aside from just proving your age at the time of marriage.

In this type of case, the age of the contracting parties as well as the lack of parental consent must be shown.

Parental consent is needed when you marry when you are 18 to 21 years old as otherwise, the LCR will not issue a marriage license.

Parental consent is provided to the LCR by your parents, surviving parent or guardian in one of 2 ways:

• They can put in a personal appearance before the civil registrar.
• They can also submit an Affidavit of Parental Consent with two witnesses. It must be signed by your father, mother, surviving parent or guardian, or persons having legal charge over you, in that order. It must also be notarized by a notary public authorized by law to administer oaths and should be attached to the marriage license application.

So, to prove that there was a lack of parental consent, you must retrieve the LCR copy of your marriage license application which will lack this document.

Additionally, you can ask the LCR to testify in court.

Even if you married when there was a lack of parental consent and when you were between the ages of 18 to 21, your marriage is still valid.

Note that if you married and there was a lack of parental consent, the marriage is valid.

It is just that the marriage can be ended if one of the parties files for annulment due to lack of parental consent, so long as they file within 5 years from turning 21.

If they filed 5 years from turning 21, lack of parental consent cannot be used as a ground.

Consult with a family lawyer in this case to determine the correct legal strategy to use.

A person may have 2 birth certificates and used one where he was older so that the LCR issuing the marriage license would grant it. In this case, it is important to prove the actual age when married.

You have to prove that your actual age at the time of marriage.

You can do this by asking for the hospital records of where you were born, the local civil registrar, baptismal records, and school records.

You can also show other documents that would help the case. These would be your parent’s marriage certificates, your siblings’ birth certificates (for example, your sibling’s birth certificate shows that she was born one month after you which is clearly impossible) and other such documents.

Note that a PSA document is a public document.

Fake documents can lead to criminal charges so consult with a lawyer if you are filing an annulment of marriage due to underage/lack of parental consent due to falsified documents.

Falsification of a public document can lead to criminal charges for the person responsible for submitting the wrong information.

You may also be criminally liable if proven that you knowingly submitted the incorrect birth certificate when you filed an application for a marriage license.

Consult with a family lawyer to determine what to do in your case, since it is important to get good advice from the beginning to avoid issues.

Many people do not know that the 5,000 pesos they give to “fixers” is nothing compared to the criminal consequences they may face later on.

You would have to prove that your actual age here, so that it can be proved you were underage at the time of marriage or there was lack of parental consent by your parents, guardians or persons having authority over you.

If your date of birth was falsified on the marriage license application to make it appear you were older than 18, this must be proved with documents and other evidence.

You will need hospital records, baptismal records, school records or any other record that will prove your actual year of birth.

If proven that the information given was false, your marriage license would be invalid as you would be underage.

However, be aware that the people who supplied the wrong information may be liable for criminal charges for falsifying details on a marriage license application.

Consult with a Family lawyer if this is the situation, so as to avoid prosecution.

Consult a legitimate lawyer only and visit their law office as much as possible to check.

You will need to decide if you have enough evidence to prove that you were younger than 18 at the time of your marriage. This should be done with a lawyer to avoid the possible criminal charges of the Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties.

Find a lawyer you can trust.

Your lawyer will be the one filing your petition and attending to the legal requirements, so it is important to find someone who is reliable.

Also, make sure that all the details of your marriage is complete.

Your family lawyer will not be able to do the job properly if some of your details are incorrect or made up.

Your lawyer will be need the following:

• Your marriage certificate,
• Proof of residence for the last 6 months such as a lease contract or land title, government issued IDs, utility bills.
• A barangay certificate with a sketch showing where you live
• If you have children, their birth certificates
• 2 witnesses who can attest your underage status at the time of your marriage
• Proof of your age such as birth certificate, baptismal certificate, school records, etc.
• Other proof depending on the situations we talked about above

The process may take more than 3 years to complete, as annulment of marriage cases tend to need several hearings and require a lot of evidence.

Your lawyer will first need to assess the documents I mentioned above.

Your lawyer will then determine the legal strategy and whether to file due to being underage, lack of parental consent or psychological incapacity.

Your lawyer will then draft your petition once all the important details and documents are ready. This includes speaking with your witnesses such as your parents, guardian or persons with parental authority over you who will be testifying for you. Make it a point to check the petition before it is submitted to make sure all the details are correct.

Your case will be submitted at the family court.

A judge will be assigned to your case, who will then assign a prosecutor to conduct a collusion investigation.

This means both parties named in the petition will be investigated to make sure that there was no agreement to make the case easier by submitting false facts for a more favorable and speedy outcome.

The judge will also be scheduling a pretrial for your petition. This is when the details of your marriage are discussed before the actual trial.

There are other procedural requirements that must be complied with as the court order mentioned.

Attendance is a must. A non-appearance may have your petition dismissed even before the actual trial.

A representative from the Local Civil Registrar can be summoned to appear in the court to show that their record does show that one of the parties was underage.

Once all the pre-trial details are finished, the judge will schedule your hearing.

This is when all the evidence and proof for lack of parental consent or being underage or otherwise are presented in court and when all the witnesses are heard.

You may appear more than once if the court order mentioned it as some judges as some want additional testimony.

After the hearings, you must wait for the decision of the court. This may take between 90 days or more.

If your petition is granted, wait for 15 days from the receipt of the service of the judge’s decision. This period is given in case other parties raise an objection.

If there is no appeal or motion to reconsider submitted by the other party you will then be able to get a Certificate of Finality from the court.

You also need to endorse the decision with the PSA and the LCR to update your records.

Both an annulment for Lack of Parental Consent or for being underage follow the same process – they differ mostly in evidence needed.

A case for annulment for lack of parental consent and a case for annulment for being underage are very similar.

The process is the same.

The court that you file at is the same.

The major differences are the evidence that you need to gather.

For both cases, you will need to prove age at the time of marriage through birth certificates, baptismal certificates, school and medical records, and the like.

However, if you use lack of parental consent as grounds for annulment, you must also prove that your parents, guardian or persons with parental authority over you did not give their consent. For this case, either you or your parent guardian or persons with parental authority can file the case.

In all cases, please consult with a family lawyer first.

As you can see, a case can become very complicated and unintended consequences may happen.

Get the right advice to determine the correct legal strategy or ground – whether that is filing for lack of parental consent, being underage, psychological incapacity or others – so that you can avoid these problems later on.

Remember that the requirements of annulment for underage marriage and lack of parental consent is different from other grounds.

1. What is the difference between an annulment on the grounds of being underage vs an annulment for lack of parental consent?

An underage age annulment is when the parties are under 18 at the time of marriage.

An annulment for lack of parental consent is when the parties married without parental consent and were between 18 to 21 at the time of the marriage. This type of annulment is more properly called Nullity of Marriage.

2. Is an annulment for being underage/lack of parental consent null and void from the beginning?

Only an annulment while underage or below 18 at the time of marriage is considered null and void from the beginning.

On the other hand, an annulment for lack of parental consent is considered valid but voidable.

In both situations, cases will need to be filed to legally end the marriage.

3. How do I prove lack of parental consent?

Lack of parental consent can be proved by retrieving the marriage license application from the LCR to look for the affidavit for parental consent. Documents proving the person’s age at the time of marriage are also needed.

4. How do I prove an underage marriage?

Unlike an annulment for lack of parental consent, this case just requires proof of the person’s age at the time of marriage such as birth certificates, baptismal certificates, school records and the like.

5. What is the process for filing an annulment?

Filing an annulment of lack of parental consent or for being underage is very similar.

Both an annulment for lack of parent consent or being underage follow the same process – a collusion investigation, pre-trial, trial, decision, registration are all needed.

6. Where is a case for annulment filed?

A case for annulment is filed at the family court where one of the spouses lives or where they last lived as husband and wife if they are no longer in the Philippines.

This is regardless of whether this is for lack of parental consent or an annulment on other grounds.

7. How long does a case for annulment due to lack of parental consent or being underage take?

A case will generally take about 3 years or more from filing the case at court to decision. This is regardless of whether the ground is lack of parental consent or being underage since the process is the same. Note that it can take longer due to crowded and overworked courts.

8. When should I file an annulment case for lack of parental consent or being underage?

An annulment case for lack of parental consent must be filed 5 years from when you turn 21 while an annulment case for being underage can be filed at any time.