Is a Marriage Without a Marriage License Valid?

A valid marriage license is one of the formal requisites of marriage (Article 3(2)), and the absence of a formal requisite makes the marriage void from the beginning (Article 4). Article 35 says it directly:

One of the listed cases is:

"The preceding Chapter" is Chapter 2 of the same Title: the marriages that need no license (Articles 27 to 34).

The Family Code lists these cases:

In the first two cases, the solemnizing officer must sign an affidavit explaining why no license was needed and confirming that he checked the ages and the absence of any legal impediment (Article 29).

The couple states these facts in an affidavit before a person authorized to administer oaths. The solemnizing officer must also state under oath that he checked their qualifications and found no legal impediment (Article 34).

The Supreme Court explained this exception in Niñal v. Bayadog (2000). Pepito's first wife died, and about 20 months later he married Norma without a license, using an affidavit that they had lived together for five years. After Pepito died, his children asked the court to declare that marriage void. The Supreme Court said the marriage was void for lack of a license and sent the children's case back to the trial court. It said the five years must be "the years immediately before the day of the marriage", and the living together must be exclusive and unbroken. A period when one partner was still married to someone else does not count, even if that partner had already separated in fact from the first spouse. The case was decided under Article 76 of the Civil Code, the rule that came before Article 34 of the Family Code.

So the affidavit alone is not enough. If the facts in it are not true, the exception does not apply, and the marriage was celebrated without a license.

No. In Abbas v. Abbas (2013), the marriage contract showed a license number. An employee of the civil registrar of the town that supposedly issued it testified that the number belonged to a license issued to a different couple. The Supreme Court reinstated the trial court's decision that the marriage was void. It said the evidence that a ceremony took place and a contract was signed "does not operate to cure the absence of a valid marriage license."

The law separates a missing license from an irregular one. An irregularity in a formal requisite does not affect the validity of the marriage, though the persons responsible can be held liable (Article 4). For example, a license issued during the three-month waiting period of Article 16 does not affect the validity of the marriage; only the registrar faces sanctions. See Marriage license requirements.

The Revised Penal Code punishes a person who marries knowing that the legal requirements were not followed:

The "next preceding article" is Article 349 on bigamy. See Bigamy in the Philippines.

To remarry, yes:

There is no deadline to file. Article 39 says the action or defense for the declaration of absolute nullity of a marriage does not prescribe.

A void first marriage also matters in a bigamy case. In Pulido v. People (2021), the Supreme Court said that a person accused of bigamy may prove that the first marriage was void from the start, even without a prior court declaration. In that case the civil registrar had no record of the first marriage's license, which raised reasonable doubt that a valid first marriage existed. A court had also declared that first marriage void. The accused was acquitted. The Court also said that Article 40 still applies to remarriage.

These are made-up examples to show how the rules work. They are not advice for any real case.

Rico and Tess have lived together for six years, but Rico's first wife died only two years ago. They marry without a license, using a five-year affidavit. Because they were not free to marry each other for the whole five years before the wedding, the exception does not apply (Niñal), and the marriage is void under Article 35(3).

Mario and Joy have a church wedding. Their marriage contract shows a license number, but the registrar's records show that the number was never issued to them. A court may declare the marriage void; the ceremony and the signed contract do not cure the missing license (Abbas).

Dante and Rose lived together for seven years, both single the whole time, and signed the Article 34 affidavit before a person authorized to administer oaths. The officer who married them signed his own sworn statement. Their marriage needed no license.

Whether a marriage is void is decided by a court, based on evidence such as civil registry certifications and witnesses. You need a lawyer to file a petition for declaration of nullity, to protect your rights over property and children, or to defend yourself in a bigamy case. The law does not allow anyone to remarry based only on his or her own belief that the first marriage was void: a final court judgment is needed first (Article 40).

If you cannot afford a lawyer, see Free legal help in the Philippines for the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) and other options.