Short answer. That the marriage was performed in articulo mortis, or that a party's residence — naming the barrio or barangay — has no means of transportation to the registrar; and that he took the necessary steps to ascertain the parties' ages and relationship and the absence of any legal impediment.

What the law says

the solemnizing officer shall state in an affidavit executed before the local civil registrar or any other person legally authorized to administer oaths that the marriage was performed in articulo mortis or that the residence of either party, specifying the barrio or barangay, is so located that there is no means of transportation to enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar

Family Code, Article 29 — Officer's Affidavit for Marriages Under Articles 27 and 28. Read the full provision →

The affidavit stands in for the license

Marriages under Article 27 and Article 28 are celebrated without a marriage license, which means the screening a license application would have provided never happened. Article 29 replaces it with a sworn statement from the only official who was present. The affidavit is executed before the local civil registrar or any other person legally authorized to administer oaths, so it is not a note for the officer's own file — it is evidence, under oath, given to the registry. Understanding it that way explains why the article is so particular about what must be in it.

First, the ground for dispensing with a license

The officer must state which exemption applied. Either the marriage was performed in articulo mortis, or the residence of a party is so located that there is no means of transportation to reach the registrar. For the second ground the article demands specificity: the affidavit must name the barrio or barangay. That requirement exists because a claim of isolation is checkable only if the place is identified, and a vague assertion that a party lived somewhere remote would be worth nothing to anyone reviewing the marriage years later.

Second, what the officer did to satisfy himself

The affidavit must also say that the officer took the necessary steps to ascertain the ages and relationship of the contracting parties and the absence of legal impediment to the marriage. This is the substantive part. Without a license nobody has verified that the parties are of age, that they are not within the prohibited degrees under Article 37 or Article 38, and that neither is already married. The Code shifts that enquiry onto the solemnizing officer and then makes him swear he carried it out. It is a real duty, not a formula to be copied out.

Why this document matters later

A licence-exempt marriage tends to be questioned only when something is at stake — usually an estate, a pension, or a second marriage. At that point the affidavit is the whole record of how the marriage came to be celebrated without a license. Article 30 requires the original, with a legible copy of the marriage contract, to be sent to the registrar of the municipality where the marriage was performed. If you are the surviving spouse or a relative examining such a marriage, that affidavit is the first document to obtain, and its contents will shape everything that follows.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.