Short answer. Yes. Article 54 of the Family Code expressly provides that children conceived or born before a judgment of annulment or absolute nullity under Article 36 becomes final and executory are considered legitimate. The declaration of nullity does not strip them of their status.
What the law says
Children conceived or born before the judgment of annulment or absolute nullity of the marriage under Article 36 has become final and executory shall be considered legitimate.
Family Code, Article 54 — Legitimacy of Children. Read the full provision →
What Article 54 provides
Article 54 of the Family Code creates a protective rule for children. When a marriage is declared void on any ground — including psychological incapacity under Article 36 — children who were conceived or born before that judgment becomes final and executory retain the status of legitimate children. The law treats the marriage as though it existed for purposes of the children's status, even though the court has determined that it was void from the beginning. The children are not made illegitimate simply because the marriage that produced them turns out to have been legally invalid.
Why the timing of the judgment matters
The protection covers children conceived or born before the judgment reaches finality — not merely before it is rendered. A judgment becomes final and executory after the period for appeal has lapsed without any appeal being filed, or after all appeals have been exhausted and decided. Children born or conceived during the pendency of the proceedings, even after a trial court has issued its decision but while an appeal is still possible, fall within the protective period. Once the judgment is final, the marriage is dissolved and any children conceived thereafter would be outside this particular provision.
Psychological incapacity and the status of children
A marriage that is void under Article 36 — because one or both parties were psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations at the time of the wedding — is void from the beginning in law. This could raise concerns about what happens to children born of such a union. Article 54 directly addresses that concern: the personal invalidity of the marriage does not travel downstream to harm the children. Their legitimacy is preserved as a matter of deliberate legislative policy. Succession rights, use of the surname, and parental support obligations remain intact.
Children of the subsequent marriage
Article 54 also covers a second situation. Children conceived or born of a subsequent marriage entered into under Article 53 — after compliance with the requirements that follow the declaration of nullity — are likewise considered legitimate. This extension ensures that children of a remarriage following a properly concluded nullity proceeding are not placed in a legally uncertain position. Both sets of children, those from the void marriage and those from the compliant subsequent marriage, enjoy the protections and rights that come with legitimate status under the Family Code.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Republic of the Philippines vs. Linney Jean L. Tangarorang and Ramer R. Tangarorang, G.R. No. 272006, February 5, 2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Velerio E. Kalaw vs. Ma. Elena Fernandez, G.R. No. 166357, January 14, 2015 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Leonilo Antonio vs. Marie Ivonne F. Reyes, G.R. No. 155800, March 10, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Gerardo B. Concepcion vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 123450, August 31, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →