Short answer. Yes. The Family Code requires the marriage license application to state the degree of relationship of the contracting parties, so if you and your fiance are related, that has to be disclosed. It sits alongside other required details like full names, birthplace, age, and civil status.
What the law says
(7) Degree of relationship of the contracting parties
Family Code, Article 11 — Contents of the Marriage License Application. Read the full provision →
Yes, it is one of the required items
Article 11 lists exactly what a marriage license application must specify, and the degree of relationship of the contracting parties is one of the ten items on that list. It is not an optional field or something only asked of couples who volunteer it — it is a standard part of the sworn application every couple files, so applicants who are related by blood are expected to state that relationship as part of filling it out.
Where it sits among the other required details
The degree-of-relationship item is one entry in a longer list: full name, place of birth, age and date of birth, civil status, details of any previous marriage's dissolution or annulment, present residence and citizenship, the names and citizenship of the applicant's parents, and — where the applicant has neither parent living — the same for a guardian. Each contracting party files a separate sworn application containing all of this, rather than one joint form, so both of you would independently state the relationship on your own applications.
Why the local civil registrar asks for it
The local civil registrar is the office that receives and processes the sworn applications before a license can issue. Philippine law places limits on marriage between certain close relatives, and asking every applicant to state the degree of relationship gives the registrar the information needed to check an application against those limits before the license is granted, rather than after a marriage has already taken place. Disclosing that you are cousins is simply supplying the fact the registrar is required to have on file.
What the application does not additionally require
Article 11 is also specific about something applicants sometimes assume is needed: it states that applicants, their parents, or guardians shall not be required to exhibit their residence certificates in connection with securing the license. So while the degree of relationship must be disclosed, a formality some couples expect — producing a residence certificate as part of the process — is expressly not demanded by this provision.
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.
- Rommel Genio y Santos vs. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 261666, January 24, 2024 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Jinkie Christie A. De Jesus, et al., vs. The Estate of Decedent Juan Gamboa Dizon, et al, G.R. No. 142877, October 2, 2001 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Grace J. Garcia, a.k.a. Grace J. Garcia-Recio, vs. Rederick A. Recio, G.R. No. 138322, October 2, 2001 — read the decision on LawPhil →