Short answer. No, not in the ordinary sense. Article 48 of the Family Code prohibits judgments on annulment or nullity based on stipulated facts or confessions of judgment, and requires a prosecutor to appear for the State to prevent collusion and fabrication of evidence. Your spouse's absence does not automatically win the case for you.
What the law says
In all cases of annulment or declaration of absolute nullity of marriage, the Court shall order the prosecuting attorney or fiscal assigned to it to appear on behalf of the State to take steps to prevent collusion between the parties and to take care that evidence is not fabricated or suppressed. In the cases referred to in the preceding paragraph, no judgment shall be based upon a stipulation of facts or confession of judgment.
Family Code, Article 48 — State Participation; No Default Judgment. Read the full provision →
Why annulment cases cannot proceed by default alone
In most civil cases, if the defendant fails to appear and answer, the court may declare them in default and render judgment based on the plaintiff's uncontested evidence. Annulment and nullity cases work differently. Article 48 of the Family Code treats the marriage as an institution in which the State has a direct interest. Because of that interest, the State is always a party in effect: the court must order a prosecuting attorney or fiscal to appear on behalf of the State to guard against collusion and fabricated evidence. A spouse's silence or absence does not remove this requirement.
What the prosecuting attorney is there to do
The prosecutor's role is not to oppose the petition as such — the prosecutor does not necessarily argue that the marriage should be preserved. Rather, the prosecutor is there to ensure that the proceeding is genuine. Specifically, Article 48 requires the prosecutor to take steps to prevent collusion between the parties and to take care that evidence is not fabricated or suppressed. If a petitioner and a non-appearing spouse are secretly cooperating to manufacture grounds for nullity, the prosecutor's presence is the mechanism for detecting and exposing that cooperation. The proceeding must be contested, not staged.
No judgment on stipulated facts or confessions
Article 48 adds a prohibition directly aimed at collusion: no judgment shall be based upon a stipulation of facts or confession of judgment. This means the parties cannot shortcut the proceeding by simply agreeing that the facts supporting nullity exist, or by having one spouse confess that the marriage is void. The petitioner must present actual, independent evidence — expert witnesses, documentary proof, testimony — and that evidence must be sufficient on its own merits. The court evaluates the evidence critically, not deferentially, because it knows the parties may have a shared interest in the outcome.
What your spouse's absence means in practice
If your spouse does not appear in court, the proceeding continues — but you still need to prove your case with real evidence. The court will not simply grant nullity because the respondent spouse failed to oppose. The prosecutor will still be present, the evidence will still be evaluated, and the court will still apply the substantive grounds for annulment or nullity. Your spouse's non-participation removes one layer of adversarial pressure, but the State through the prosecutor remains a check on the evidence you present. This is why a petition needs to be built on genuine, documented grounds, not on the assumption that an absent spouse means an easy win.
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 v. Wong, G.R. No. 276986, February 3, 2026 — a spouse’s failure to oppose a nullity petition, and relatives testifying against that spouse, do not by themselves prove collusion under this article. Read our commentary →