Short answer. Yes, in almost all cases. Article 35(4) of the Family Code declares bigamous and polygamous marriages void from the beginning. The only exception is a narrow one under Article 41, where the prior spouse had been absent for four years and was judicially declared presumptively dead before the second marriage.
What the law says
Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not failing under Article 41
Family Code, Article 35 — Void Marriages. Read the full provision →
Bigamous marriages are void from the start
Article 35(4) of the Family Code is direct: bigamous or polygamous marriages — those entered into while a prior valid marriage is still subsisting — are void from the beginning. There is no need to obtain a declaration of nullity before treating it as void, though in practice a court judgment of nullity is necessary to register the status and to protect both parties' civil records. If your spouse was legally married to another person when you wed, that prior marriage annihilates the validity of yours from the moment you said your vows.
The Article 41 exception, explained
Article 35(4) itself carves out marriages that fall under Article 41. That provision allows a subsequent marriage when the prior spouse has been absent for four consecutive years and the present spouse had a well-founded belief that the absent spouse was already dead — but only if the present spouse first obtained a judicial declaration of presumptive death in a summary proceeding. Where there was danger of death in the circumstances of the disappearance, two years of absence is enough. These requirements are cumulative and strict: without the court declaration, the exception does not apply and the second marriage remains bigamous and void.
What this means for you
If you discovered that your spouse had a living, undissolved first marriage at the time of your wedding, your marriage is void under Article 35(4). You are not legally married in the eyes of Philippine law, even if you were never told about the prior marriage. The law does not require you to have known about the bigamy. A marriage that is void from the beginning produces no civil effects as to the marriage bond itself, though questions about property, children, and support have their own separate rules.
Practical steps
Even though a void marriage is technically non-existent from the start, Philippine civil registries and government agencies will continue to reflect the marriage in your records until a court issues a declaration of absolute nullity. This affects your ability to remarry, claim benefits, and correct public documents. A petition for declaration of nullity filed before the proper regional trial court is the standard remedy. You should also gather evidence of the prior marriage — a marriage certificate, NSO records — to support the petition.
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.
- Abbas v. Abbas, G.R. No. 183896, January 30, 2013 (Velasco, Jr., J.) — the leading modern authority on paragraph (3). The marriage licence is a formal requisite; where the licence number on the certificate belongs to no licence actually issued to the parties, the licence is absent and the marriage is void ab initio. Decided under the Family Code (marriage celebrated 1992).
- Republic v. Dayot, G.R. Nos. 175581 and 179474, March 28, 2008 — a false affidavit of five years' cohabitation cannot exempt a marriage from the licence requirement; the marriage is void for want of a licence. Decided under Civil Code Article 76 (marriage celebrated 1986, before the Family Code took effect), but it is the leading authority on the cohabitation exception now carried into Article 34, and so on when a marriage is void under Article 35(3).
Related provisions
- Family Code, Article 35 — Void Marriages
- Family Code, Article 41 — Bigamous Marriages; Presumptive Death