Void from the start is a different case from annullable
The distinction decides the evidence, the cost, and sometimes whether you need a case at all. A VOID marriage was never valid — no licence where one was required, a solemnising officer without authority, bigamy, an incestuous marriage, or psychological incapacity under Article 36. A VOIDABLE marriage was valid until annulled — lack of parental consent for a party aged 18 to 21, unsound mind, fraud, force or intimidation, impotence, or a serious and incurable sexually transmissible disease, each with its own prescriptive period and its own bar by free cohabitation after the ground was discovered.
Absence of a marriage licence is the ground that most often applies in old Manila records, and it is proved with a certification from the local civil registrar that no record of the licence exists, issued after a diligent search.
A void marriage still needs a court declaration before you remarry
This is the trap that turns a civil problem into a criminal one. Even where a marriage is void from the very beginning, Article 40 requires a final judgment declaring it void before a party may contract a subsequent marriage. Remarrying on the strength of your own conclusion that the first marriage was void exposes you to BIGAMY — a criminal charge that does not disappear merely because the first marriage is later declared void, since the offence is complete when the second marriage is celebrated.
Old records, missing records
Manila petitions frequently begin with a records problem: a PSA copy that does not match the parish record, a registration made late, entries that are illegible or plainly wrong. Some of these are corrected administratively before the civil registrar under RA 9048 and RA 10172, which cover clerical errors, the day and month of birth, and the entry on sex. Anything that affects status, legitimacy, or filiation requires an adversarial Rule 108 petition in court. Sorting the record out early often simplifies or reshapes the main case.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between a void and a voidable marriage?
A void marriage was never valid, as with no licence, bigamy, or psychological incapacity. A voidable marriage was valid until annulled, as with lack of parental consent, fraud, or force, and each ground carries its own prescriptive period.
My marriage had no licence. Do I still need to go to court?
Yes. Article 40 requires a final judgment declaring the marriage void before you may remarry, even where the marriage was void from the very beginning.
Can I be charged with bigamy if my first marriage was void?
Yes, if you remarried before obtaining a judicial declaration of nullity. The offence is complete when the second marriage is celebrated, and a later declaration does not erase it.
How do I prove there was no marriage licence?
With a certification from the local civil registrar, issued after a diligent search, that no record of the marriage licence exists.