FAMILY CODE

Art. 9. A marriage license shall be issued by the local civil registrar of the city or municipality
where either contracting party habitually resides, except in marriages where no license is
required in accordance with Chapter 2 of this Title. (58a)

Art. 10. Marriages between Filipino citizens abroad may be solemnized by a consul-general,
consul or vice-consul of the Republic of the Philippines. The issuance of the marriage license
and the duties of the local civil registrar and of the solemnizing officer with regard to the
celebration of marriage shall be performed by said consular official. (75a)

Art. 11. Where a marriage license is required, each of the contracting parties shall file
separately a sworn application for such license with the proper local civil registrar which shall
specify the following:
(1) Full name of the contracting party;
(2) Place of birth;
(3) Age and date of birth;
(4) Civil status;
(5) If previously married, how, when and where the previous marriage was dissolved or
annulled;
(6) Present residence and citizenship;
(7) Degree of relationship of the contracting parties;
(8) Full name, residence and citizenship of the father;
(9) Full name, residence and citizenship of the mother; and
(10) Full name, residence and citizenship of the guardian or person having charge, in case the
contracting party has neither father nor mother and is under the age of twenty-one years.
The applicants, their parents or guardians shall not be required to exhibit their residence
certificates in any formality in connection with the securing of the marriage license. (59a)

Art. 12. The local civil registrar, upon receiving such application, shall require the presentation
of the original birth certificates or, in default thereof, the baptismal certificates of the
contracting parties or copies of such documents duly attested by the persons having custody of
the originals. These certificates or certified copies of the documents by this Article need not be
sworn to and shall be exempt from the documentary stamp tax. The signature and official title
of the person issuing the certificate shall be sufficient proof of its authenticity.
If either of the contracting parties is unable to produce his birth or baptismal certificate
or a certified copy of either because of the destruction or loss of the original or if it is shown by
an affidavit of such party or of any other person that such birth or baptismal certificate has not
yet been received though the same has been required of the person having custody thereof at
least fifteen days prior to the date of the application, such party may furnish in lieu thereof his
current residence certificate or an instrument drawn up and sworn to before the local civil
registrar concerned or any public official authorized to administer oaths. Such instrument shall
contain the sworn declaration of two witnesses of lawful age, setting forth the full name,
residence and citizenship of such contracting party and of his or her parents, if known, and the
place and date of birth of such party. The nearest of kin of the contracting parties shall be
preferred as witnesses, or, in their default, persons of good reputation in the province or the
locality.
The presentation of birth or baptismal certificate shall not be required if the parents of
the contracting parties appear personally before the local civil registrar concerned and swear to
the correctness of the lawful age of said parties, as stated in the application, or when the local
civil registrar shall, by merely looking at the applicants upon their personally appearing before
him, be convinced that either or both of them have the required age. (60a)

Art. 13. In case either of the contracting parties has been previously married, the applicant shall
be required to furnish, instead of the birth or baptismal certificate required in the last
preceding article, the death certificate of the deceased spouse or the judicial decree of the
absolute divorce, or the judicial decree of annulment or declaration of nullity of his or her
previous marriage.
In case the death certificate cannot be secured, the party shall make an affidavit setting
forth this circumstance and his or her actual civil status and the name and date of death of the
deceased spouse. (61a)

Art. 14. In case either or both of the contracting parties, not having been emancipated by a
previous marriage, are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, they shall, in addition to
the requirements of the preceding articles, exhibit to the local civil registrar, the consent to
their marriage of their father, mother, surviving parent or guardian, or persons having legal
charge of them, in the order mentioned. Such consent shall be manifested in writing by the
interested party, who personally appears before the proper local civil registrar, or in the form of
an affidavit made in the presence of two witnesses and attested before any official authorized
by law to administer oaths. The personal manifestation shall be recorded in both applications
for marriage license, and the affidavit, if one is executed instead, shall be attached to said
applications. (61a)

Art. 15. Any contracting party between the age of twenty-one and twenty-five shall be obliged
to ask their parents or guardian for advice upon the intended marriage. If they do not obtain
such advice, or if it be unfavorable, the marriage license shall not be issued till after three
months following the completion of the publication of the application therefor. A sworn
statement by the contracting parties to the effect that such advice has been sought, together
with the written advice given, if any, shall be attached to the application for marriage license.
Should the parents or guardian refuse to give any advice, this fact shall be stated in the sworn
statement. (62a)

Art. 16. In the cases where parental consent or parental advice is needed, the party or parties
concerned shall, in addition to the requirements of the preceding articles, attach a certificate
issued by a priest, imam or minister authorized to solemnize marriage under Article 7 of this
Code or a marriage counselor duly accredited by the proper government agency to the effect
that the contracting parties have undergone marriage counseling. Failure to attach said
certificates of marriage counseling shall suspend the issuance of the marriage license for a
period of three months from the completion of the publication of the application. Issuance of
the marriage license within the prohibited period shall subject the issuing officer to
administrative sanctions but shall not affect the validity of the marriage.
Should only one of the contracting parties need parental consent or parental advice, the
other party must be present at the counseling referred to in the preceding paragraph. (n)

Art. 17. The local civil registrar shall prepare a notice which shall contain the full names and
residences of the applicants for a marriage license and other data given in the applications. The
notice shall be posted for ten consecutive days on a bulletin board outside the office of the
local civil registrar located in a conspicuous place within the building and accessible to the
general public. This notice shall request all persons having knowledge of any impediment to the
marriage to advise the local civil registrar thereof. The marriage license shall be issued after the
completion of the period of publication. (63a)

Art. 18. In case of any impediment known to the local civil registrar or brought to his attention,
he shall note down the particulars thereof and his findings thereon in the application for
marriage license, but shall nonetheless issue said license after the completion of the period of
publication, unless ordered otherwise by a competent court at his own instance or that of any
interest party. No filing fee shall be charged for the petition nor a corresponding bond required
for the issuances of the order. (64a)

Art. 19. The local civil registrar shall require the payment of the fees prescribed by law or
regulations before the issuance of the marriage license. No other sum shall be collected in the
nature of a fee or tax of any kind for the issuance of said license. It shall, however, be issued
free of charge to indigent parties, that is those who have no visible means of income or whose
income is insufficient for their subsistence a fact established by their affidavit, or by their oath
before the local civil registrar. (65a) chan robles virtual law library

Art. 20. The license shall be valid in any part of the Philippines for a period of one hundred
twenty days from the date of issue, and shall be deemed automatically canceled at the
expiration of the said period if the contracting parties have not made use of it. The expiry date
shall be stamped in bold characters on the face of every license issued. (65a)

Art. 21. When either or both of the contracting parties are citizens of a foreign country, it shall
be necessary for them before a marriage license can be obtained, to submit a certificate of legal
capacity to contract marriage, issued by their respective diplomatic or consular officials.
Stateless persons or refugees from other countries shall, in lieu of the certificate of legal
capacity herein required, submit an affidavit stating the circumstances showing such capacity to
contract marriage. (66a)

Art. 22. The marriage certificate, in which the parties shall declare that they take each other as
husband and wife, shall also state:
(1) The full name, sex and age of each contracting party;
(2) Their citizenship, religion and habitual residence;
(3) The date and precise time of the celebration of the marriage;
(4) That the proper marriage license has been issued according to law, except in marriage
provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title;
(5) That either or both of the contracting parties have secured the parental consent in
appropriate cases;
(6) That either or both of the contracting parties have complied with the legal requirement
regarding parental advice in appropriate cases; and
(7) That the parties have entered into marriage settlement, if any, attaching a copy thereof.
(67a)

Art. 23. It shall be the duty of the person solemnizing the marriage to furnish either of the
contracting parties the original of the marriage certificate referred to in Article 6 and to send
the duplicate and triplicate copies of the certificate not later than fifteen days after the
marriage, to the local civil registrar of the place where the marriage was solemnized. Proper
receipts shall be issued by the local civil registrar to the solemnizing officer transmitting copies
of the marriage certificate. The solemnizing officer shall retain in his file the quadruplicate copy
of the marriage certificate, the copy of the marriage certificate, the original of the marriage
license and, in proper cases, the affidavit of the contracting party regarding the solemnization
of the marriage in place other than those mentioned in Article 8. (68a)

Art. 24. It shall be the duty of the local civil registrar to prepare the documents required by this
Title, and to administer oaths to all interested parties without any charge in both cases. The
documents and affidavits filed in connection with applications for marriage licenses shall be
exempt from documentary stamp tax. (n)

Art. 25. The local civil registrar concerned shall enter all applications for marriage licenses filed
with him in a registry book strictly in the order in which the same are received. He shall record
in said book the names of the applicants, the date on which the marriage license was issued,
and such other data as may be necessary. (n)

Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in
the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this
country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 3637 and 38. (17a)
Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a
divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to
remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law. (As amended
by Executive Order 227)

Chapter 2. Marriages Exempted from License Requirement

Art. 28. If the residence of either party is so located that there is no means of transportation to
enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar, the marriage may be
solemnized without necessity of a marriage license. (72a)

Art. 29. In the cases provided for in the two preceding articles, the solemnizing officer shall
state in an affidavit executed before the local civil registrar or any other person legally
authorized to administer oaths that the marriage was performed in articulo mortis or that the
residence of either party, specifying the barrio or barangay, is so located that there is no means
of transportation to enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar and
that the officer took the necessary steps to ascertain the ages and relationship of the
contracting parties and the absence of legal impediment to the marriage. (72a)

Art. 30. The original of the affidavit required in the last preceding article, together with the
legible copy of the marriage contract, shall be sent by the person solemnizing the marriage to
the local civil registrar of the municipality where it was performed within the period of thirty
days after the performance of the marriage. (75a)

Art. 31. A marriage in articulo mortis between passengers or crew members may also be
solemnized by a ship captain or by an airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea or the plane
is in flight, but also during stopovers at ports of call. (74a)

Art. 32. A military commander of a unit, who is a commissioned officer, shall likewise have
authority to solemnize marriages in articulo mortis between persons within the zone of military
operation, whether members of the armed forces or civilians. (74a)

Art. 33. Marriages among Muslims or among members of the ethnic cultural communities may
be performed validly without the necessity of marriage license, provided they are solemnized in
accordance with their customs, rites or practices. (78a)

Art. 34. No license shall be necessary for the marriage of a man and a woman who have lived
together as husband and wife for at least five years and without any legal impediment to marry
each other. The contracting parties shall state the foregoing facts in an affidavit before any
person authorized by law to administer oaths. The solemnizing officer shall also state under
oath that he ascertained the qualifications of the contracting parties are found no legal
impediment to the marriage. (76a)