Can I be held liable for Bigamy? This is one of the  most common questions that has been filling up our inbox for quite sometime now.  One of the emails that we received partly reads:

“I got married twice in the Philippines in 1990 and second in 1996, only that the second marriage was not registered intentionally. I took all the records of our marriage including the marriage contract from our minister but did not report it to the local civil registrar’s office. Me and my second wife went abroad and married here again in the U.S.  There is no record of my second marriage in the local civil registrar or in the NSO. We are living in the United States until now.I am planning to take a vacation in the Philippines but worried that my first wife will file a bigamy case against me?Can I be held liable for bigamy? Please help.”

Almost all persons who came to us for a legal consultation for the purpose of terminating their existing marriages also manifested their intention to remarry whenever the Court would grant them the annulment decree. It is either that they are already into an existing relationship or that their american fiance will soon petition them for the issuance of a fiancee visa or popularly known as the K-1 visa. The ground for nullity of marriage is always the same – psychological incapacity.

Republic Act No. 9262, otherwise known as “Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004″, has for its purpose the protection of family members; particularly, women and childred, from violence and threats to their personal safety and security. 

As defined by the statute, “Violence against women and their children” refers to any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his:

a)  wife,

b)  former wife, 

c)  a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship,

d)  a woman with whom he has a common child, or

The New Rule for the Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages took effect on March 15,2003. This is now the controlling procedure for dissolution of marriages. The most important amendment to this Rule is that Appeal by the Solicitor General of the Decisions from the Regional Trial Court is not mandatory.

Sometine in 2004, we had the opportunity to publish an Article in our website discussing in complete detail the step-by-step procedure for the dissolution of marriage pursuant to the new rule. For those of you who have not read the article which is published in our website, you can still read the said article here.  

For those who may not know, psychological incapacity is one of the grounds to nullify a marriage pursuant to Article 36 of the Family Code.

I have reviewed the various psychological reports prepared by our psychiatrist, DR. RODNEY FP DALISAY, MD, Diplomate, Philippine Board of Psychiatry, for our cleints in annulment cases. In the course of my review, I have noticed that most of the common psychological incapacity disorders for male respondents is Narcissistic Personality Disorder. A person with this personality disorder usually manifests the following symptoms:

1. Grandiose sense of self-importance: a) Hangs out with his friends more often than with his wife and family.

2. Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love