Children remain legitimate despite parents’ annulment due to psychological incapacity—SC
The Supreme Court has reaffirmed that children remain legitimate, even when their parents' marriage is annulled due to psychological incapacity.
Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez issued a written decision that revised a Regional Trial Court's ruling, which had declared a child illegitimate after the mother's successful petition to nullify her marriage with an abusive spouse.
As detailed in the SC's press release and official ruling, the child was born several months before the couple's marriage.
During the marriage, the mother and the child experienced “physical, emotional, and verbal abuse” from the husband, who himself has been suffering from "alcoholism, gambling addiction, illicit affairs, and financial dependence on his parents."
The mother filed a case against the husband before the petition for violating the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act but was forced to drop charges when the husband took their child away and threatened to keep her. Though he eventually returned their daughter, this incident led the mother to appeal to the RTC.
The RTC granted the nullification of their marriage due to the husband’s diagnosed narcissistic personality disorder, invoking psychological incapacity.
However, the Court also illegitimized the child according to Article 165 of the Family Code, saying that children born outside a valid marriage are considered as such. They also noted the child’s birth certificate did not show she was legitimized.
The Office of the Solicitor General brought the case to the SC to argue the child’s legitimacy.
The SC stated that generally, when a marriage is nullified, a child becomes illegitimate from conception. However, there are exceptions when an annulment is made because one party is psychologically unable to perform their marital duties.
In that case, a child is declared legitimate whether they are born before or after marriage. The missing annotation on the birth certificate does not affect that decision.
“It would not be the first time for this Court to determine the validity of the parents’ marriage and rule on the child’s legitimacy status in a single action,” the ruling stated, citing previous cases that held the same SC decision.
The High Court also declared that revoking a child’s legitimacy goes against the “intent and purpose of the law in prioritizing the best interests of the child.”
They also suggest that the mother file a separate petition to seek sole custody of her daughter.
