Marriage

• Marriage


  A partnership between a man and a woman formalized by either a religious or civil ceremony and having a particular status in law as in social custom
• Marriage


  A sexual relationship between two adults who cooperate economically, which is marked by a ceremony or a ritual that is publicly recognized as changing the social status of the partners involved
• Four Basic Forms of Marriage

  • Monogamy
  • Polygamy
  • Polygyny
  • Polyandry
  • Group Marriage
• Monogamy


  The marriage of one man and one woman
• Polygamy


  A plural marriage or having several husbands or wives at the same time
• Polygyny


  The marriage of one man to two or more women at the same time
• Polyandry


  The marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time
• Group Marriage


  The marriage of two or more men to two or more women
• Marriage (as a contract)


  • Only man and a woman can enter into such contract
  • It is permanent and can only be dissolved by the death of one of the parties or when it is annulled for legal causes by the court
  • Rights and duties of the parties are fixed by the law and not subject to stipulation, except when there is marriage settlements as in the case of pre-nuptial agreements
  • Breach of the obligations of husband and wife does not give rise to an action for damages but the law prescribes penal and civil sanctions for cases and adultery, concubinage and the like
• Marriage (as a status)


  • Once the status of being married is no longer just a contract but an inviolable social institution, the foundation of family and that it should be protected by the state
  • As an institution, its nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not to stipulation
• Requirements of a Valid Marriage

  • Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be male and female
  • Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer
  • Authority of the solemnizing officer
  • Marriage license
  • Marriage ceremony
• Divorce


  A legal separation of man and wife, affected by the judgment or decree of a court, and either totally dissolving the marriage relation, or suspending its effects so far as a concern the cohabitation of the parties
• Annulment


  • To nullify, to abolish, to make void by competent authority (the marriage)
  • Differs conceptually from divorce in that a divorce terminates a legal status, whereas an annulment establishes that marital status never existed
• Instances where Marriage is Void from the Beginning


  • Those contracted by any party below eighteen years of age even with the consent of parents of guardians
  • Those solemnized by any person not legally authorized to perform marriages unless such marriage were contracted with either or both parties believing in good faith that the solemnizing officer had the legal authority to do so
  • Those bigamous or polygamous marriages not failing under Article 41
  • Those contracted through mistake of one contracting party as to the identity of the other
  • Those subsequent marriages that are void under Article 53
• Instances of Voidable Marriage

  • A marriage contracted by any party who, at the time of celebration, was psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage
  • Between ascendants and descendants of any degree
  • Between brothers and sisters, whether of the full of half-blood
• Void Marriages from the Beginning for Reasons of Public Policy


  • Between collateral blood relatives, whether legitimate or illegitimate, up the fourth civil degree
  • Between step-parents and step-children
  • Between parents-in-law and children-in-law
  • Between the adopting parent and the adopted child
  • Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent and adopted child
  • Between the surviving spouse of the adopting parent child and the adopter
  • Between the adopted child and a legitimate child of the adopter
  • Between adopted children of the same adopter
  • Between parties where one with the intention to marry the other, killed that other person's spouse or his or her own spouse
• Legal Separation


  • Also known as "relative divorce" (a mensa et thoro), which means separation from bed and board, but the parties remained married
  • Differs from annulment in that in legal separation, the marriage is not defective, the grounds arise after the marriage, and the parties are still married to each other and cannot remarry
• Cohabitation


  Two people living together in a sexual relationship without marriage
• Family


  Two or more people who are committed to each other and who share intimacy, resources, decision making responsibilities, and values
• Kinds of Family

  • Nuclear Family
  • Extended Family
• Nuclear Family


  Basic or elementary family, usually consists of two parents and their dependent children
• Extended Family


  • Consists of a nuclear family and those people related to its members by blood ties
  • May be conjugal family which considers the spouses and the children important than unimportant relatives or consanguineal family which consider the kin more important than the spouses
• Qualities of Strong Families


  • Commitment
  • Appreciation and affection
  • Positive communication
  • Enjoyable time together
  • Spiritual well-being
  • Ability to cope with stress and crisis