Party- In- Interest in Annulment of Marriages

There are some nagging questions that have been confronting practitioners before the Family Courts especially on the cases of annulment of marriage. Foremost of which is the issue on the real-party-interest who can initiate an action to sever the marital bonds. It has been the rule and practice that the petition for declaration of absolute nullity of marriage may not be filed by any party outside of the marriage as the same is being reserved solely and exclusively to the husband or wife. The importance of the real party in interest cannot be overemphasized, like that Dutch boy with his thumb plugging the hole in the dike trying to hold the tides.

This is clear under the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages by making it exclusively the right of the spouses to initiate the action. Simply put, such petition cannot be filed by the compulsory heirs or intestate heirs of the spouses for the simple reason that they have only inchoate rights prior to the death of their predecessor. If ever, they can inquire into the validity of the marriage of the spouses upon the death of a spouse in a separate proceeding for the settlement of the estate of the deceased spouse filed in the proper courts. More so, neither the State can institute an action to nullify marriages for the logical ground that the primary and primordial concern of the government is to preserve marriages and not to seek their dissolution.

A methodical examination, however, of the present Rule would show that it extends only to marriages entered into during the effectivity of the Family Code which took effect on August 3, 1988. Further, the new Rule does not apply to cases already commenced before the date of its operation on March 15, 2003 although the marriage subject matter of the case is within the coverage of the Family Code. In other words, in the event that the marriage was solemnized before the effectivity of the Family Code, then the applicable law is the Civil Code which was the law in effect at the time of its celebration and in that case a direct action to declare the marriage as void may be filed and not necessarily in a settlement of the estate proceedings. But the catch is the same can only be filed by the real party in interest purposely to protect their successional rights.

This brings us to the question as to who is the real party-in-interest who can bring an action to declare the marriage as null and void in the event that the marriage was solemnized under the auspices of the Civil Code of the Philippines. Party-in- interest as understood in our civil law means material interest or an interest in issue to be affected by the decree or judgment of the case. In a petition to declare the nullity of marriage, it must be prosecuted or defended in the name of the real party in interest and must be based on a cause of action. For instance, under the law on succession, the children, as compulsory heirs, and by operation of law have the personality to file the petition to declare the nullity of marriage of their deceased father to their stepmother as it affects their successional rights.

In the presence of the compulsory heirs, it is readily apparent that brothers and sisters as well as other collateral relatives of the deceased spouse are not the real party-in-interest to bring an action for the declaration of nullity of marriage of the latter. This is so because the presence of the legitimate, illegitimate, or adopted child or children of the deceased spouse who are considered as compulsory heirs precludes succession by collateral relatives and their right is as ephemeral as the moonlight that illuminates the night. The impression is only in the possibility that there are no compulsory heirs that collateral relatives, as real party-in-interest, may bring an action to declare marriage as void since they shall be called upon to succeed to the entire estate of the decedent. By Judge Globert J. Justalero