Parental Consent vs. Parental Advice

content provided by Atty. Ryan L. Tanjutco and tanjutcolaw.com

NOTE: Please refer to the Family Code of the Philippines for references to any of its article as mentioned in some items below.

Q: What is the difference between Parental Advice and Parental Consent for purposes of contracting marriage?

A: There has been some confusion over the provisions of the Family Code of the Philippines mandating parties between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years to obtain parental consent and the rule requiring parties between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-five to obtain parental advice before getting married. We will now clarify matters by tackling the difference between the two requirements.

PARENTAL CONSENT

The rule on parental consent is found under Article 14 of the Family Code. It states that in case either or both of the contracting parties are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, they shall 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.

The parental 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.

Non-compliance with the requirement of parental consent does not make the marriage invalid or void but merely annullable, which means that the marriage is valid until annulled. As a result, a petition for the annulment of the marriage may be filed by the parents, guardian or person having substitute parental authority over the party seeking the annulment, in that order, unless after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely cohabited with the other and both lived together as husband and wife.

PARENTAL ADVISE

The rule on parental advice is found under Article 15 of the Family Code. It states that 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 thereof.

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.

However, if the marriage license is issued within the said three months and the parties were able to get married on the basis of such marriage license, the said marriage is completely valid but will subject the parties to civil, criminal or administrative liabilities in accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Family Code of the Philippines which states that:

“An irregularity in the formal requisites shall not affect the validity of the marriage but the party or parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly, criminally and administratively liable.”

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About the Author: Atty. Ryan L. Tanjutco specializes in the practice of family and marital law. For more information, please visit www.tanjutcolaw.com.