Legal Capacity: sufficient to get married?

     

“The wedding is for the Bride while 
the Honeymoon is for the groom.”

My Tagalog Version:

                         

“Ang babae pinapakasalan , hindi  dinadala  kung saan-saan;
At ang asawang lalaki ang siyang dapat na magwagi sa unang gabi.”

                                     

        I overheard that cliché with impressive figurative language at   702-DZAS long time ago. 

        It is Wedding month.  Hopeless romantics like me are certainly jealous of the June Bride.


      Couples planning to get married are required to secure a valid Marriage License. Obtaining the same requires each party to have a Legal Capacity which is one of the essential requisites of a valid marriage.  Absence of Legal Capacity will render the marriage VOID ab initio or void from the very beginning.  The contracting parties must be:

1.      at least 18 years of age;

2.      a Male AND a Female;  and

3.   lack of legal impediment (each party involved should have no other   subsisting valid marriage)   

    Only a foreigner is required to get a “Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage” from his/her embassy in the Philippines since it is his/her national law that will determine his/her capacity to marry.

       Legal capacity is necessary but not of course sufficient to say “I do” to a life-long commitment considering the huge responsibilities of being a spouse and a parent.  Other significant capacities involved are:

1. Spiritual;

2. Financial;

3. Physical;

4. Emotional; and

5. Psychological capacity.

    Contracting parties’ STABILITY of all the above capacities is indispensable to establishing an IDEAL family.  Lack or insufficiency of ANY of these will definitely make us become a burden to our would-be partner instead of a helpmate and our future children might just become a burden to society.

   

RELATED ARTICLES: 

Foreign/Mixed Marriage

Concept of Marriage