Normally, for their marriage to be considered valid, the contracting
parties must procure a valid marriage license from the local civil registrar
of the city or municipality where either contracting party habitually resides.
However, there are instances when a license can be dispensed with, such
as when the one or both of the parties are at the point of death, or reside
at a remote area and have no means of transportation to get to the civil
registrar. This goes to show that the law is also practical and are not
bound by strict adherence to rigidity. There are als other exempted marriages
found in the Family Code and which we shall now tackle in detail.
MARRIAGES IN ARTICULO MORTIS:
The first exempted marriage is a marriage in articulo mortis or when
one or both of the parties are at the point of death. Article 27 of the
Family Code states that in case either or both of the contracting parties
are at the point of death, the marriage may be solemnized without necessity
of a marriage license and shall remain valid even if the ailing party subsequently
survives.
If a marriage in articulo mortis occurs inside a ship or an airplane
between passengers or crew members, the same may be solemnized by a ship
captain or by an airplane pilot not only while the ship is at sea or the
plane is in flight, but also during stopovers at ports of call. In this
case, what is considered important is not the place or location, but the
wish of the parties to get married before one or both of them kicks the
bucket.
Also, a military commander of a unit, who is a commissioned officer,
shall likewise have authority to solemnize marriages in articulo mortis
between persons within the zone of military operation, whether members
of the armed forces or civilians.
NO MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION:
A marriage may also be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license
if the residence of either party is so located that there is no means of
transportation to enable such party to appear personally before the local
civil registrar. This is a recognition that not all men are created equal
in terms of material wealth and also considers the fact that some of our
countrymen do not even have the means of getting to their local civil registrar.
DUTY OF SOLEMNIZING OFFICER:
Article 29 of the Family Code states that in the cases falling under
Articles 27 and 28 of the Family Code, the solemnizing officer shall state
in an affidavit executed before the local civil registrar or any other
person legally authorized to administer oaths that the marriage was performed
in articulo mortis or that the residence of either party, specifying the
barrio or barangay, is so located that there is no means of transportation
to enable such party to appear personally before the local civil registrar
and that the officer took the necessary steps to ascertain the ages and
relationship of the contracting parties and the absence of legal impediment
to the marriage.
The original of the affidavit together with the legible copy of the
marriage contract, shall be sent by the person solemnizing the marriage
to the local civil registrar of the municipality where it was performed
within the period of thirty days after the performance of the marriage.
MARRIAGES AMONG MUSLIMS AND MEMBERS OF ETHNIC COMMUNITIES:
The Family Code also recognizes the customs and traditions of our Muslim
brothers and other ethnic communities when it declares that marriages among
Muslims or among members of the ethnic cultural communities may be performed
validly without the necessity of marriage license, provided they are solemnized
in accordance with their customs, rites or practices.
FIVE YEARS AND NO LEGAL IMPEDIMENTS:
In keeping up with the dictates of time and to discourage live-in partnerships
and illicit cohabitations, a man and a woman who have lived together as
husband and wife for at least five years and without any legal impediment
to marry each other may be married without a marriage license.
As a requisite, the contracting parties shall state the foregoing facts
in an affidavit before any person authorized by law to administer oaths.
In addition, The solemnizing officer shall also state under oath that he
ascertained the qualifications of the contracting parties are found no
legal impediment to the marriage.
