Supreme Court: Guilty spouse cannot void own bigamous marriage

SC, however, clarified that ruling does not validate the bigamous marriage

The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that a spouse who knowingly entered a bigamous marriage has “no legal standing” to seek its nullity.

It emphasizes that “only the aggrieved or innocent” spouse can petition the court to void such a union.

In a decision released on February 14, the SC En Banc denied a Filipina’s petition to nullify her second marriage, affirming the rulings of the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals.

The High Court said that she could not use bigamy as a basis to dissolve her marriage when she willingly entered into it.

“The party who contracted the illicit subsequent marriage cannot be permitted to invoke its bigamous nature to nullify the same,” the SC stated. “[B]igamy will be treated by the erring spouse as a matter of convenience.”

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Case Background

Court records showed that the petitioner first married a Chinese national in Hong Kong and the Philippines. While working as a bank teller in Hong Kong, she had an affair with a Filipino client, resigned from her job, and returned to the Philippines upon becoming pregnant with his child. She later married him in the country, and they had two children together.

Her first husband later obtained a divorce in Hong Kong, which a Parañaque court recognized, effectively dissolving their marriage.

Fourteen years after separating from her second husband, she filed a petition seeking to nullify their marriage, arguing that it was void from the beginning due to bigamy. She also sought permission to remarry.

However, both the trial and appellate courts dismissed her petition, ruling that she had no legal right to challenge the validity of a marriage she knowingly entered into.

SC ruling: No legal standing for the ‘guilty’ spouse

Before the SC, the petitioner insisted that since her first marriage had already been dissolved, she alone had the right to seek nullity of her second marriage.

She further argued that because the second marriage was void from the start, the SC had no choice but to declare it null.

The High Court rejected her claims, citing Article 35(4) of the Family Code, which states that bigamous marriages—those contracted while a spouse is still legally married—are void from the beginning.

However, the SC clarified that only the aggrieved or innocent spouse from either the first or second marriage has the right to seek nullity.

In this case, the petitioner’s first husband could have challenged the validity of the second marriage, but he lost that right after obtaining a divorce. The petitioner, being the guilty spouse, cannot invoke bigamy for her own benefit.

“The purpose of nullifying a bigamous marriage is to protect an existing legal union—not to terminate it,” the SC explained. “Since the petitioner’s first marriage had already been dissolved, there is no legal union left to safeguard.”

The Court also noted that the petitioner benefited from the second marriage for 14 years before filing the petition—not to uphold her first marriage, which no longer existed, but to gain the right to remarry.

“This cannot be allowed,” the SC ruled. “Otherwise, it will give rise to a ridiculous situation where bigamy will be treated as a mere technicality to be invoked at the convenience of the erring spouse.”

SC: Bigamous marriage remains void, but guilty spouse cannot seek nullity

While the High Court upheld the denial of the petition, it clarified that its ruling does not validate the bigamous marriage.

“The marriage remains void even without a court declaration for all other legal purposes,” the SC stated, citing issues such as the legitimacy of children, inheritance rights, and legal succession.

The guilty spouse, it added, may still face civil and criminal liability for bigamy.