Imprescribility of Void Marriages, A39 Family Code

1. No Prescription

Art. 39. The action or defense for the declaration of absolute nullity of a marriage shall not prescribe. (As amended by Executive Order 227 and Republic Act No. 8533; The phrase “However, in case of marriage celebrated before the effectivity of this Code and falling under Article 36, such action or defense shall prescribe in ten years after this Code shall taken effect” has been deleted by Republic Act No. 8533 [Approved February 23, 1998]).

1) As marriage is void ab initio (meaning: no marriage at all), then there is no prescription for the declaration of the nullity of marriage.

2) Void marriages can be questioned even after the death of either party but voidable marriages can be assailed only during the lifetime of the parties and not after death of either, in which case the parties and their offspring will be left as if the marriage had been perfectly valid. That is why the action or defense for nullity is imprescriptible, unlike voidable marriages where the action prescribes. Only the parties to a voidable marriage can assail it but any proper interested party may attack a void marriage. (Garcia-Quiazon v. Belen, G.R. No. 18921, 31 July 2013, Per Perez, J.)

3) [N]o marriage has taken place and it cannot be the source of rights, such that any interested party may attack the marriage directly or collaterally without prescription, which may be filed even beyond the lifetime of the parties to the marriage. (Garcia-Quiazon v. Belen, G.R. No. 18921, 31 July 2013, citing Niñal v. Bayadog, G.R. No. 13378, 14 March 2000)

4) [I]f the death of either party would extinguish the cause of action or the ground for defense, then the same cannot be considered imprescriptible. (Niñal v. Bayadog, G.R. No. 13378, 14 March 2000, Per Ynaras-Santiago, J.)