Dumaguete Info Search


Finance & Legal Abandoned wife.

Discussion in 'Businesses - Services - Products' started by hawk263, Nov 27, 2015.

  1. hawk263

    hawk263 DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Army

    Messages:
    440
    Trophy Points:
    216
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +488 / 81
    Blood Type:
    A+
    A friend of my gf is married to an American guy who deserted her and went back to the US shortly after the marriage. Apparently she did not register the marriage with the US embasssy at the time.
    I guess her first step should be to go register with the embassy, but can anyone advise on what rights she might have?
     
  2. jim787

    jim787 DI Senior Member

    Messages:
    556
    Trophy Points:
    225
    Ratings:
    +434 / 38
    First step would probably be registration of the marriage with the NSO, National Statistics Office.
     
  3. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

    Messages:
    13,106
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    FIRE
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +16,069 / 3,795
    Blood Type:
    O+
    What is the young lady trying to achieve by registering the marriage?
     
  4. RR_biker

    RR_biker DI Senior Member Veteran Marines

    Messages:
    907
    Trophy Points:
    206
    Ratings:
    +746 / 109
    Uhhhh.............money perhaps................!!??
     
  5. Jack Peterson

    Jack Peterson DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Air Force

    Messages:
    9,078
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    Happily Retired
    Location:
    Northern Junob, Dumaguete City
    Ratings:
    +5,207 / 1,082
    Ah OK! That I can Understand to a degree, surely it would have been the husband to do that being the foreigner in this case but from another Answer, was it Registered with NSO? If not then I don't think the marriage is a marriage at all. So Square one:wideyed:

    Jack:whistling:
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  6. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

    Messages:
    13,106
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    FIRE
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +16,069 / 3,795
    Blood Type:
    O+
    It was an honest question. I would think if she wanted to go for an annulment that she would be better off not registering it to try to make it as least "official" as possible or to help show the true intentions of the husband (not sure how annulments actually work in the PI though).

    If she is after money she probably won't have much success considering the length of the marriage. There might not be divorce in the Philippines but an American can file for divorce/dissolution of a foreign marriage and get a judge to sign off on it in the US (regardless of the divorce laws in the Philippines)......he could even go so far as to say she was the one who abandoned him. All he has to do to satisfy the court is to place an ad in the local newspaper stating the "missing" spouse has so many days to reply (that's how it worked in the state I was divorced in and I've heard it is the same for many other states). The problem she will have then is that the Philippines will recognize him legally single but the Filipina will still be considered married.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  7. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

    Messages:
    13,106
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    FIRE
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +16,069 / 3,795
    Blood Type:
    O+
    FYI:
    Philippine Laws on Divorce, Separation & Annulment | LegalZoom: Legal Info
    Philippine law doesn't allow divorces, however, it does allow for legal separation, annulment and marriage "voids" under the Family Code of the Philippines. Annulment, covered mainly by Article 45 of the laws, applies to a legitimate marriage that now has a valid ground to undo it, while a voided marriage is considered invalid from the beginning.

    Legal Separation
    Under Title II of Philippine family laws, a spouse can file for legal separation in court if the other spouse is sentenced to jail for more than five years; physically abuses her or a child in the household or attempts to marry another person. Legal separation is allowed if one spouse has a drug or alcohol problem or is homosexual. Adultery or aggressive attempts by one spouse to get the other spouse to change religions; adopt political views or prostitute herself or a child in the home, are also grounds for legal separation. If one spouse leaves the other spouse without having a reason held as valid by the court, the abandoned spouse can file for separation after a year has passed. The spouse must file within five years of the qualifying event, and the court can deny the petition for various reasons, including evidence the filing spouse consented to the qualifying event.

    Annulment
    Article 45 of Philippine family law establishes the allowable grounds for annulment. A marriage can be annulled if one spouse wasn't mentally sound at the time of the marriage or was forced into it, unless she continued living as husband and wife after regaining mental competence or the threat of force disappeared. Fraud on behalf of either spouse when agreeing to marry is grounds for annulment, as well as the discovery of an incurable sexually transmitted disease or permanent impotence. If either spouse was over 18, but not yet 21, and got married without parental consent, the marriage can be annulled if the parties no longer lived together as husband and wife once the spouse turned 21.

    Voided Marriage
    Articles 35 to 38 set the conditions that void an existing marriage. All marriages between persons under 18 are automatically voided by law, as well as a marriage performed by an unlicensed official. However, if at least one of spouses believed the official had authority, the marriage is still valid. Polygamous, bigamous and incestuous marriages are invalid. If one spouse was incompetent at the time of the marriage but his condition didn't present itself until after the ceremony, the marriage might be voided on those grounds under Article 36.

    Considerations
    According to Article 46, fraud that can lead to annulment includes a spouse who hid a drug problem, an alcohol addiction, homosexuality or a sexually transmitted disease. Deception involving chastity, money, station in life or moral character isn't grounds for annulment under fraud. If a person remarried because she believed her prior spouse was dead, the bigamy void might not apply, and the second marriage could be upheld. The prior spouse must be absent for at least four years for the second marriage to be valid, but only two years is needed if there's reason to believe he's dead, such as an accident. To preserve the marriage if the missing spouse reappears, the remarried spouse must also have had the first marriage declared annulled or voided in court during the prior spouse's absence. Article 213 places a custody stipulation on legal separation cases. Unless the mother is an unfit parent, she receives custody if the child is under 7. Otherwise, the innocent spouse, or the spouse who filed for separation, gets custody, providing she is fit.

    Crazy laws. The poor girl can only become "legally separated" after one year of being abandoned. Maybe she could remarry if she said the first husband was dead and he wasn't seen again (if seen again, wouldn't contest the new marriage)? I would avoid registering the marriage with anyone else....and perhaps "convince" the NSO to "lose" their copy.
     
  8. OP
    OP
    hawk263

    hawk263 DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Army

    Messages:
    440
    Trophy Points:
    216
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +488 / 81
    Blood Type:
    A+
    The lady is somewhat pissed off at the guy and would like to be able to put pressure on him to pay all or part of the cost of annulment. It seems the guy had a drink problem and a problem with his zipper.
     
  9. OP
    OP
    hawk263

    hawk263 DI Forum Adept Blood Donor Veteran Army

    Messages:
    440
    Trophy Points:
    216
    Occupation:
    Retired
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +488 / 81
    Blood Type:
    A+
    Apparently it is registered with the NSO, but after he left she didn't think about going to the US Embassy.
     
  10. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

    Messages:
    13,106
    Trophy Points:
    451
    Occupation:
    FIRE
    Location:
    Valencia
    Ratings:
    +16,069 / 3,795
    Blood Type:
    O+
    I figured as much. Pride had been damaged.

    I honestly don't think she will be able to get him to pay much of anything....at least not without dishing out some cash herself for a good lawyer. Divorce is too easy (and cheap) in the US for a marriage that was that short that has no children involved. If the guy has any common sense (he very well might not) he would never step for in the Philippines again.

    She better try to get a copy of the hubby's local newspaper online to check for notices to appear.....and if she wants to fight the terms of the divorce in the US she should probably start looking for a lawyer there. My x wife hired some cheap Filipino-Chinese lawyer to try to contest the divorce agreement in the US. My lawyer got a good laugh out of that.....and I came out of the divorce smelling like roses. (I only had to dish out one month's worth of salary in cash, a worthless car and whatever belongings for in a small 2 bedroom apartment. And about 50k to the lawyer.)

    This girl should stop being pissed and start getting smart. She is fighting an uphill battle and the anger is only going to blind her.

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
Loading...