Dear Atty. Shalie,

I have a live-in partner and we have been together for a little over a year now. Unfortunately, we cannot get married because he is married to another woman, and they have a child.

He would always tell me that it did not matter that we could not get married because he and his wife had been separated for seven years already and the wife had also been in another relationship.  

They both agreed to go their separate ways. Their child is under the full custody of his mother and does not see his father at all. They have been without any communication for the same number of years.

Am I right to overthink about our situation? I am just worried about what could happen to our future children if we do not get married, or that his marital situation does not change and worse, his wife suddenly turns about and claims her rightful place. 

Is it true that under the law, his wife no longer has any right to run after my partner, considering the many years they have been separated and thus, their marriage is no longer binding or has already expired? 

Marlyn

Dear Marlyn,

There has always been a misconception about marriages not being binding anymore, because of the length of separation of the husband and wife. This alone is not a ground for annulment of marriage.  It does not matter how many years a married couple has been separated. Only a court decree could annul or nullify a marriage. Even infidelity on the part of either party is not a ground for annulment.

Hence, it is not true, particularly in the case of your partner, that seven years of separation will amount to invalidation of their marriage. This is an erroneous assumption, as the law does not provide that the long years of separation will result in the expiration of marriage.  

No matter how long they have been separated and even without any communication, as long as they are alive, their marriage subsists, until the court judicially declares it invalid or null and void. 

You have every reason to be concerned about your relationship with your partner, as the law will always uphold the sanctity of marriage. He should be able to institute and file the necessary legal action, to have his marriage annulled, for everyone’s protection.

Atty. Shalimar P. Lazatin-Obinque