Proving husband’s psychological incapacity

Dear Atty. Shalie,

I was married to my childhood friend for about 10 years when I finally decided to leave him, taking with me our only child.

I was the only one who worked and provided for our family for all our years together. I even shouldered the expenses for our wedding when I got pregnant. My mother insisted that we get married for our child’s ‘Hello’ sake.

All those years we were together, he did nothing and worked not a day in his life. He depended on his older sister for whatever money he needed, Every peso he received, he spent for himself alone. He would not even take care of our son while I worked.

Now that we are separated, it is as if he never existed. His only contribution to this marriage is my son. I would like to file a case for annulment so I can permanently and legally be free of this purposeless marriage.

Is it really required of us to undergo psychological exams to prove incapacity on his part? Or would my testimony and those who know what I have gone through be enough for the court to put an end to our marriage?

Anna

Dear Anna,

Based on your account, you may file a petition for a declaration of nullity of marriage on the grounds of psychological incapacity.

To render a marriage void from the very beginning, under Article 36 of the Family Code, the High Court has declared that psychological incapacity must be characterized by: “(1) gravity, that is, it must be grave and serious such that the party would be incapable of carrying out the ordinary duties required in a marriage; (2) juridical antecedence, it must be rooted in the history of the party antedating the marriage, although the overt manifestations may emerge only after the marriage; and (3) incurability, i.e., it must be incurable, or even if it were otherwise, the cure would be beyond the means of the party involved.

“Although expert testimony, such as that of a psychologist, is important in establishing the precise cause of a party’s psychological incapacity, personal examination of the alleged incapacitated spouse is not always mandatory as long as the totality of evidence is sufficient to sustain a finding of psychological incapacity.”

Specific details and actions of the guilty spouse’s personality and how it incapacitates them from performing essential marital duties must be presented to sustain the ground of psychological incapacity.

The totality of evidence must be sufficient to prove that the incapacity was grave, incurable, and existed prior to the marriage.

Atty. Shalimar P. Lazatin-Obinque