Family
No divorce for most citizens; annulment and Shari'ah divorce are the routes
The Family Code provides no divorce for non-Muslim Filipinos, only annulment, declaration of nullity for psychological incapacity, and legal separation. Muslim Filipinos may divorce under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Regional Trial Courts designated as Family Courts hear these cases; Shari'ah District and Circuit Courts have jurisdiction over Muslim personal law.
Governing law
- Executive Order 209Family Code of the Philippines, 1987
- Presidential Decree 1083Code of Muslim Personal Laws, 1977
- Republic Act 9262Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, 2004
In practice
Article 36 nullity for psychological incapacity became the practical substitute for divorce, and the Supreme Court's 2021 Tan-Andal decision reframed it as a legal rather than strictly medical concept, removing the requirement of expert proof of a clinical condition and making petitions more attainable. Legal separation ends cohabitation and dissolves the property regime without dissolving the marriage, so remarriage remains barred. The default property regime for marriages after 1988 is absolute community of property. A foreign divorce validly obtained by a foreign spouse can be recognised, capacitating the Filipino spouse to remarry, which requires a separate judicial recognition action.