A Discussion on the Grounds for Legal Anulment

[Tawi2]

Very perceptive of you Ian I know someone who has just had documentation that their ex is dead,even though he lives several doors away from her parents

[Ady]

However, what would happen if, for argument's sake, the husband that was presumed dead came knocking on the door with a policeman claiming he was still alive, and that his wife had now committed adultery?

[IainBusby]

However, what would happen if, for argument's sake, the husband that was presumed dead came knocking on the door with a policeman claiming he was still alive, and that his wife had now committed adultery?

He couldn't just come knocking on the door, he would have to hire himself a lawyer and go to court to contest the ruling and in 99% of cases like this, the ex has moved on and has either married again bigamiously, or is shacked up with another woman somewhere else anyway.

Most of the time the only reason they haven't filed for annulment is because they don't want to spend the money and if they did learn that they were no longer married, they would probably be quite chuffed about it.

Having said all that, if the ex did find out and took it to court, then he would then be regarded as the legal husband. But in practise philippines law is very vague about what would happen then, it seems they either don't expect that ever to happen, or they just can't be bothered to legislate for this sort of outcome.

This is only ever likely to be a problem if the couple in question intend to live in the Philippines permanently. But if the couple come and live in the UK for long enough for the wife to get at least ILR, or better still British citizenship, then I don't think it would be a major concern in the long run.

Iain.

[johncar54]

However, what would happen if, for argument's sake, the husband that was presumed dead came knocking on the door with a policeman claiming he was still alive, and that his wife had now committed adultery?

If that happened in the UK, the original couple would still be married but the new couple would not have committed any criminal offence. They of course would have declared the situation when they applied for the 'new' marriage licence. Had they lied of course they could be prosecuted for making a false statement.

To sort it out, the original couple would need to get a divorce and the new couple would need to marry again. If the first partner, who had been considered dead, objected to the divorce, they would need to have a very good argument to convince the judge that they had not deserted their partner and thus the divorce would normally be granted.