thank you for visiting my channel but before we start please hit the subscribe button below so you'll be notified of future presentations today we will discuss the interesting topic of marriage in articulo mortis and our main reference is the family code of the philippines and solitarily the new civil code of the philippines before we start the discussion let us consider this question sweethearts tony and tanya are traveling to zamboanga by plane among their co-passengers are mayor isco justice leone and father andrew a few minutes after takeoff tony suffers a heart attack and aware of his
critical condition and doing dania's consent requests that he and tanya be married who is qualified to solemnize their marriage what is marriage in articulo mortis the translation of articulo mortis is at the point of death or in the moment of death marriage in articulo mortis is a marriage that is performed when either the bride or the groom or both of them are at the point of death distinguish however between danger of death and point of death if a soldier is about to go to war he may be in danger of death but he is not
at the point of death hence if he wanted to marry his fiancee before leaving marriage in articulo mortis would not be applicable to him at that moment who can solemnize a marriage in articulo mortis aside from those enumerated in article 7 of the family code a ship captain an airplane pilot or a military commander can solemnize marriage in articulo mortis however their authority is limited to marriage in articulo mortis they cannot solemnize marriages where the parties or one of them is not at the point of death where and when to solemnize marriage in articulo mortis
a ship captain or an airplane pilot can solemnize marriage in articulo mortis between passengers or crew members not only while the ship is at sea or the plane is in flight but also during stop overs at ports of coal a military commander of a unit who is a commissioned officer shall likewise have authority to solemnize marriages in articula mortis between persons within the zone of military operation whether members of the armed forces or civilians but suppose the ship obtained the airplane pilot or the military commander is the one who is at the point of death
if they are the ones at the point of death and they would like to be married in articulo mortis common sense dictates that they may designate the next in command to solemnize the marriage essential requisites marriage in articulomortis is valid provided the essential requisites above valid marriage are present namely the parties are at least 18 years of age and they freely consent to the marriage the party or parties at the point of death must be conscious of what they are doing must freely consent to the marriage and must not suffer from an illegal impediment formal
requisites the formal requisites of a valid marriage are authority of the solemnizing officer valid marriage license and marriage ceremony however considering the emergency situation under which marriage in articulomortis takes place it is understandable if some steps are modified and requirements waived no prescribed form or religious right for the solemnization of the marriage is required marriage license waived in case either or both of the contracting parties are at the point of death the marriage may be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license and shall remain valid even if the ailing party subsequently survives signature of parties
in case of a marriage in articulo mortis when the party at the point of death is unable to sign the marriage certificate it shall be sufficient for one of the witnesses to the marriage to write the name of said party which fact shall be attested by the solemnizing officer however if upon order of the solemnizing officer another person should so sign the marriage is still valid the law as much as possible intends to give legal effect to a marriage duty absolumizing officer in case either of the contracting parties is on the point of death the
marriage may be solemnized without necessity of a marriage license but in such cases the official priest or minister solemnizing it shall state in an affidavit made before the local civil registrar or any person authorized by law to administer odds that the marriage was performed in articulo mortis the person who solemnized the marriage shall also state in either case that he took the necessary steps to ascertain the ages and relationship of the contracting parties and that there was in his opinion no legal impediment to the marriage at the time that it was solemnized the original of
the affidavit required in the last preceding article together with a copy of the marriage contract shall be sent by the person solemnizing the marriage to the local civil registrar of the municipality where it was performed within the period of 30 days after the performance of the marriage the local civil registrar shall however before filing the papers required the payment into the municipal treasury of the legal fees required in article 65. the duties mentioned in the two preceding articles shall be complied with by the ship captain airplane chief or commanding officer legit team observing spouse if
the only survivor is the widow or widower she or he shall be entitled to one half of the hereditary state of the deceased spouse and that the stator may freely dispose of the other half if the marriage between the surviving spouse and the testator was solemnized in articulo mortis and that the stator died within three months from the time of the marriage the legitimate of the surviving spouse as the sole heir shall be one-third of the hereditary state except when they have been living together as husband and wife for more than five years in the
latter case the legend of the surviving spouse shall be that specified in the preceding paragraph let us consider the case of arsenio delorean and ricardo diloria vs felipe appellant felix this is a 1958 case involving marriage in articulo mortis considering the emergency situation attendant to a marriage in articulo martis it is understandable that certain steps and procedures are omitted and some documents are not duly accomplished like the signing of the marriage contract and the filing and registration thereof with a civil registrar the solemnizing officer by in advertence may also fail to execute an affidavit stating
the marriage was in articulo martis hence the requirement of marriage license has been waived would those procedural lapses affect the validity of the marriage that will be answered by the case i mentioned earlier which we will discuss shortly long before and during world war ii vince and patricia lived together as husband and wife without being married they acquired properties but had no children although patricia had a sister jenna during the liberation of manila patricia became seriously ill two ladies in the service of god sisters carmina and juliet came to know of patricia's condition so they
visited her and persuaded her to go to confession they fetched a catholic breast father melvin who learned that patricia was cohabiting with vince without the benefit of marriage so he asked both to ratify their union according to the rights of the church and both agreed thus father melvin heard the confession of the bedridden patricia gave her holy communion administered extreme action and then solemnized their marriage in articulo mortis with sisters carmina and juliet acting as sponsors or witnesses while patricia initially recovered from her sickness she eventually died almost a year thereafter she was injured in
the city's public cemetery with father melvin performing the burial ceremonies vince thus assumed sole ownership and administration of their properties a sole surviving heir six years later however the grandchildren of jenna andy and lupe filed a complaint to compel vince to render an accounting and to deliver to them the properties left by the deceased patricia they claimed that as grandchildren a patricia's sister they were the only surviving forced heirs of patricia vince opposed the complaint setting up his rights as widower the trial court ruled in favor of andy and lupe but on appeal to the
court of appeals said decision was reversed the ca ruled that vince and patricia had been validly married in articulo mortis by father melvin so vince as the widower has a better right to the properties of patricia andy and lupe still questioned the ca decision before the supreme court contending that no marriage contract was signed and executed by vince and patricia and there are no copies of the marriage certificate on file with the local civil registrar thus said marriage was not registered in the record of marriages the priest also failed to file the affidavit declaring that
the marriage was in articulo mortis which is required for the validity of the marriage without a marriage license the supreme court however ruled that the signing of the marriage contract is merely a formal requirement of evidentiary value and its omission does not nullify the marriage failure to sign the marriage contract is not a ground for annulment of marriage as long as a married ceremony has taken place where the parties with legal capacity to contract marriage declare in the presence of the person solemnizing the marriage and up to witnesses of legal aids that they take each
other as husband and wife the failure of the priest to make an affidavit of marriage in articula mortis and to file it does not render the marriage voidable it would not be fair to the wedded couple to annul their marriage because of the priest's omission especially when it has been caused by the emergency and prevailing disorder during the liberation so vince has better rights to the estate of patricia than andy and lupe the grandchildren of jenna and sister of patricia emphasis are all mine if you find this presentation helpful please hit the subscribe button below
so you'll be notified of future lectures please comment below as to your thoughts observations and suggestions on the subject thank you
