Marital Status, Legal Unions, and Rights in the Republic

Posted on Jan 13, 2025 in Law & Jurisprudence

Marital Status and Legal Unions

Defining Marriage

In our country, marriage qualifies as a legal act. It implies voluntary action by both parties aimed at producing certain legal effects. Registering before the law is the union of two people (heterosexual or homosexual) who maintain an emotional and sexual bond to form a family and seek economic stability.

Dissolving a Marriage

A marriage can be dissolved through divorce. This can be decided by mutual agreement of the parties or by the decision of a single party, such as the woman.

Proof of Natural Child

In the case of a natural child, you can use a birth certificate, DNA evidence, or a witness claiming that the child and their father had a very strong bond, such as that of a father with his son, as proof.

Changes in Filing Status

Your filing status is married. You went from single to married, then married to a widower, then a widower to married. You have changed your marital status three times.

Impediments to Marriage

The Civil Code recognizes two types of constraints: settling (Article 91 CC) and prohibitive (Articles 105 to 115 of CC).

Absolute Impediments

  • Lack of the age required by the laws of the Republic; it is 14 for men and 12 for women.
  • Lack of consent of the parties.
  • An existing, undissolved prior marriage.
  • A straight-line relationship by consanguinity or affinity, whether legitimate or illegitimate.
  • A transverse line of kinship between legitimate or illegitimate siblings.
  • The murder, attempted murder, or complicity in the murder of one spouse, for the survivor.
  • The lack of religious consecration when it is otherwise stipulated as a condition subsequent in the contract and demands the enforcement of it on the day of the marriage.

De Facto Union

A de facto union is broadly characterized by a relationship that is more or less durable over time, as distinguished from casual or accidental encounters. However, it does not require cohabitation, a shared household, or a marriage-like union.

Strictly speaking, it only exists when there is a shared household and a frequent and lasting relationship. It’s called *more uxorio*, with the appearance of marriage. It is a stable marital status without attribution of legitimacy but with the potential for it.

Grounds for Physical Separation

Physical separation can only take place under the following circumstances:

  • The adultery of either spouse.
  • An attempt by one spouse against the life of another, with a criminal sentence pronounced.
  • Serious physical abuse or injury relative to one another. These grounds will be evaluated by the judge, taking into account the education and status of the aggrieved spouse.
  • The proposal of the husband to prostitute the wife.
  • The incitement of the husband or the wife to prostitute their children and collusion in the prostitution of those children.
  • When quarrels and continuing disputes between spouses make their common life unbearable.
  • The condemnation of one spouse to a penitentiary sentence for over ten years.
  • The voluntary abandonment of the household by either spouse, provided that it lasted more than three years.
  • The *de facto* and voluntary separation of at least one spouse for more than three years, whatever the reason.
  • The inability of either spouse if it has been declared permanent and the mental illness irreversible (Article 431 and following as applicable) and if they meet the following requirements:
    • The ruling which declared disability has become final.
    • According to the judge, supported by expert opinion, the mental illness is such that one cannot rationally expect the restoration of the material and spiritual community of the state of marriage itself.

Rights of the People of the Republic

The people of the Republic are entitled to be protected in the enjoyment of life, honor, freedom, safety, labor, and property. No one shall be deprived of these rights except in accordance with the laws that were established for reasons of general interest. All persons are equal before the law, which does not recognize any distinction between them save their talents or virtues.