Dear PAO,

I was married in 1998, and after my first husband, Jeff, was declared presumptively dead in 2015, I foolishly married Jon, his favorite cousin. To my shock, Jeff contacted me last month via Facebook. While I once loved him deeply, my heart now belongs to Jon, so I blocked him. My nephew, a law student, told me that my second marriage is automatically terminated due to Jeff’s reappearance. Is this true?

Rem

Dear Rem,

As can be gleaned from Article 41 of the Family Code, a married individual may contract a subsequent marriage upon obtaining a final judicial declaration of presumptive death of his or her spouse. This, however, is without prejudice to the effects of the absentee’s reappearance.

This means that when you married Jon in 2015, following the declaration of Jeff’s presumptive death, the law provided a condition that the existence of your second marriage was contingent upon the continued absence of your first spouse. Yet, there are other conditions that must be satisfied before your subsequent marriage is terminated.

In the case of Celerina J. Santos v. Ricardo T. Santos [GR 187061, Oct. 8, 2014, penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen], the Supreme Court pronounced that:

“x x x the Family Code provides the presumptively dead spouse with the remedy of terminating the subsequent marriage by mere reappearan

“The filing of an affidavit of reappearance is an admission on the part of the first spouse that his or her marriage to the present spouse was terminated when he or she was declared absent or presumptively dead.

“Moreover, a close reading of the entire Article 42 reveals that the termination of the subsequent marriage by reappearance is subject to several conditions: (1) the non-existence of a judgment annulling the previous marriage or declaring it void ab initio; (2) recording in the civil registry of the residence of the parties to the subsequent marriage of the sworn statement of fact and circumstances of reappearance; (3) due notice to the spouses of the subsequent marriage of the fact of reappearance; and (4) the fact of reappearance must either be undisputed or judicially determined.

“The existence of these conditions means that reappearance does not always immediately cause the subsequent marriage’s termination. Reappearance of the absent or presumptively dead spouse will cause the termination of the subsequent marriage only when all the conditions enumerated in the Family Code are present.

“Hence, the subsequent marriage may still subsist despite the absent or presumptively dead spouse’s reappearance (1) if the first marriage has already been annulled or has been declared a nullity; (2) if the sworn statement of the reappearance is not recorded in the civil registry of the subsequent spouses’ residence; (3) if there is no notice to the subsequent spouses; or (4) if the fact of reappearance is disputed in the proper courts of law, and no judgment is yet rendered confirming, such fact of reappearance.”

To answer your query, the reappearance of your first husband did not result in automatic termination of your subsequent marriage to Jon. His reappearance must be coupled with the other conditions prescribed by law before your subsequent marriage is terminated.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]