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Kids' legitimacy unaffected by marriage nullified for psychological incapacity

Children of couples whose marriages are declared null and void due to psychological incapacity remain legitimate, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled. In a 19-page decision, the High Court affirmed with modification the ruling of a regional trial court (RTC) that declared a child illegitimate. The SC declared the child legitimate pursuant to Article 54 of the Family Code, which entitles the child to retain her legitimacy status as a consequence of her parent's marriage. 'All told, the RTC rulings were bereft of basis in declaring [the child] to be illegitimate,' the SC said. 'Since her legitimacy status is not affected by the declaration of nullity of marriage on the ground of psychological incapacity, the RTC must be reversed insofar as it declared [her] to be an illegitimate child of respondents,' it added. According to the court, the wife suffered physical, emotional, and verbal abuse from her husband during the marriage, leading her to file a petition to nullify it. She presented evidence of abuse and a psychological report that diagnosed her husband with narcissistic personality disorder. Though the RTC voided the marriage, it also declared the child illegitimate as her birth certificate did not state that she was legitimized. For its part, the SC affirmed that the marriage was void but ruled that the child remains legitimate. 'Considering that 'a void marriage deemed never to have taken place at all,' the nullity of the marriage, as a general rule, will make the status illegitimate from conception,' the SC said. 'However, Article 54 of the Family Code provides for exceptions,' it added. The exceptions are when the parent is/are declared psychologically incapacitated and when the child is born of the marriage under Article 53 of the Family Code, but the parent/s has/have not complied with the requirements of Article 52 of the Code. The decision was promulgated in February 2025. It was penned by Associate Justice Jhosep Lopez. — BM, GMA Integrated News