SC voids couple’s marriage for falsely claiming 5 years of cohabitation

October 2, 2026

By ABOGADO.COM.PH Staff

The Supreme Court (SC) has voided a couple’s marriage after finding that they falsely claimed to have lived together for five years to avoid the marriage license requirement.

In a decision written by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the SC’s Third Division ruled that the couple failed to meet the five-year continuous cohabitation requirement under the Family Code.

The couple had lived together as husband and wife but were separated for several years when the husband went to Israel for work.

Before their marriage, they executed an Affidavit of Cohabitation claiming they had lived together for six years.

The husband later sought to declare the marriage void by admitting that the affidavit was false because he had been in Israel for most of the period covered by the claimed cohabitation.

The SC held that the five-year period must be continuous and uninterrupted, counted immediately before the marriage.

It said temporary absence may be allowed only when the couple continues to live as husband and wife.

Because the couple failed to establish the required five years of continuous cohabitation, the affidavit could not exempt them from the marriage license requirement.

The SC thus upheld the lower courts’ ruling declaring the marriage void.#