CIVIL CASES

REQUIREMENTS FOR PETITIONS

PETITION FOR DECLARATION OF NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

 Marriage Certificate
 Proof of Residency (Barangay Clearance)
 Valid Government/ID
 Proof of Billings
 Proof of Receipt by the Office of the Solicitor General
 Proof of Receipt by the Office of the City Prosecutor
 Birth Certificate of Child *if applicable
 Clinical Psychological Report
 Judicial Affidavits of Both Sides (Lawyer)
 Summons

PROCESS OF DECLARATION OF NULLITY OP MARRIAGE

1. Preparation / Psychiatric Evaluation. The client goes to the lawyer and

discusses his/her case. After conferring with the lawyer and submission
of all of the requirements, the lawyer will draft the petition for declaration
of nullity of marriage. If the ground for the declaration of nullity of
marriage is psychological incapacity, it is advisable to secure the services
of an expert witness (psychologist/psychiatrist) at this stage. The expert
witness will later on testify on the psychological incapacity of the petitioner
and/or the respondent. It is also advisable that the executive summary of
the report of the expert witness form part of the petition.

2. Filing of Petition. The petition is filed before the Central Office of the
Regional Trial Court. Cases involving marriage and family matters will be
raffled only to designated Family Courts. This will take about a week. After
the raffle, the petition will be forwarded to the selected court.

3. Summons. The court will issue summons one or two weeks after the case
is raffled. The respondent has 15 days to file his/her answer. In some
instances, the lawyer of the respondent may ask an extension of 15 days
to file his/her answer or any pleading.

4. Notice to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG). The court will issue
an order requiring the petitioner to submit copies of the petition to the
OSG and the prosecutor assigned. Note, however, that under pertinent
rules, a copy of the petition should be furnished to the OSG within 5 days
from filing thereof.
 5. Collusion Hearing. The judge will order the prosecutor assigned to the
case to investigate whether collusion exists between the parties and if the
evidence submitted is not fabricated or suppressed. The prosecutor is
usually given 20 days from receipt of the order to investigate the parties.
The report of the investigation of the prosecutor should be submitted 10
days after the 20-day period.

6. Preliminary Hearing/ Pre-Trial Order. The court will hold a preliminary

hearing, which requires both parties to attend. A pre-trial order will be
issued. Usually the preliminary hearing is called about two to four months
after the filing of the petition.

7. Hearing. This is the time when the petitioner will present his/her evidence
of psychological incapacity. The number witnesses will depend on the case,
but usually, two to three witnesses will be enough, if the case is not
contested (meaning, the respondent will not object). The witnesses will be
the petitioner herself/himself, the expert witness and one collaborating
witness.

PROCESS OF FILING A PETITION FOR DECLARATION OF NULLITY OP

MARRIAGE

A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC March 4,

2003

RE: PROPOSED RULE ON DECLARATION OF ABSOLUTE NULLITY OF VOID

MARRIAGES AND ANNULMENT OF VOIDABLE MARRIAGES

Section 2. Petition for declaration of absolute nullity of void marriages.

(a) Who may file. - A petition for declaration of absolute nullity of void marriage
may be filed solely by the husband or the wife. (n)

(b) Where to file. - The petition shall be filed in the Family Court.

(c) Imprescriptibility of action or defense. - An Action or defense for the

declaration of absolute nullity of void marriage shall not prescribe.

(d) What to allege. - A petition under Article 36 of Family Code shall specially
allege the complete facts showing the either or both parties were psychologically
incapacitated from complying with the essential marital obligations of marriages
at the time of the celebration of marriage even if such incapacity becomes
manifest only after its celebration.
 The complete facts should allege the physical manifestations, if any, as are
indicative of psychological incapacity at the time of the celebration of the
marriage but expert opinion need not be alleged.

Section 3. Petition for annulment of voidable marriages.

(a) Who may file. - The following persons may file a petition for annulment of
voidable marriage based on any of the grounds under article 45 of the Family
Code and within the period herein indicated:

(1) The contracting party whose parent, or guardian, or person

exercising substitute parental authority did not give his or her
consent, within five years after attaining the age of twenty-one
unless, after attaining the age of twenty-one, such party freely
cohabitated with the other as husband or wife; or the parent,
guardian or person having legal charge of the contracting party at
any time before such party has reached the age of twenty-one;

(2) The sane spouse who had no knowledge of the other's insanity;
or by any relative, guardian, or person having legal charge of the
insane, at any time before the death of either party; or by the insane
spouse during the a lucid interval or after regaining sanity, provided
that the petitioner, after coming to reason, has not freely cohabited
with the other as husband or wife;

(3) The injured party whose consent was obtained by fraud, within
five years after the discovery of the fraud, provided that said party,
with full knowledge of the facts constituting the fraud, has not freely
cohabited with the other as husband or wife;

(4) The injured party whose consent was obtained by force,

intimidation, or undue influence, within five years from the time the
force intimidation, or undue influence disappeared or ceased,
provided that the force, intimidation, or undue influence having
disappeared or ceased, said party has not thereafter freely cohabited
with the other as husband or wife;

(5) The injured party where the other spouse is physically incapable
of consummating the marriage with the other and such incapability
continues and appears to be incurable, within five years after the
celebration of marriage; and

(6) The injured party where the other party was afflicted with a
sexually-transmissible disease found to be serious and appears to
be incurable, within five years after the celebration of marriage.
(b) Where to file. - The petition shall be filed in the Family Court.

PETITION FOR CHANGE OF NAME

 Original Copy of the Birth Certificate
 Affidavit of Acknowledgment/ Admission of Paternity
 Verification and Certification of Non-forum Shopping
 Pieces of Evidence and proofs
 Photocopies of all the documents
 Valid Identification Card of the petitioner

PROCESS OF LEGALLY CHANGING NAME

WHAT IS REPUBLIC ACT 9048?

Republic Act (RA) 9048 authorizes the city or municipal civil registrar or the
consul general to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or
change the first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial
order.
RA 9048 amends Articles 376 and 412 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, which
prohibit the change of name or surname of a person, or any correction or change
of entry in a civil register without a judicial order.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo approved the act on 22 March 2001. With
the law taking effect on 22 April 2001, the Civil Registrar-General promulgated
Administrative Order No. 1 Series of 2001, which was published in the
newspaper in August that year.

WHAT CORRECTIONS CAN BE MADE BY RA 9048?

RA 9048 allows these corrections:
 correction of clerical or typographical errors in any entry in civil registry
documents, except corrections involving the change in sex, age,
nationality and status of a person.
 (A clerical or typographical error refers to an obvious mistake committed
in clerical work, either in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry
in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as a misspelled
name or misspelled place of birth and the like, and can be corrected or
changed only by reference to other existing record or records.)
  change of a person's first name in his/her civil registry document under
certain grounds specified under the law through administrative process.

WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS UNDER RA 9048 THAT THE PETITIONER

NEEDS TO COMPLY WITH?
(1) The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with
dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce;
(2) The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used
by the petitioner and he has been publicly known by that first name or nickname
in the community; or,
(3) The change will avoid confusion.

WHO MAY FILE THE PETITION?

Whether it is for correction of clerical or typographical error, or for change of first
name, the petition may be filed by a person of legal age who must have a direct
and personal interest in the correction of the error or in the change of first name
in the civil register.
A person is considered of legal age when he is eighteen years old and above.
Thus, a minor (less than eighteen years old) cannot by himself file a petition,
either for correction of clerical or typographical error or for change of his first
name.
Only the following persons are considered to have a direct and personal interest
in the correction of clerical error or change of first name:
Owner of the record that contains the error to be corrected or first name to be
changed

Owner's spouse, children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, guardian,

or any other person duly authorized by law or by the owner of the document
sought to be corrected.

WHAT SHOULD BE THE FORM AND CONTENT OF THE PETITION?

The petition, whether it is for correction of clerical error or for a change of first
name, should be accomplished properly and in the prescribed form. Section 5 of
RA 9048 and Rule 8 of Administrative Order No. 1, S. 2001 require that the
petition should be in the form of an affidavit, hence, it should be subscribed and
sworn to before a person authorized to administer oath.
Basically, the petition must contain the following facts or information:
Merits of the petition
Competency of the petitioner
Erroneous entry to be corrected and proposed correction; first name to be
changed and the proposed new first name

WHAT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ARE REQUIRED FOR CORRECTING A

CLERICAL OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN A CIVIL REGISTRY
DOCUMENT?
The petition shall not be processed unless the petitioner supports it with the
required documents. The supporting documents should be authentic and
genuine, otherwise, the petition shall be denied or disapproved pursuant to Rule
5.8 of Administrative Order No. 1, S. 2001. The following supporting documents
are admissible as basic requirements:

 Certified machine copy of the certificate containing the alleged erroneous

entry or entries
 Not less than 2 public or private documents upon which the correction
shall be based. Examples of these documents are the following: baptismal
certificate, voter's affidavit, employment record, GSIS/SSS record, medical
record, school record, business record, driver's license, insurance, land
titles, certificate of land transfer, bank passbook, NBI/police clearance,
civil registry records of ascendants, and others
 Notice and Certificate of Posting
 Certified machine copy of the Official Receipt of the filing fees
 Other documents as may be required by the City/Municipal Civil Registrar
(C/MCR)

WHAT ARE THE SUPPORTING PAPERS FOR CHANGE OF FIRST NAME?

 As in the case of correction of clerical error, no petition for change of first
name shall be accepted unless the petitioner submits the required
supporting papers, as follows:
 All the documents required of the petitioner for the correction of clerical
error shall also be required of the petitioner for change of first name.
 Clearance from authorities such as clearance from employer, if employed;
the National Bureau of Investigation; the Philippine National Police; and
other clearances as may be required by the concerned C/MCR.
 Proof of Publication. An affidavit of publication from the publisher and
copy of the newspaper clippings should be attached.
HOW MUCH IS THE FEE IN FILING A PETITION?
The C/MCR and the District/Circuit Registrar (D/CR) are authorized to collect
from every petitioner the following rates of filing fees:
 One thousand pesos (P1,000.00) for the correction of clerical error
 Three thousand pesos (P3,000.00) for the change of first name
In the case of a petition filed with the Consul General (CG), the fees are the same
for all Philippine Consulates. The fees are the following:
 Fifty U.S. dollars ($50.00) for the correction of clerical or typographical
error
 One hundred fifty U.S. dollars ($150.00) for the change of first name
A migrant petitioner shall pay an additional service fee to the Petition Receiving
Civil Registrar (PRCR).
This service fee shall accrue to the local treasury of the PRCR.
 Five hundred pesos (P500.00) for correction of clerical or typographical
error
 One thousand pesos (P1,000.00) for change of first name

WHERE THE PETITION SHOULD BE FILED?

The general rule is that petition shall be filed with the Local Civil Registry Office
(LCRO) where the record containing the clerical error to be corrected or first
name to be changed is kept. Included in this general rule is the case of the Office
of the Clerk of Shari'a Court where records of divorces, revocations of divorces,
conversions to Islam are kept and where some Muslim marriages are registered.
However, in case the petitioner is a migrant within or outside the Philippines,
meaning his present residence or domicile is different from where his civil
registry record or records are registered, he may file the petition in the nearest
LCRO in his area. His petition will be treated as a migrant petition.

LAST NAME
Grounds for Changing Surname
The Philippines Supreme Court declared that the only grounds for change of
name are:
 When the name is ridiculous, dishonorable or difficult to write or
pronounce
 When the change is a result of legal proceedings, such as legitimation (i.e.
when an illegitimate child's father is legally recognized as his father)
  When the change avoids confusion
 When a person has used and been known by a Filipino name since birth
and was unaware of alien (non-Filipino) parentage
 When a person sincerely wants to adopt a Filipino name in good faith to
erase signs of alienage
 When the name causes embarrassment, and the change is not against
public interest.

Process for Changing a Surname

To change your surname in the Philippines, you need a court order from the
Regional Trial Court of your municipality or city. You file a petition explaining
why you want to change your surname and including all required documents.
These include National Bureau of Investigation clearance, police clearance, your
baptismal certificate, your birth certificate, school records or employment
certificate and valid forms of identification. The court will set a date for a hearing,
which anyone can attend (and potentially oppose your change of surname).

Changing Child’s Surname

If the registered birth certificate of an illegitimate child born in the Philippines
after August 3, 1988 shows the mother’s surname, the mother, father, guardian
or child (if 18 or over) can file an Affidavit to Use the Surname of the Father with
the civil registry office that registered the child’s birth. As well as the Affidavit, a
Private Handwritten Instrument or an affidavit of acknowledgement from the
father is required. If the child was born abroad, her birth certificate must be
annotated by the Philippine Statistics Authority. If you are a mother who wants
to change your child's surname to your own, you need to get a court order.
However, the Supreme Court has ruled that a child's change of surname may
only be granted when she reaches 18 and can make her own decision.

Changing a Surname after Marriage

It's not a legal requirement to change your surname when you get married in the
Philippines, and a woman who wants to officially take her husband's surname
only has to comply with change of status requirements. No court order is
required. It makes sense (and saves money) to wait for forms of identification
(such as passport and driver's license) to expire, then change the status and
surname at the same time as part of the renewal process.
LAW
R.A. 9255
“AN ACT ALLOWING ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN TO USE THE SURNAME OF
THEIR FATHER, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE ARTICLE 176 OF
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 209, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "FAMILY CODE
OF THE PHILIPPINES"

PETITION FOR RECONSTITUTION AND ISSUANCE OF OWNERS

 Transfer Certificate of Title
 Death Certificate (if applicable)
 Birth Certificate
 Verification and Certification of Non-forum Shopping
 Affidavit of Loss (if applicable)
 Blueprint of Cadastral Survey
 Map of the Subject Property
 Special Power of Attorney (if applicable)
 Clearance of Real Property Tax Payment
 Receipt of Real Property Tax
 Memorandum of Encumbrances
 Affidavit of Acknowledgment
 Registry of Deeds
 Tax Declaration of Property

How to reconstitute land titles under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 26, as
amended by R.A. 6732
Administrative reconstitution
 Following the procedure under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 26, as amended
by R.A. 6732, administrative reconstitution may be done in case there is
substantial loss or destruction of land titles due to flood or other force
majeure as determined by the Administrator of the Land Registration
Authority (LRA). I have not read about any such declaration from the LRA,
there’s no announcement on their website. I think also it’s because while
some original titles have been lost, the number does not reach 10% of the
total number of titles.
Judicial reconstitution
 In any case, for those whose titles got lost or destroyed in the Registry of
Deeds, but no administrative reconstitution was determined to be
necessary, they need to undergo judicial reconstitution of title.
 Reconstitution of a title is very tedious and time-consuming. The whole
process could take anywhere from six to nine months to complete.
Sometimes, it even takes years. You have to prepare legal documents,
secure certifications and clearances, and you need a legal counsel to
represent you in court proceedings.
How to replace lost/destroyed land titles (owner’s duplicate certificates)
under PD 1529
 If you misplaced your owner’s duplicate certificates of title (but the original
title is still with the Registry of Deeds), don’t feel too bad. Losing a title for
no special reason except forgetfulness may be a bit embarrassing but it is
not such an isolated occurrence (we all have our senior moments).
 Section 109 of PD 1529 provides for the procedure in getting a new owner’s
duplicate certificate as follows:

“Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. In case of loss
or theft of an owner’s duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be
sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the
province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a
duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person
applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any
instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed
by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered.

Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may,
after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate,
which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in place of the lost
duplicate certificate, but shall in all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as
the original duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of
this decree.”

SOURCES:
http://saklawph.com/declaration-of-nullity-of-marriage/
https://www.lawphil.net/courts/supreme/am/am_02-11-10-sc_2003.html
https://legalbeagle.com/6638140-change-surname-under-philippine-law.html
https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2004/ra_9255_2004.html
https://www.foreclosurephilippines.com/how-to-reconstitute-or-replace-lost-
or-destroyed-land-titles/