Divorce and Marriage Nullity: Legal Provisions
Divorce Proceedings and Legal Effects
This section outlines the legal framework for divorce, including conditions for decreeing a divorce, remarriage provisions, and the financial and parental implications for spouses and children.
Conditions for Divorce Decree
Article 218: A court may decree a divorce only when the legal process has established resolutions regarding the custody, visitation rights, and financial support for any entitled sons or daughters.
Remarriage After Divorce
Article 219: Once the divorce court has ordered the dissolution of the marriage, a spouse may remarry after the necessary registration has been completed. Additionally, a spouse may remarry within three hundred days of the marriage dissolution if scientific proof confirms the absence of pregnancy, or after a judicial or administrative declaration of repairs has been made.
Impact on Children and Spousal Rights
Article 220: A declaration of divorce does not deprive sons or daughters of the benefits assigned to them by law or by the marriage of their parents.
Article 221: In cases of non-voluntary divorce, the guilty spouse loses the right to acquisitions derived from the proprietary property of the other spouse.
Article 222: The innocent spouse may revoke any donations made in favor of the guilty spouse after the divorce, without prejudice to the rights of third parties.
Alimony and Spousal Support
Article 223: In the divorce decree, the court may grant alimony to the innocent spouse, payable by the guilty spouse. This pension will be calculated to ensure the recipient retains the financial status enjoyed during the marriage. It will be revoked when no longer needed or when the recipient remarries.
Marriage Nullity: Causes and Legal Consequences
This section details the grounds for declaring a marriage null and void, distinguishing between relative and absolute nullity, and outlining the procedures and effects of such declarations.
Causes of Marriage Nullity
Article 224: The causes for nullity of marriage include:
- 1. Lack of intervention by an authorized official.
- 2. Existence of a disability as mentioned in Articles 33 and 34.
- 3. Violence or serious fear that vitiates consent.
- 4. Mistake in the identity of the person.
- 5. Lack of legitimate representation in marriage by proxy.
Types of Nullity and Application
Article 225: The nullity of marriage is of two kinds: relative nullity and absolute nullity.
- Relative nullity applies in the cases of Article 33, except as provided in paragraph 2, and in the cases of paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 of Article 224.
- Absolute nullity applies as provided in paragraph 2 of Article 33, in the cases of Article 34, and in the case of paragraph 1 of Article 224.
Actions for Nullity
Article 226: Relative nullity can only be sued by the innocent spouse.
Article 227: Absolute nullity of marriage may be sued by anyone, at the request of an interested party, by the prosecutor, or declared officially by the competent court.
Prescription and Extinction of Action
Article 228: The action for invalidity of marriage prescribes in five years after the marriage, except in cases of minority, violence, coercion, or grave fear. For these exceptions, the period shall run from the time the person reaches the age of puberty or from the cessation of violence, coercion, or serious fear.
Article 229: An invalidation action is extinguished by the death of either spouse. However, in cases of absolute nullity, the heirs may file the complaint or pursue purely economic effects.
Legal Effects of Annulled Marriages
Article 230: In cases of gender identity disabilities or lack of an authorized official, an annulled marriage has no legal effect whatsoever.
Article 231: A marriage contracted in good faith and with legal formalities produces all legal effects. If good faith was present only on the part of one spouse, legal effects apply only concerning that spouse and the sons or daughters of the putative marriage.
Procedural Requirements for Nullity
Article 232: In all processes of nullity of marriage, the public prosecutor shall be heard. The sentence, to be enforceable, must be registered with the Civil Registry for its legal effects to be valid.
Article 233: In the same declaration of nullity of marriage, appropriate provisions shall be made to ensure that the competent authority prosecutes the parties, staff, witnesses, and other persons involved in the marriage who are in violation of the Penal Code.
Article 234: Provisions concerning divorce shall be observed in the nullity of marriage proceedings, in everything that is not contrary to the provisions of this section.