Legal Capacity to Marry
Shanaz Mina, November 2008, Germany

Title III, Chapter 1, Article 53 of the Civil Code of the Philippines states that "No marriage shall be solemnized unless all these requisites are complied with:
(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties;
(2) Their consent, freely given;
(3) Authority of the person performing the marriage; and
(4) A marriage license, except in a marriage of exceptional character

We will only speak here on number (1), Legal capacity of the contracting parties. Contracting parties, in this sense, is the future husband and wife. Take note that this is a marriage between a man and a woman, not between man and man or woman and woman. Same sex marriage, insofar, are forbidden in the Philippines.

In simple sense, legal capacity to marry means that one person is capable to contract marriage. As a minimum requirement, he must be single, of legal age, and/or without any legal impediment to marry. In the Philippines, legal impediment is a broad term, but for purposes of simple discussion, it means, you are not legally married to someone else before you can marry another. If you are legally married and you want to free yourself from this legal impediment, this is a thorough discussion in the Philippine courts, otherwise known as, Annulment or Declaration of Nullity of Marriage. However, the writer here is not concerned with these legal procedures, as they are within the concerns of the Philippine Courts, of the Law, and of the State.

For a person to have proof of his or her legal capacity, a document is issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) called Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR). If a person applied at the NSO to secure a cenomar, the NSO will know whether you are married or not based on their records. Just in case you happen to be married, the NSO will issue you instead a Certificate of Marriage (CEMAR) even you applied for a cenomar.

Let us give extreme examples here. If you were married 10 times and your marriage was declared null and void or annulled by the competent Philippine courts 10 times also, the date of court declaration as well as the date of marriage from first husband/wife to the 10th husband/wife shall be listed in your Cemar. Cenomar shall attest for your singleness or that your civil status is free from any legal impediment. The NSO shall also write in your cenomar that there is no entry of marriage on the person concerned. This means, you are single. Whatever the case maybe, securing a cenomar from the NSO will attest to your legal capacity to contract marriage.

Das Ehefähigkeitszeugnis

Literally, this german word means, certificate of marriageability. In some terms, it is known as Certificate of Free Status. This is a legal paper, which certifies one German, who wishes to contract marriage to his or her foreign partner, that he or she has no impediment to marry in his own country or any where else in the world. This zeugnis (certificate) is issued by the Standesamt (civil registry office) only if the following documents were satisfied from the contracting parties:

 

From the German Partner
Der Personalausweis
Die Geburtsurkunde
Der Auszug dem Standbuch der Eltern
Die Aufenthaltsbescheinigung
Das Dimissoriale (See note below)

From the Filipino Partner
A clear copy of the following:
Personal Identification Card
Original copy of the following:
NSO Birth Certificate
NSO Cenomar
Barangay Clearance

Note:

The documents coming from the Filipino partner shall be officially translated in German language by an official translator of the german language in order to be admissible legal documents in Germany. For official translation, info@pinoysignal.com can provide you additional information.

Das Dimissoriale is a paper certified by the church in Germany, that a German partner who wishes to marry in the church in the Philippines was never married in church before, otherwise, he cannot marry again. It also states that the church is not against the marriage of the German and the Filipino partner, just in case both are affiliated to different religions. A simple explanation here says that in the eyes of God, there is only one person whom you need to marry in church. Hence, the dimissoriale attests to this. My German partner and I wanted to marry in church in the Philippines, so the Standesamt (civil registry office in Germany) required him to have dimissoriale as an additional requirement to secure his Ehefähigkeitszeugnis. In cases of civil weddings, dimissoriale is not required by the Standesamt.

Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage
(Issued by the German Embassy in Manila)

After the German partner has secured the Ehefähigkeitszeugnis from the Standesamt, he is now ready to go to the German Embassy in Manila to secure the so-called Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage in the Philippines. The consular office will certify that there is no legal impediment to marry between the German and Filipino partners, validity of the said document, and signed by the consular office/attachee.

This document shall now be presented to the Civil Registry Office as one of the requirements before securing a marriage license.