Metro Manila, Philippines – The Supreme Court has approved new rules making it easier to secure judicial recognition of a foreign divorce by removing the requirement to prove the applicable foreign law when filing a petition, according to a court briefer.
The court said it approved the amendments on Oct. 7, allowing Filipino spouses to establish that a foreign divorce took place without having to separately prove the divorce laws of the country where it was obtained.
Under Article 26(2) of the Family Code, the changes apply to petitions involving marriages between Filipinos and foreign nationals.
The amendments introduce Section 48-A of Rule 39, which presumes that a foreign divorce allows the foreign spouse to remarry under foreign law unless the divorce decree explicitly states that it is limited.
Previously, Filipino spouses seeking recognition had to establish the relevant foreign divorce law as part of their case.
Under the new rules, the burden shifts to the party opposing recognition to prove that the divorce is not absolute.
The amendments also simplify the handling of foreign divorce documents. An English translation will be presumed accurate if the translator certifies its accuracy under oath.
These presumptions can still be challenged through contrary evidence.
The court said judicial recognition of a foreign divorce remains mandatory and that the substantive requirements of the Family Code have not changed.
Petitions may still be challenged on grounds including lack of jurisdiction, lack of notice, fraud, or a clear mistake of law or fact.
The court said the changes address longstanding difficulties faced by Filipino spouses, particularly overseas Filipino workers, in obtaining and proving foreign divorce laws.
During consultations, the Department of Foreign Affairs identified a number of obstacles, including foreign family laws spread across different jurisdictions, the absence of officials authorized to certify those laws and the difficulty of obtaining official English translations.
To address these concerns, the court also approved the establishment of a central repository of authenticated and updated foreign laws on divorce, annulment, and nullity of marriage.
The repository will be maintained by the Office of the Court Administrator in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the court’s committee on family courts and juvenile concerns technical working group.
An agreement establishing the repository is scheduled to be signed on Oct. 21.
The amendments will take effect 15 days after these are posted on the Supreme Court website.
The changes do not introduce divorce as a legal remedy for marriages between two Filipinos under Philippine law. Instead, they simplify the judicial process for recognizing qualifying divorces obtained abroad.
