The decades-long absence of an individual from the marital home can be used as evidence to prove psychological incapacity in marital obligations, the Supreme Court (SC) said.
In a decision promulgated on April 17, 2024, SC granted the petition of Leonora Dela Cruz-Lanuza against her husband Alfredo Lanuza, Jr., ABS-CBN News reported.
The couple got married in 1984 and separated after ten years after Alfredo’s behavior changed. He also refused to provide financial support to his family and married several women after the separation, the report further said.
Records show that Leonora filed a petition to nullify their marriage but was denied both at the Regional Trial Court and Court of Appeals levels.
The SC however ruled that their marriage was void because of Alfredo’s long absence from his marital home which showed psychological incapacity and made him unable to fulfill his marital duties.
The SC noted that under Article 68 of the Family Code, spouses are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity and render mutual help and support.
“Respondent’s infidelity, failure to give support to his wife and children, and unjustified absence from his family are all indicative that he is not cognizant of the duties and responsibilities of a husband and father,” the court said in the decision penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.
The SC also noted in the decision that it was clear that Alfredo’s “personality disorder” developed from his childhood and is correlated to his inability to fulfill his obligations as a husband and father.
The court further noted that his disorder appears to have been caused by how he was raised by his family as he was deprived of appropriate parental supervision and the leniency of his parents encouraged him to be “extremely assertive.”
“His psychological incapacity developed during his formative years and existed prior to his marriage to the petitioner,” the court, quoted by ABS-CBN News, said.
