Doctrine: Unjustified Absence from Marital Home Considered Psychological Incapacity
Facts:
Leonora and Alfredo married on June 9, 1984. Their married life started smoothly, but Alfredo’s behavior later on changed. He would come home late or early morning after a night out with friends. He neglected his duty and did not provide food for the family. He treated Leonora as an ordinary occupant of the house, not as his wife. Alfredo also engaged in illicit affairs.
In 1994, they separated. The same year, Alfredo married another woman. Then in 2000, he married another one. Alfredo abandoned his family with Leonora and did not provide any financial support.
Leonora then filed a Petition for Declaration of Nullity of Marriage. Dr. Ison, a clinical psychologist, found Alfredo to be suffering from narcissistic personality disorder with underlying borderline personality traits.
Issue: Whether or not Alfredo can be considered as psychologically incapacitated?
Ruling:
Yes. After leaving his family in 1994 and contracting marriage with different women, Alfredo never gave financial support to his children and only visited them once for less than an hour. These indicate that he did not understand his obligations as a husband and father.
Article 68 of the Civil Code provides: The husband and wife are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support.
Through Dr. Isons’s testimony who was presented as an expert witness, Leonora was able to prove that her husband Alfred’s psychological disorder is grave, incurable and permanent.
Dr. Ison explained how Alfredo’s personality disorder developed from his childhood and how it is collated to his inability to fulfill his obligations as a husband and father.
The gravity of his personality disorder is shown by his lack of recognition that he has responsibilities to his wife and children.
The incurability of his disorder was also explained when Dr. Ison stated in his Judicial Affidavit that those diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder “strongly deny that they are mentally ill, reject the idea of seeking professional help and therefore refuse any form of psychiatric treatment.”
Alfredo’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 his duties and responsibilities of a husband and father. Hence, the Petition was GRANTED.