PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS

MOCK EXAM (Taken from Previous Bar Exams)

1. At age 18, Marian found out that she was pregnant. She insured her own life and named her
unborn child as her sole beneficiary. When she was already due to give birth, she and her boyfriend
Pietro, the father of her unborn child, were kidnapped in a resort in Bataan where they were
vacationing. The military gave chase and after one week, they were found in an abandoned hut in
Cavite. Marian and Pietro were hacked with bolos. Marian and the baby delivered were both found
dead, with the baby's umbilical cord already cut. Pietro survived.
(A). Can Marian's baby be the beneficiary of the insurance taken on the life of the
mother? (2%)

2. Ricky donated P 1 Million to the unborn child of his pregnant girlfriend, which she accepted. After
six (6) months of pregnancy, the fetus was born and baptized as Angela. However, Angela died 20
hours after birth. Ricky sought to recover the P 1Million. Is Ricky entitled to recover? Explain. (5%)

3. Emmanuel and Margarita, American citizens and employees of the U.S. State Department, got
married in the African state of Kenya where sterility is a ground for annulment of marriage.
Thereafter, the spouses were assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Manila. On the first year of the
spouses’ tour of duty in the Philippines, Margarita filed an annulment case against Emmanuel
before a Philippine court on the ground of her husband’s sterility at the time of the celebration of
the marriage. (A). Will the suit prosper? Explain your answer. (3%)

4. If Ligaya, a Filipino citizen residing in the United States, files a petition for change of name before
the District Court of New York, what law shall apply? Explain. (2%)

5. If Henry, an American citizen residing in the Philippines, files a petition for change of name before
a Philippine court, what law shall apply? Explain. (2%)

6. Same Facts of No. 3. Assume Emmanuel and Margarita are both Filipinos. After their wedding in
Kenya, they come back and take up residence in the Philippines. Can their marriage be annulled on
the ground of Emmanuel’s sterility? Explain. (3%)

7. Write "TRUE" if the statement is true or "FALSE" if the statement is false. If the statement is
FALSE, state the reason. (2% each). The day after John and Marsha got married, John told her that
he was impotent. Marsha continued to live with John for 2 years. Marsha is now estopped from
filing an annulment case against John.

8. A petition for declaration of nullity of a void marriage can only be filed by either the husband or the
wife? Do you agree? Explain your answer. (5%)

9. Harry married Wilma, a very wealthy woman. Barely five (5) years into the marriage, Wilma fell in
love with Joseph. Thus, Wilma went to a small country in Europe, became a naturalized citizen of
that country, divorced Harry, and married Joseph. A year thereafter, Wilma and Joseph returned
and established permanent residence in the Philippines. Is the divorce obtained by Wilma from
Harry recognized in the Philippines? Explain your answer. (3%)

10. Same Facts of No. 9. If Harry hires you as his lawyer, what legal recourse would you advise him to
take? Why? (2%)
11. Harry tells you that he has fallen in love with another woman, Elizabeth, and wants to marry her
because, after all, Wilma is already married to Joseph. Can Harry legally marry Elizabeth? Explain.
(2%)

12. Cipriano and Lady Miros married each other. Lady Miros then left for the US and there, she
obtained American citizenship. Cipriano later learned all about this including the fact that Lady
Miros has divorced him in America and that she had remarried there. He then filed a petition for
authority to remarry, invoking Par. 2, Art. 26 of the Family Code. Is Cipriano capacitated to re-
marry by virtue of the divorce decree obtained by his Filipino spouse who was later naturalized as
an American citizen? Explain. (5%)

13. True or False. Under Article 26 of the Family Code, when a foreign spouse divorces his/her Filipino
spouse, the latter may re-marry by proving only that the foreign spouse has obtained a divorce
against her or him abroad. (1%)

14. You are a Family Court judge and before you is a Petition for the Declaration of Nullity of Marriage
(under Article 36 of the Family Code) filed by Maria against Neil. Maria claims that Neil is
psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential obligations of marriage because Neil is a
drunkard, a womanizer, a gambler, and a mama's boy- traits that she never knew or saw when
Neil was courting her. Although summoned, Neil did not answer Maria's petition and never
appeared in court. To support her petition, Maria presented three witnesses- herself, Dr. Elsie
Chan, and Ambrosia. Dr. Chan testified on the psychological report on Neil that she prepared. Since
Neil never acknowledged nor responded to her invitation for interviews, her report is solely based
on her interviews with Maria and the spouses' minor children. Dr. Chan concluded that Neil is
suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, an ailment that she found to be already present
since Neil's early adulthood and one that is grave and incurable. Maria testified on the specific
instances when she found Neil drunk, with another woman, or squandering the family's resources
in a casino. Ambrosia, the spouses' current household help, corroborated Maria's testimony. On the
basis of the evidence presented, will you grant the petition? (8%)

15. The petitioner filed a petition for declaration of nullity of marriage based allegedly on the
psychological incapacity of the respondent, but the psychologist was not able to personally
examine the respondent and the psychological report was based only on the narration of petitioner.
Should the annulment be granted? Explain. (5%)

16. Roderick and Faye were high school sweethearts. When Roderick was 18 and Faye, 16 years old,
they started to live together as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage. When Faye
reached 18 years of age, her parents forcibly took her back and arranged for her marriage to Brad.
Although Faye lived with Brad after the marriage, Roderick continued to regularly visit Faye while
Brad was away at work. During their marriage, Faye gave birth to a baby girl, Laica. When Faye
was 25 years old, Brad discovered her continued liason with Roderick and in one of their heated
arguments, Faye shot Brad to death. She lost no time in marrying her true love Roderick, without a
marriage license, claiming that they have been continuously cohabiting for more than 5 years. Was
the marriage of Roderick and Faye valid? (2%)

17. Ana Rivera had a husband, a Filipino citizen like her, who was among the passengers on board a
commercial jet plane which crashed in the Atlantic Ocean ten (10) years earlier and had never
been heard of ever since. Believing that her husband had died, Ana married Adolf Cruz Staedtler, a
divorced German national born of a German father and a Filipino mother residing in Stuttgart. To
 avoid being required to submit the required certificate of capacity to marry from the German
Embassy in Manila, Adolf stated in the application for marriage license that he was a Filipino
citizen. With the marriage license stating that Adolf was a Filipino, the couple got married in a
ceremony officiated by the Parish Priest of Calamba, Laguna in a beach in Nasugbu, Batangas, as
the local parish priest refused to solemnize marriages except in his church. Is the marriage valid?
Explain fully. (5%)

18. Despite several relationships with different women, Andrew remained unmarried. His first
relationship with Brenda produced a daughter, Amy, now 30 years old. His second, with Carla,
produced two sons: Jon and Ryan. His third, with Donna, bore him no children although Elena has
a daughter Jane, from a previous relationship. His last, with Fe, produced no biological children but
they informally adopted without court proceedings, Sandy's now 13 years old, whom they consider
as their own. Sandy was orphaned as a baby and was entrusted to them by the midwife who
attended to Sandy's birth. All the children, including Amy, now live with Andrew in his house. Can
Jon and Jane legally marry? (1%)

19. Write "TRUE" if the statement is true or "FALSE" if the statement is false. If the statement is
FALSE, state the reason. (2% each). Amor gave birth to Thelma when she was 15 years old.
Thereafter, Amor met David and they got married when she was 20 years old. David had a son,
Julian, with his ex-girlfriend Sandra. Julian and Thelma can get married.

20. In December 2000, Michael and Anna, after obtaining a valid marriage license, went to the Office of
the Mayor of Urbano, Bulacan, to get married. The Mayor was not there, but the Mayor’s secretary
asked Michael and Anna and their witnesses to fill up and sign the required marriage contract
forms. The secretary then told them to wait and went out to look for the Mayor who was attending
a wedding in a neighboring municipality. When the secretary caught up with the Mayor at the
wedding reception, she showed him the marriage contract forms and told him that the couple and
their witnesses were waiting in his office. The Mayor forthwith signed all the copies of the marriage
contract, gave them to the secretary who returned to the Mayor’s office. She then gave copies of
the marriage contract to the parties and told Michael and Anna that they were already married.
Thereafter, the couple lived together as husband and wife and had three sons. Is the marriage of
Michael and Anna valid, voidable, or void? Explain your answer. (3%)

21. After a devastating storm causing widespread destruction in four Central Luzon provinces, the
executive and legislative branches of the government agreed to enact a special law appropriating
P1 billion for purposes of relief and rehabilitation for the provinces. In view of the urgent nature of
the legislative enactment, it is provided in its effectivity clause that it shall take effect upon
approval and after completion of publication in the Official Gazette and a newspaper of general
circulation in the Philippines. The law was passed by the Congress on July 1, 1990. signed into law
by the President on July 3, 1990, and published in such newspaper of general circulation on July 7,
1990 and in the Official Gazette on July 10, 1990. When did the law take effect? Explain your
answer. Can the executive branch start releasing and disbursing funds appropriated by the said law
the day following its approval? Explain your answer.

22. Jaime, who is 65, and his son, Willy, who is 25, died in a plane crash. There is no proof as to who
died first. Jaime's only surviving heir is his wife, Julia, who is also Willy's mother. Willy's surviving
heirs are his mother, Julia and his wife, Wilma. In the settlement of Jaime's estate, can Wilma
successfully claim that her late husband, Willy had a hereditary share since he was much younger
than his father and, therefore, should be presumed to have survived longer? [3%] Suppose Jaime
 had a life insurance policy with his wife Julia, and his son, Willy, as the beneficiaries. Can Wilma
successfully claim that one-half of the proceeds should belong to Willy's estate? 2%

23. Cristy and her late husband Luis had two children, Rose and Patrick, One summer, her mother-in-
law, aged 70, took the two children, then aged 10 and 12, with her on a boat trip to Cebu.
Unfortunately, the vessel sank en route, and the bodies of the three were never found. None of the
survivors ever saw them on the water. On the settlement of her mother-in-law's estate, Cristy files
a claim for a share of her estate on the ground that the same was inherited by her children from
their grandmother in representation of their father, and she inherited the same from them. Will her
action prosper? (2%)

24. Distinguish juridical capacity from capacity to act.

25. Juan is a Filipino citizen residing in Tokyo, Japan. State what laws govern:
a. His capacity to contract marriage in Japan, [ 1%]
b. His successional rights as regards his deceased Filipino father's property in Texas, U.S.A.
[1%]
c. The extrinsic validity of the last will and testament which Juan executed while
sojourning in Switzerland. [2%]
d. The intrinsic validity of said will. (1%)