Persons and Family Relations Case Doctrines (iPaper format)
Sample Exam Questions:
1. While in Afghanistan, a Japanese by the name of Sato sold to Ramoncito, a Filipino, a parcel of land situated in the Philippines which Sato inherited from his Filipino mother. a.) What law governs the formality in the execution of the contract of sale? Explain your answer and give its legal basis. b.) What law governs the capacity of the Japanese to sell the land? Explain your answer and give its le gal basis. c.) What law governs the capacity of the Filipino to buy t he land? Explain your answer and give its legal basis. 2. Yvette was found to be positive for HIV virus, considered sexually transmissible. Her boyfriend, Joseph was aware of her condition and yet marrie d her. After two (2) years of cohabiting with Yvette, and in his belief that she would probably never be able t o bear him a healthy child, Joseph now wants to have his marriage with Yvette annulled. Yvette opposes the suit contending that Joseph is estopped from seeking annulment of their marriage since he knew even before their marriage that she was afflicted with HIV virus. Can the action of Joseph for annulment of his marriage with Yvette prosper? Discuss fully. 3. Isidro and Irma, Filipinos, both 18 years of age , were passengers of Flight No. 317 of Oriental Airlines. The plane they boarded was of Philippine registry. While en route from Manila to Greece, some passengers hijacked the plane, held the chief pilot hostage at the cockpit and ordered him to fly instead to Libya. During the hijacking, Isidro suffered a heart attack and was on the verge of death. Since Irma was already 8 months pregnant by Isidro, she pleaded the hijackers to allow the assistant pilot to solemnize her marriage with Isidro. Soon after the marriage, Isidro expired. As the plane landed in Libya, Irma gave birth. However, the baby died a few minutes after complete delivery. Back in the Philippines, Irma immediately filed a claim for inheritance. The parents of Isidro opposed her claim contending that the marriage between her and Isidro was void ab initio on the following grounds: (a) they had not given their consent to the marriage of their son; (b) there t here was no marriage license; (c) the solemnizing officer had no authority to perform the marriage; and (d) the solemnizing officer did not file an affidavit of marriage with the proper civil registrar. Resolve each of the contentions (a to d) raised by the parents of Isidro. Discuss fully. 4. 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 ear lier 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 m arry from the German Embassy in Manila, Adolf stated in the application for marriage license that he w as a Filipino citizen. With the marriage license stating that Adolf was a Filipino, the couple got marr ied 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. (Bar Question) 5. 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 t o 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 wee k, 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 of the life of the mother? b.) Between Marian and the baby, who is presumed to have died first? c.) Will Pietro, as surviving biological father of the baby, be entitled to claim the proceeds of the life insurance on the life of Marian? (Bar Question) 6. Roderick and Faye were high school swee thearts. 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 m arriage 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 liaison 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. a.) Was the marriage of Roderick and Faye valid? b.) What is the filiation status of Laica? c.) Can Laica bring an action to impugn her own status o n the ground that based on DNA results, Roderick is her biological father? d.) Can Laica e legitimated by the marriage of her biological parents? (Bar Question) 7. Gianna was born to Andy and Aimee, who at the time of Gianna's birth were not married to each other. While Andy was single at the time, Aimee was still in the process of securing a judicial declaration of nullity on her marriage to he r ex-husband. Gianna's birth certificate, which was signed by both Andy and Aimee, registered the status of Gianna as "legitimate," her surname carrying that of Andy's and that her parents were married to each other. a.) Can a judicial action for correction of entries in Gianna's birth certificate be successfully maintained to: i.) Change her status from legitimate to illegitimate; and ii.) Change her surname from that of Andy's to AImee's maiden surname?
b.) Instead of a judicial action, can administrative proceedings be brought for the purpose of making the above corrections? c.) Assuming that Aimee is successful in declaring her former marriage void, and Andy and Aimee subsequently married each other, would Gianna be legitimated? (Bar Question) 8. Despite several relationships with different women, Andrew r emained unmarried. His first relationship with Brenda produced a daughter, Amy, now 30 year s 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. a.) Is there any legal obstacle to the legal adoption of Amy by Andrew? To the legal adoption of Sandy by Andrew and Elena? b.) In his old age, can Andrew be legally entitled to claim support from Amy, Jon, Ryan, Vina, Wilma, and Sandy assuming that all of them have the me ans to support him? c.) Can Amy, Jon, Ryan, Vina, WIlma, and Sandy legally claim support from each other? d.) Can Jon and Jane legally marry? (Bar Question) 9. 26-year-old Gav Mas Hermin Ghuckles is the Crowned P rince of the Kingdom of Antartiqua, a smallisland country located near Antartica. Civil war broke out in the Kingdom. Gav Mas Hermin Ghuckles and the rest of the Royal Family went into exile in Manila early this year. During his exile, Gav Mas Hermin Ghuckles met Gigi, a 21-year-old Filipina nursing student re siding in Manila. They fell in love instantly and decided to get married. Both of them went to the local civil registrar to apply for a marriage license. a.) Can Gav Mas Hermin Ghuckles and Gigi file the required sworn application for a marriage license jointly? b.) What document does Gav Mas Hermin Ghuckles need to present to the local civil registrar in order for the latter to issue him a marriage license? c.) During the course of civil war, the r ebel forces dropped a nuclear bomb on Antartiqua which sunk the entire island-country and killed all of the inhabitants therein. Now without a country, does Gav Mas Hermin Ghuckles still have to obtain the required marriage license? (2008 SBC Pre-Week reviewer) 10. Siblings Geo, Gino, and Gelo were completely orphaned ten years ago when both their parents died in plane crash. At that time, Geo was thirteen, Gino was eleven, and Ge lo was only six years old. Now 23 years old, Geo wants to marry her boyfriend Ivan. Geo and Gino agreed that they would sell the home that their parents left them to use some of the proceeds for Geo's wedding celebration and the rest of the proceeds to pay the rentals in the apartment unit where Gino and Gelo were going to move. Geo and Gino also agreed that Gelo will stay with Gino until he graduates from high school. May Geo and Gino validly sell the house their parents left them?
