Lito Marriage  The Lita Terminated Plane Married Jaime

VII.  

Lito was a commercial pilot who flew for Pacific-Micronesian Air. In 1998, he was the co-pilot of the airline's Flight MA916 that mysteriously disappeared two hours after take-off from Agana, Guam, presumably over the Pacific Ocean. No trace of the plane and its 105 passengers and crew was ever found despite diligent search; Lito himself was never heard of again.  

Lito left behind his wife, Lita, and their two children.  In 2008, Lita met and married Jaime. They now have a child of their own.  While on a tour with her former high school classmates in a remote province of China in 2010, Lita was surprised to see Lito or somebody who looked exactly like him, but she was sure it was Lito because of the extreme surprise that registered in his face when he also saw her. Shocked, she immediately fled to her hotel and post haste returned to the country the next day. Lita now comes to you for legal advice. She asks you the following questions:

VII(l)  If Lito is alive, what is the status of his marriage to Lita? (1%)

(A)  The marriage subsists because the marital bond has not been terminated by death.

(B)  The marriage was terminated when Lita married Jaime.

(C)  The marriage subsists because Lita's marriage to Jaime is void.

(D)  The marriage is terminated because Lito is presumed dead after his plane has been missing for more than 4 years.

(E)  The marriage can be formally declared terminated if Lito would not resurface.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

(C)

For the purpose of contracting the subsequent marriage under Article 41 of the Family Code, the spouse present must institute a summary proceeding as provided for in the Family Code for the declaration of presumptive death of the absentee, without prejudice to the effect of reappearances of the absent spouse.