Short answer. Yes. A spouse who becomes a fugitive from justice or is in hiding as an accused in a criminal case is one of the four situations in which the court may transfer the administration of his exclusive property to the other spouse. It takes a court order, not merely his absence.
What the law says
The administration of all classes of exclusive property of either spouse may be transferred by the court to the other spouse: (1) When one spouse becomes the guardian of the other; (2) When one spouse is judicially declared an absentee; (3) When one spouse is sentenced to a penalty which carries with it civil interdiction; or (4) When one spouse becomes a fugitive from justice or is in hiding as an accused in a criminal case.
Family Code, Article 142 — Court Transfer of Administration of Exclusive Property. Read the full provision →
Hiding does not require a conviction
The fourth instance is drawn to cover exactly your position, and it is worth noticing what it does not require. The spouse need not have been sentenced — that is the third instance, which deals with civil interdiction after a sentence. It is enough that he becomes a fugitive from justice or is in hiding as an accused. The presumption of innocence is untouched; the article is not punishing him but responding to a practical fact, which is that property cannot be managed by someone who will not surface to manage it.
What is being transferred, and what is not
The subject is all classes of exclusive property — his own property, not the community or partnership, which is dealt with elsewhere. And what moves is administration: the power to manage, lease, collect, repair, pay the taxes and keep a business running. It is not ownership, and it is not a power to sell or mortgage his property, which an administrator does not acquire merely by being appointed. If a disposition becomes necessary, that is a further authority to be asked for, and it should be asked for expressly.
The court decides, and may say no
The verb is may be transferred by the court, so this is a judicial act with a measure of discretion, not an entitlement that attaches the moment the ground exists. The article itself contemplates the wife being passed over: if the other spouse is not qualified by reason of incompetence, conflict of interest, or any other just cause, the court appoints a suitable person instead. Anticipate that. A spouse who is a complainant in the same criminal case, or who has interests adverse to his estate, should expect the conflict to be raised.
What the court will want to see
Two things need proving. That the ground exists — the criminal case, the warrant, the record of his non-appearance, the efforts made to reach him. And what property is at stake, since an order transferring administration has to identify what it covers: the titles, the tax declarations, the accounts and any business in his name alone. Assemble both before consulting a lawyer, and note what is deteriorating or falling due in the meantime, because urgency of that kind is what makes the application concrete.