Short answer. It is presumed to be community property. Article 93 of the Family Code provides that property acquired during the marriage is presumed to belong to the community, unless it is proved to be one of those excluded therefrom. The burden falls on the spouse claiming it is separate property.
What the law says
Property acquired during the marriage is presumed to belong to the community, unless it is proved that it is one of those excluded therefrom.
Family Code, Article 93 — Presumption of Community Property. Read the full provision →
The presumption of community property
Article 93 of the Family Code provides: Property acquired during the marriage is presumed to belong to the community, unless it is proved that it is one of those excluded therefrom. When you cannot trace the origin of a piece of property — when you do not know whether it was bought with earnings during the marriage, inherited, or received as a gift — the default legal answer is that it belongs to the absolute community of property. The presumption operates in favor of community ownership, not separate ownership.
Who carries the burden of proof
The presumption in Article 93 means that the spouse claiming a piece of property as separate — as exclusively their own and not part of the community — carries the burden of proving it. If neither spouse can produce evidence of when and how the property was acquired, or if the evidence is unclear, the presumption stands and the property is treated as community property. A claim that the property was owned before the marriage, or that it was received by inheritance or gift during the marriage, requires proof. Bare assertion is not enough to rebut the presumption.
What kinds of property are excluded from the community
The article refers to property that is excluded from the community. The Family Code identifies categories of property that remain separate even under the absolute community regime — most importantly, property owned by a spouse before the marriage, property acquired during the marriage by gratuitous title such as a gift or inheritance where the donor or testator intended it to be exclusive, and property acquired through the exclusive money of one spouse. These exclusions are defined by the Family Code and must be specifically established by evidence. Without that evidence, the presumption of community ownership applies.
Why this matters in practice
The presumption of community property has significant practical consequences. It determines what both spouses own together and what each owns separately. It affects how property can be sold or mortgaged — community property generally requires the consent of both spouses to dispose of. It shapes how property is divided in the event of annulment, legal separation, or the death of a spouse. It also determines whether the community's property can be reached to pay one spouse's debts. When a specific piece of property's status is disputed and the evidence is lost, incomplete, or never existed, Article 93 resolves the dispute by presuming community ownership.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Edgardo Santos, et al. vs. Maria D. Santos and/or her Successors-in-interest, G.R. No. 250774, June 16, 2021 — read the decision on LawPhil →