Short answer. Yes, but not automatically. His reappearance is one of the listed instances, and it entitles you to file a motion in the same proceeding where the separation of property was decreed. The old regime revives only when the court issues a decree reviving it.
What the law says
The spouses may, in the same proceedings where separation of property was decreed, file a motion in court for a decree reviving the property regime that existed between them before the separation of property in any of the following instances: (1) When the civil interdiction terminates; (2) When the absentee spouse reappears;
Family Code, Article 141 — Reviving the Former Property Regime. Read the full provision →
Coming home is a ground, not the remedy
The article lists reappearance of the absentee spouse as one of the instances in which revival may be asked for. That is all it does. Reappearance opens the door; it does not restore anything by itself, however plainly the fact of his return is known to everyone. What restores the regime is a decree reviving the property regime that existed between them before the separation of property, and a decree exists only when a court has issued one. Until then the separation of property continues to govern, and each spouse continues to own and administer separately.
A motion in the same case, not a new one
The article is specific about where the request goes: in the same proceedings where separation of property was decreed. So the first practical task is to identify that case — the court, the docket number, and the decree — because you are reopening it rather than starting fresh. Note also that the motion is the spouses' to file. Both of you are moving to undo an arrangement the court put in place, which is why the couple's agreement is where this begins, not where it ends.
Revival puts back what was there before
What returns is the regime that existed before the separation of property — the absolute community or conjugal partnership you were under, not a new arrangement of your choosing. The article adds that revival shall be governed by Article 67, which supplies the mechanics, including the requirement of an instrument stating the properties to be contributed anew and those to be retained as separate. The revived regime therefore starts from a written inventory, and drawing it accurately is the real work: the years of separate ownership have to be reflected in it.
It is a one-time door
The sentence that follows the list is easy to skim past and hard to undo: No voluntary separation of property may thereafter be granted. Once you revive the regime, you cannot later go back to court and voluntarily separate your properties again. For a couple reuniting after a long absence, that is worth weighing before filing rather than after. Bring the original decree, the declaration of absence, and a full list of what each of you acquired during the separation to a lawyer, and decide the question with the consequence in view.
Related provisions
- Family Code, Article 141 — Reviving the Former Property Regime
- Family Code, Article 67 — Reviving the Former Property Regime