Short answer. Yes. Article 103 of the Family Code says that if the six-month period after your spouse's death lapses without the community property being liquidated, any disposition or encumbrance involving that community property shall be void. A sale you made without completing liquidation within that deadline falls squarely within that rule.
What the law says
the surviving spouse shall liquidate the community property either judicially or extra-judicially within six months from the death of the deceased spouse
Family Code, Article 103 — Liquidation on Death; the Six-Month Rule. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If upon the lapse of the six months period, no liquidation is made, any disposition or encumbrance involving the community property of the terminated marriage shall be void.
Family Code, Article 103 — Liquidation on Death; the Six-Month Rule. Read the full provision →
The six-month liquidation deadline
Article 103 sets a firm deadline for the surviving spouse when no judicial settlement proceeding is pending. The surviving spouse shall liquidate the community property either judicially or extra-judicially within six months from the death of the deceased spouse. That deadline is what the rest of the article's consequence is built around, and it runs whether or not any sale or transaction over the property is contemplated in the meantime.
What happens when the deadline lapses unmet
Article 103 states the consequence in unqualified terms: If upon the lapse of the six months period, no liquidation is made, any disposition or encumbrance involving the community property of the terminated marriage shall be void. The text does not limit that void rule to sales made only after the six months expired — once the deadline lapses with no liquidation done, the article voids any disposition or encumbrance of that community property.
Why a sale made during the six months is not automatically safe
Since the article ties the void consequence to the fact that liquidation was never completed within six months, a sale you made during that same window is not protected simply because it happened before the deadline technically expired. The property was still community property awaiting liquidation when you sold it, and the article's void rule attaches once that liquidation deadline passes without being met.
The rule extends further, to remarriage
Article 103 adds one more consequence tied to the same six-month requirement: a surviving spouse who remarries without having complied with it is placed under a mandatory regime of complete separation of property for the subsequent marriage. That is a separate consequence from the void-disposition rule, but it underscores how seriously the article treats the six-month liquidation deadline, reaching beyond just the sale of property into the property regime of a later marriage.
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.
- Heirs of the Late Apolinario Caburnay, et al. vs. Heirs of Teodulo Sison, namely, G.R. No. 230934, December 2, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Heirs of Protacio Go and Marta Barola, namely: Leonor Go, et al. vs. Ester L. Servacio and Rito B. Go, G.R. No. 157537, September 7, 2011 — read the decision on LawPhil →