Family & Property — Philippine Legal Questions Answered

Can spouses agree in their prenuptial contract that the absolute community of property will start only one year after the wedding?
What rules govern situations that the Family Code's chapter on absolute community of property does not specifically address?
What court remedies can I seek if my spouse has abandoned me and our common properties are being neglected?
A relative verbally promised to give us property because we were getting married — is that promise enforceable?
Are retirement benefits and pensions considered conjugal property?
Are donations made because of an upcoming wedding cancelled if the marriage never happens?
If one spouse acted in bad faith in a presumptive-death remarriage, who receives that spouse's share of the net profits when the marriage is terminated?
In a void marriage where one partner was in bad faith, what happens to that partner's share of the property they acquired together?
Do both spouses need to agree before conjugal partnership property can be sold?
Can a bank still foreclose on our family home if we default on the mortgage that financed it?
Can I appeal a court's decision on my spousal-consent petition?
Can I ask a court to appoint a receiver over our community property if my spouse abandoned us?
Can a donation made because of the marriage be taken back if the marriage is later annulled?
Can I claim damages against my spouse in the same case where they are refusing to consent to a transaction?
Can I have more than one property recognized as our family home?
I own a house in the city and one in the province — can both be protected as family homes?
Can I leave my share of our community property to someone else in my will?
Can I sell our family home without everyone in the household agreeing to it?
Can I sell or mortgage property that was mine before the wedding without asking my spouse's permission?
Can I appear in court alone to defend property I owned exclusively before the marriage?
Can a spouse give up their share of the community property while the marriage is still intact?
Can property we are still paying off in installments be declared our family home?
Can a minor who is legally allowed to marry sign a prenuptial agreement?
Can my spouse appeal the judgment in a family summary proceeding?
Can my spouse donate community property to someone else without asking me first?
Can my spouse donate conjugal partnership property without telling me?
Can spouses legally give each other gifts once they are already married?
Can spouses who are still together jointly ask a court to dissolve their property regime?
Can spouses simply agree between themselves to separate their properties without going to court?
Can spouses change their prenuptial agreement after the wedding?
Can we revive our old property regime after a court-ordered separation of property?
Can we agree to separate only some of our property instead of all of it?
Can I include a claim for damages against my spouse in the same summary court petition?
What law fills the gaps if the absolute community rules do not cover our situation?
Does our absolute community of property terminate immediately upon the death of one spouse?
Does a court-ordered separation of property end the absolute community of property even while the marriage continues?
Can future spouses agree in a prenuptial agreement to keep all their properties completely separate throughout the marriage?
How is the family home and the lot it sits on distributed between the spouses after an annulment or nullity judgment?
When conjugal partnership property is dissolved, in what order are personal debts and conjugal debts paid off?
We spent conjugal partnership money improving the land I owned before the wedding — who ends up owning the whole lot?
If future spouses choose conjugal partnership of gains in their prenuptial agreement, which chapter of the Family Code governs that property regime?
If a decree of legal separation is issued, does our conjugal partnership of gains end at that point?
Does our conjugal partnership of gains follow the same legal rules as an ordinary business partnership?
Under a conjugal partnership of gains, does each spouse's separate property remain theirs alone during the marriage?
What rules apply to our property if we chose conjugal partnership of gains in our marriage settlement?
The conjugal partnership advanced some of the installments on property that turned out to be exclusively mine — does it get paid back?
A conjugal property was disposed of without the other spouse's consent — is the transaction void outright or can it still be ratified?
Can the contractor who built our house force a sale of our family home if we do not pay them?
My husband is in hiding as an accused in a criminal case — can I get court authority to manage his own property?
My husband left years ago and I need to sell conjugal land — how do I get court authority without his consent?
Can the court decide my case if my spouse cannot be found or will not appear?
Can a court transfer control of my exclusive property to my spouse if I am declared an absentee?
Can a creditor force the sale of a family home that turns out to be worth more than the legal value limit?
If a creditor forces the sale of our family home because it exceeds the value limit, what happens to any proceeds beyond what is allowed?
When my spouse and I jointly petition to dissolve our property regime, do we have to list all our creditors?
Must creditors of the spouses be notified before the community property is liquidated after an annulment judgment?
If my spouse waives their share of community property during a judicial separation of property, can my spouse's creditors challenge that waiver?
My husband was ordered to pay a fine in a criminal case — can it be taken from our conjugal property?
What law governs our property if we never signed a prenuptial agreement?
Can I let my spouse manage the property I own exclusively under our conjugal partnership?
Are my dependent parents and grandparents who live with me protected by the family home exemption from creditors?
Do the same rules on when community property begins also apply to conjugal partnership of gains?
Do I need a lawyer at the preliminary conference in a family summary proceeding?
Do I need to file any paperwork to establish a family home, or does it happen automatically?
Does the family home lose its protection from creditors the moment one spouse dies?
Does living separately from my spouse end our conjugal partnership of gains?
If we get a judicial separation of property, does it wipe out debts I already owed before?
Does a wife administering her absent husband's property need court approval to sell it?
My fiancé donated me a mortgaged lot and the bank foreclosed — do I owe the shortfall?
If I receive property as a gift during the marriage, can the donor specify that it should form part of our community property instead of being excluded?
Can we donate property we do not own yet in our marriage settlement?
Can my live-in partner legally donate property to me while we are together?
What body of rules governs donations made before the wedding in consideration of the marriage?
When both spouses in a bigamous second marriage acted in bad faith, what happens to the donations they made to each other?
When our conjugal partnership is liquidated, will I be reimbursed for my exclusive property that the partnership used?
We are both foreigners living in the Philippines — does Philippine law govern our marital property?
My spouse died — how long does the family home keep its protection after that?
Can heirs force a partition of the family home while a minor beneficiary is still living there?
Does family home protection cover a house we have lived in since long before the Family Code took effect?
Does the family home law apply to a house we already lived in before these rules existed?
My siblings and I have been fighting in court over our parents' estate — can the court order us to suspend the case and try to reach a compromise?
If the community property is insufficient, what property is next used to cover family support and expenses?
If a foreigner marries a Filipino, which country's property law governs their marriage?
Will there be a full trial for my spousal-consent petition, or just a summary hearing?
If my spouse loses money gambling, does the loss come out of our community property?
If my spouse wins money from a sweepstakes or bet, does the winnings form part of our community property?
Can I get court authority to manage my abandoning spouse's property to support our family?
Does a gift given to us after the wedding still count as a donation by reason of marriage?
Can a guardian mortgage a minor's property without going to court first?
I stayed home to care for our children while my partner worked — do I still own half the property we acquired while living together?
We built a house with conjugal money on land I owned before the marriage — who ends up owning it?
Can a house we are still paying for on installment be treated as a family home?
Is managing the household legally only the wife's responsibility?
How do my spouse and I split family expenses if our incomes are different?
If we're under a conjugal partnership of gains, do we automatically split our net gains 50-50 when the marriage ends?
How is community property divided once the absolute community regime ends?
How are conjugal properties divided once the partnership is dissolved after annulment?
How is my spouse notified if I file a petition because they will not give consent to a transaction?
How many years must pass without any news of a missing person before a court can declare that person legally absent?
How long does my spouse have to be gone with no word before the law presumes they've abandoned our family?
How long do I have to liquidate our community property after my spouse dies?
How soon must conjugal partnership property be liquidated after my spouse dies?
What do I file in court if my spouse will not consent to a transaction that needs their signature?
My husband sold our house without my written consent — is the sale void or can I still ratify it?
Can my husband legally stop me from working?
My spouse had an accident and can no longer participate in managing our conjugal property — can I take over alone?
If I take over as sole administrator because my spouse is incapacitated, can I sell conjugal property without court authority?
If I'm owed money in installments, do the payments collected during marriage become conjugal property?
I am collecting installments on a loan I made before the wedding — is that money mine alone or conjugal?
Can creditors go after our community property for a debt my spouse incurred without my consent?
Are the fruits and income I receive during the marriage from property I already owned before the wedding conjugal property?
If I inherit money or property during the marriage, does it become community property?
Is my salary from work considered conjugal property?
Is property I already owned before the wedding automatically part of our community property?
Is there a peso limit on how expensive a family home can be and still keep its legal protection?
My spouse owns expensive jewelry bought for personal use during the marriage — is it excluded from the community property?
When spouses are living apart and one spouse needs the other's consent for a transaction but cannot get it, what must they do?
Can I get a judicial separation of property if the spouse given administration power in our marriage settlement abused it?
Can I petition for judicial separation of property because my spouse was sentenced to a penalty carrying civil interdiction?
Is my spouse being judicially declared an absentee a valid ground to ask the court for separation of property?
We have been living apart for more than a year with no chance of reconciliation — is that enough to get judicial separation of property?
Do I lose the gifts my second spouse gave me if that marriage is voided for bigamy?
Under a conjugal partnership of gains, do I keep ownership of property I already had before the wedding?
Does the offending spouse lose their share of net profits from the community property after a decree of legal separation?
Can I let my spouse manage the land I inherited, and how is that made official?
Is there a limit on how much my fiance can donate to me before we marry?
My partner and I are both free to marry each other but we just never did — how is property we acquired together treated?
Can my live-in partner sell property we acquired together while we are still living together without asking me first?
What property rights do live-in partners have in the Philippines?
We both brought cattle to the marriage — is all our livestock at dissolution conjugal or only the excess?
If my spouse and I live apart without filing any court case, does that end our absolute community property?
Can future spouses opt for conjugal partnership of gains instead of absolute community in a prenuptial agreement?
I was married before the new Civil Code took effect — does the new code govern my capacity to enter contracts and manage property, even if my old marriage predates it?
Can I give a moderate charitable donation from our conjugal partnership funds without my spouse's consent?
Can one spouse make a charitable donation of community property without the other spouse's consent?
Do we need to record a separation-of-property court judgment anywhere?
Do I need a lawyer for the first court conference on my spousal-consent petition?
Can the government seize our family home to collect unpaid real estate taxes despite the family home exemption?
How much can engaged couples donate to each other in their marriage settlement?
A property donated to my spouse came with a debt attached and our conjugal funds paid it — who bears that cost?
How do courts split conjugal partnership property when someone had two overlapping marriages before the Family Code?
How is property divided if a parent had two marriages before the Family Code took effect?
If I still need my parents' consent to marry, do they also have to sign our marriage settlement?
Can a debt my spouse owed before we married be collected from our community property?
Does a prenuptial agreement have to be in writing to be valid?
We only signed our prenuptial agreement after the wedding — is it valid?
Can someone serving a sentence that carries civil interdiction still sign a marriage settlement?
Can someone under civil interdiction sign a valid prenuptial agreement?
Are prenuptial agreements valid in the Philippines?
If we cannot trace when or how a piece of property was acquired, is it presumed to be community property or separate property?
I started paying for property in installments before the wedding but finished paying after — is it conjugal?
Under conjugal partnership of gains, is property I bought during the marriage with my own exclusive money mine alone?
How is our property divided once our annulment becomes final?
If a relative leaves property to both of us in a will, is it ours jointly or exclusive to each?
My in-laws left a lot to my spouse and me jointly without saying how much each gets — how is it split?
Does property a spouse brought into the marriage remain excluded from community property when that spouse has legitimate children from a prior marriage?
If a property bought during the marriage is only in my name, is it still conjugal property?
Does property I owned years before we married automatically become part of our absolute community of property?
What property regime applies to us after our absolute community of property is dissolved?
What are the property rights of a live-in partner when one of them is still married?
If we reconcile after a legal separation decree, does our property regime automatically revive?
What happens to my property regime if I remarry without settling my late spouse's community property first?
Can we go back to sharing property after we reconcile from legal separation?
My husband was judicially declared an absentee and has now come home — can we restore our old property regime?
We were separated in fact for years and are back together — can we bring back our former property regime?
After legal separation, can I revoke donations I made to the offending spouse before the decree?
Can I take back the gifts I gave my spouse after legal separation is granted?
The spouse I gave a wedding donation to was the guilty party in their legal separation — can I take the gift back?
What rules apply if we chose separation of property as our marriage settlement regime?
What rules apply to appraising and selling conjugal property if the Family Code does not specify?
Can I sell property I owned before the marriage without my spouse's consent?
I sold conjugal land two years after my husband died without ever liquidating — is that sale void?
What happens to my spouse's authority over my property once I sell it?
Can we agree to separate only some of our properties and leave the rest in common?
Under a separation of property regime, does my salary and income from my business belong to me alone?
Under a complete separation of property regime, can I sell or manage my own property without my spouse ever agreeing?
If two marriages contracted before the Family Code are liquidated simultaneously and it is unclear which marriage owns a property, how is it divided?
Can a single parent constitute a family home, or is that protection only for married couples?
Can I spend conjugal partnership money on a family celebration without asking my spouse first?
If I am managing community property alone because my spouse is incapacitated, can I sell it without their consent?
My spouse abandoned us without cause — can I petition the court to manage the conjugal property alone or appoint a receiver?
Who administers the community property while a legal separation case is still pending in court?
Can the court prevent the spouse who caused the legal separation from administering the community property during the case?
Can a spouse leave their interest in the community property to a person of their choice through a will?
What happens if my spouse does not show up to the hearing on my consent petition?
If my spouse loses money gambling, does it come out of our conjugal partnership funds?
My spouse had a stroke and can no longer decide anything — can I manage our community property alone?
If a spouse leaves the family home without justification, do they lose the right to be supported from community property?
Can my spouse's debt from before our marriage be collected from our conjugal partnership property?
My spouse sold the exclusive property I let him administer — who keeps the proceeds?
When spouses disagree about managing community property, whose decision prevails?
If conjugal assets are not enough to pay all conjugal debts, are we personally liable for the balance?
Can the widow and children draw support from the estate while the liquidation drags on for years?
Is it only the husband's legal duty to support the family, or are both spouses equally responsible?
Can my husband's illegitimate child be supported out of our conjugal partnership property?
If hidden treasure is found on land belonging to our conjugal partnership, does the spouse who found it get to keep the finder's share?
We voluntarily had our property regime dissolved by the court and now regret it — can we undo it?
If my spouse's unauthorized sale of our community property is void, can the buyer still eventually get valid title?
Can a single person who supports their parents constitute a family home?
Does our prenuptial agreement have to be registered before it can be used against a bank or creditor?
My spouse abandoned us — can I get court authority to use his separate property to support the children?
What are valid legal grounds to ask a court for judicial separation of property?
If our marriage is declared void rather than annulled, does the conjugal partnership of gains also come to an end?
If our prenuptial agreement is void, which property regime applies to our marriage?
What happens to a sale of community property that one spouse completed without the other's written consent?
Can a spouse waive their share of conjugal partnership property while the marriage is ongoing without a court order?
Is a gift handed to us at the reception a 'donation by reason of marriage'?
If my fiance gives me a mortgaged property as a wedding gift, am I responsible for the loan?
Do wedding gifts between spouses-to-be follow the same rules as ordinary donations under the Civil Code?
If my spouse has disappeared and left no one to manage the family property, what can I ask the court to do?
What happens if my spouse ignores the court notice and never appears in the summary proceeding?
What legally counts as a 'family home' under Philippine law?
What exactly counts as failing to comply with obligations to the family that lets me petition for property remedies?
What powers and obligations does a court-appointed representative of a missing person have over that person's property?
When does a conjugal partnership of gains legally come to an end?
When exactly does the absolute community of property begin between spouses?
When does the absolute community of property between spouses end?
When does the court-appointed administration of a missing person's property automatically come to an end?
Once a court declares a person legally absent, when does that declaration actually take effect?
Where do I have to register a court decree separating our properties?
Which court do I file in when my spouse refuses to give the consent a sale requires?
Which court has jurisdiction over a petition to get around my spouse's withheld consent?
If the court finds the other spouse unfit to administer, who takes over the exclusive property?
Who is appointed to administer an absentee's property in the Philippines?
Who is legally entitled to ask a court to declare a missing relative legally absent?
Who has the final say if my spouse and I disagree on managing our community property?
Who gets support from the conjugal property while it is still being liquidated?
If my spouse and I disagree on whether something we own is community property, who has to prove it isn't?
Who does the court prefer to appoint as representative when one spouse has gone missing?
Which family members are protected by the family home's exemption from creditors?
If we have young children, who gets to keep the family home when our community property is divided?
Who owns improvements built on my exclusive property using conjugal partnership money?
Under complete separation of property, who pays the household bills — and can a creditor sue just one spouse for all of it?
Who pays the charges on an onerous wedding gift advanced by the conjugal partnership?
Who pays for the family's support while a judicial property separation case is pending?
How long does a wife have to go to court to challenge a community property decision her husband made over her objection?
My husband overruled me on managing our conjugal property — how long do I have to bring the matter to court?
Will a family summary proceeding involve a full trial, or is it decided on affidavits?

Business & Corporate

Civil Liability

Contracts & Obligations

Courts & Litigation

Crimes & Penalties

Estate & Succession

Family & Annulment

Family & Children

Labor & Employment

Property & Real Estate

Ready to take the first step?