Short answer. No, not exclusively. The share of either spouse in hidden treasure that the law awards to the finder or owner of the property where it is found is itself a conjugal partnership property — it belongs to the partnership as a whole, not solely to the spouse who happened to find it.
What the law says
The share of either spouse in the hidden treasure which the law awards to the finder or owner of the property where the treasure is found;
Family Code, Article 117 — What Are Conjugal Partnership Properties. Read the full provision →
The finder's share becomes conjugal property
The statute lists, among the properties that belong to the conjugal partnership, the share of either spouse in the hidden treasure which the law awards to the finder or to the owner of the property where the treasure is found. This means the treasure share is not carved out as the personal property of whichever spouse physically discovered it — it goes into the partnership's assets along with the other categories the article lists.
This covers both possible roles under treasure-hunting law
The provision refers to a share awarded either to the finder or to the owner of the property where the treasure was found — the two roles that treasure-finding rules generally distinguish between. Whichever of those two capacities your spouse's share comes from, this article brings it within conjugal partnership property, since the land itself belongs to the partnership and the finding occurred on that conjugal land.
This sits alongside similar rules for chance and labor-based gains
The treasure share is grouped in the same article with other gains that might seem personal at first glance but are treated as conjugal — earnings from a spouse's labor or profession, and even winnings from gambling or betting acquired during the marriage. The consistent theme is that value generated or discovered during the marriage, using conjugal property or through either spouse's efforts, generally flows into the shared partnership rather than staying with whichever spouse was directly involved in generating or finding it.
What this article does not itself determine
This provision tells you that the treasure share is conjugal property once awarded — it does not itself explain how the underlying treasure-finding rules split ownership between a finder and a landowner in the first place, since that depends on separate rules not addressed here. It also does not affect the treasure's ownership if it were found on a spouse's separate, non-conjugal property rather than on land belonging to the partnership, a different scenario this article does not cover.
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.
- Noel Buenaventura vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 127358, March 31, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Government Service Insurance System vs. Milagros O. Montesclaros, G.R. No. 146494, July 14, 2004 — read the decision on LawPhil →