Short answer. On four occasions only: the death of either spouse, a decree of legal separation, the annulment of the marriage or its declaration as void, and judicial separation of property during the marriage. Simply living apart, however long, does not end the absolute community.
What the law says
The absolute community terminates: (1) Upon the death of either spouse; (2) When there is a decree of legal separation; (3) When the marriage is annulled or declared void; or (4) In case of judicial separation of property during the marriage
Family Code, Article 99 — When the Absolute Community Terminates. Read the full provision →
A closed list of four
Article 99 of the Family Code enumerates the ways the absolute community of property comes to an end, and the list is exhaustive rather than illustrative. The absolute community terminates upon the death of either spouse, upon a decree of legal separation, when the marriage is annulled or declared void, and in the case of judicial separation of property during the marriage. Anything not on that list does not terminate the regime, however much it changes the reality of the marriage.
Separating in fact is the big non-event
This is where most people are caught out. Moving out, splitting the bank accounts, an overseas posting that lasts a decade, a private agreement that from now on what each earns is their own — none of these appears in Article 99, and none of them ends the community. Property acquired by either spouse during that period generally continues to fall into the community, and debts continue to be measured against it. Couples who have been apart for years are often surprised to learn that a house bought last year, alone and from their own salary, is not simply theirs.
Three of the four require a court
Only death operates automatically. Legal separation, annulment or nullity, and judicial separation of property each require a decree, which means the regime continues until the decree exists — not from the date of the misconduct or the date of filing. Termination is also not the end of the process: what follows is liquidation, in which an inventory separates community property from each spouse's exclusive property, community debts are paid first, and only what remains after that — the net assets — is divided, generally equally between the spouses unless the marriage settlements set a different proportion or a share was validly waived. Until that liquidation is completed, neither spouse holds a divided share they can freely sell or mortgage, because what each owns is an interest in the mass rather than in any particular asset within it. If you are separated in fact and about to acquire property, the date your regime actually terminates is the fact worth establishing first.
Related provisions
- Family Code, Article 99 — When the Absolute Community Terminates
- Family Code, Article 63 — Effects of the Decree of Legal Separation