Text of the provision
Art. 101. If a spouse without just cause abandons the other or fails to comply with his or her obligations to the family, the aggrieved spouse may petition the court for receivership, for judicial separation of property or for authority to be the sole administrator of the absolute community, subject to such precautionary conditions as the court may impose.
The obligations to the family mentioned in the preceding paragraph refer to marital, parental or property relations.
A spouse is deemed to have abandoned the other when her or she has left the conjugal dwelling without intention of returning. The spouse who has left the conjugal dwelling for a period of three months or has failed within the same period to give any information as to his or her whereabouts shall be prima facie presumed to have no intention of returning to the conjugal dwelling.
(178a)
Family Code of the Philippines, Executive Order No. 209, approved July 6, 1987. The Code took effect on August 3, 1988 (Republic v. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, October 5, 2005). Reproduced in full.
What this article means
When a spouse abandons the other without just cause, or fails to meet their obligations to the family, the aggrieved spouse is not stuck. They may go to court for one of three remedies: receivership, judicial separation of property, or authority to be the sole administrator of the absolute community. The court can attach conditions to protect both sides.
The article then defines its terms. "Obligations to the family" covers marital, parental or property duties. Abandonment means leaving the conjugal dwelling with no intention of returning — and there is a concrete evidentiary shortcut: a spouse gone for three months, or who gives no word of their whereabouts for three months, is prima facie presumed to have no intention of returning.
Related provisions
- Article 100 — the milder effects of separation in fact.
- Article 96 — the ordinary rule of joint administration this lets a court override.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on the Article 101 remedies and the three-month abandonment presumption will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.