Text of the provision

Art. 104. Whenever the liquidation of the community properties of two or more marriages contracted by the same person before the effectivity of this Code is carried out simultaneously, the respective capital, fruits and income of each community shall be determined upon such proof as may be considered according to the rules of evidence. In case of doubt as to which community the existing properties belong, the same shall be divided between the different communities in proportion to the capital and duration of each.

(189a)

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

A rare but tricky situation: one person had two or more marriages (before this Code took effect) whose property communities must be liquidated at the same time. Article 104 says to determine each community's capital, fruits and income by the ordinary rules of evidence — and, where it is genuinely unclear which marriage a given property belongs to, to divide it in proportion to the capital and duration of each community.

It is a tie-breaker for an accounting problem, ensuring the property of an earlier marriage (and its heirs) is not swallowed by a later one.

Related provisions

Cases interpreting this article

Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment. The annotation, case summaries and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. Whether this provision applies to a particular marriage depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your situation can assess.