Text of the provision
Art. 119. Whenever an amount or credit payable within a period of time belongs to one of the spouses, the sums which may be collected during the marriage in partial payments or by installments on the principal shall be the exclusive property of the spouse.
However, interests falling due during the marriage on the principal shall belong to the conjugal partnership.
(156a, 157a)
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
Suppose one spouse is owed money — a credit payable over time — that belonged to them before or apart from the marriage. This article splits the collections in two:
- Payments on the principal collected during the marriage stay the spouse's exclusive property. The debt was theirs; getting it repaid does not enrich the partnership.
- The interest that falls due during the marriage is conjugal — it is a fruit or income arising during the marriage, and so is shared.
This mirrors Article 117(3): the underlying capital stays separate, but its fruits during the marriage belong to the partnership.
Related provisions
- Article 117 — fruits of exclusive property are conjugal.
- Article 109 — exclusive property of each spouse.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 119 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.