Text of the provision

Art. 122. The payment of personal debts contracted by the husband or the wife before or during the marriage shall not be charged to the conjugal properties partnership except insofar as they redounded to the benefit of the family. Neither shall the fines and pecuniary indemnities imposed upon them be charged to the partnership.

However, the payment of personal debts contracted by either spouse before the marriage, that of fines and indemnities imposed upon them, as well as the support of illegitimate children of either spouse, may be enforced against the partnership assets after the responsibilities enumerated in the preceding Article have been covered, if the spouse who is bound should have no exclusive property or if it should be insufficient; but at the time of the liquidation of the partnership, such spouse shall be charged for what has been paid for the purpose above-mentioned.

(163a)

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 spouse's personal debts — incurred before or during the marriage — are not chargeable to the conjugal partnership, and neither are fines or civil indemnities imposed on them. The partnership only answers for a personal debt to the extent it benefited the family.

There is a fallback, though. A spouse's premarital debts, their fines and indemnities, and the support of their illegitimate children may be enforced against partnership assets — but only after the partnership's own obligations (the "preceding Article") are covered, and only if that spouse has no exclusive property, or not enough. Whatever the partnership advances this way is charged back to that spouse at liquidation.

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.