Text of the provision
Art. 151. No suit between members of the same family shall prosper unless it should appear from the verified complaint or petition that earnest efforts toward a compromise have been made, but that the same have failed. If it is shown that no such efforts were in fact made, the same case must be dismissed.
This rules shall not apply to cases which may not be the subject of compromise under the Civil Code.
(222a)
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
The law wants families to try to settle before they sue each other. When the parties to a case are members of the same family, the verified complaint or petition must show that earnest efforts toward a compromise were made and failed. If the record shows no such effort was made, the case must be dismissed.
The requirement is not absolute. It does not apply to cases that cannot legally be compromised under the Civil Code — for example, questions of a person's civil status or the validity of a marriage. There, the parties may go straight to court.
Related provisions
- Article 152 — the opening of the family-home chapter that follows.
- Article 149 and Article 150 — the family as a basic social institution and what "family relations" means.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 151 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.