Text of the provision
Art. 162. The provisions in this Chapter shall also govern existing family residences insofar as said provisions are applicable.
(n)
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
This is a transitional rule. When the Family Code took effect in 1988, many families already lived in homes set up under the old rules, which required a formal, recorded constitution. This article makes the new chapter apply to those existing family residences too, "insofar as applicable."
The Supreme Court has read this to mean that a residence occupied as a family home on or after 3 August 1988 is deemed constituted automatically under Article 153, without the old paperwork — while events that occurred entirely before that date are still judged under the prior law.
Related provisions
- Article 153 — automatic constitution from occupancy.
- Article 152 — the definition of the family home.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 162 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.