Text of the provision

Art. 197. In case of legitimate ascendants; descendants, whether legitimate or illegitimate; and brothers and sisters, whether legitimately or illegitimately related, only the separate property of the person obliged to give support shall be answerable provided that in case the obligor has no separate property, the absolute community or the conjugal partnership, if financially capable, shall advance the support, which shall be deducted from the share of the spouse obliged upon the liquidation of the absolute community or of the conjugal partnership.

(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

When a married person owes support to their own relatives — ascendants, descendants (legitimate or illegitimate), or siblings — the general rule is that only that person's separate property answers for it. The support of one spouse's relatives is not, in the first instance, a charge on the shared property.

But the relatives are not left without recourse. If the obligor spouse has no separate property, the absolute community or conjugal partnership must advance the support (if it can afford to) — and that advance is later deducted from the obligor spouse's share when the property regime is liquidated. The family fund fronts the money but is made whole at the end.

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.