Text of the provision

Art. 198. During the proceedings for legal separation or for annulment of marriage, and for declaration of nullity of marriage, the spouses and their children shall be supported from the properties of the absolute community or the conjugal partnership. After the final judgment granting the petition, the obligation of mutual support between the spouses ceases. However, in case of legal separation, the court may order that the guilty spouse shall give support to the innocent one, specifying the terms of such order.

(292a)

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

While a case for legal separation, annulment or nullity is pending, the spouses and their children continue to be supported from the community or conjugal partnership. No one goes unsupported just because the marriage is under challenge.

Once final judgment grants the petition, the mutual support obligation between the spouses ends — they are no longer bound to support each other. Legal separation is the exception: because the marriage bond subsists, the court may order the guilty spouse to support the innocent one, on terms it specifies. (Support of the children continues regardless, as an incident of parental authority.)

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.