Text of the provision
Art. 200. When the obligation to give support falls upon two or more persons, the payment of the same shall be divided between them in proportion to the resources of each. However, in case of urgent need and by special circumstances, the judge may order only one of them to furnish the support provisionally, without prejudice to his right to claim from the other obligors the share due from them.
When two or more recipients at the same time claim support from one and the same person legally obliged to give it, should the latter not have sufficient means to satisfy all claims, the order established in the preceding article shall be followed, unless the concurrent obligees should be the spouse and a child subject to parental authority, in which case the child shall be preferred.
(295a)
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
Two situations, two rules. When several people owe support to one claimant, they split it in proportion to each one's resources. In an urgent case, though, the judge may order one obligor to pay provisionally — that obligor can later recover the others' shares from them.
When instead several claimants seek support from one obligor who cannot satisfy them all, the order of priority in Article 199 applies — with one override: if the competing claimants are the spouse and a child under parental authority, the child is preferred.
Related provisions
- Article 199 — the order of priority applied here.
- Article 201 — how the amount of support is measured.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on Article 200 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.