Text of the provision
Art. 50. The effects provided for by paragraphs (2), (3), (4) and (5) of Article 43 and by Article 44 shall also apply in the proper cases to marriages which are declared ab initio or annulled by final judgment under Articles 40 and 45.
The final judgment in such cases shall provide for the liquidation, partition and distribution of the properties of the spouses, the custody and support of the common children, and the delivery of third[sic] presumptive legitimes, unless such matters had been adjudicated in previous judicial proceedings.
All creditors of the spouses as well as of the absolute community or the conjugal partnership shall be notified of the proceedings for liquidation.
In the partition, the conjugal dwelling and the lot on which it is situated, shall be adjudicated in accordance with the provisions of Articles 102 and 129.
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. In the second paragraph the official text reads "third presumptive legitimes," evidently a printing error for "their," carried identically by LawPhil and ChanRobles; it is marked [sic].
What this article means
Article 50 is where a declaration of nullity or an annulment stops being an abstract legal status and becomes a set of concrete orders. It requires the final judgment itself to settle the practical consequences: how the couple's property is liquidated and divided, who has custody of the children and how they are supported, and the delivery of the children's presumptive legitimes (their advance inheritance share).
It works by borrowing. The property-and-children effects already spelled out for a terminated subsequent marriage in Article 43 (paragraphs 2–5) and Article 44 are made to apply "in the proper cases" to marriages declared void under Article 40 and annulled under Article 45. Rather than restate those effects, Article 50 imports them.
Two safeguards
The article protects two groups. Creditors of the spouses (and of the absolute community or conjugal partnership) must be notified of the liquidation, so debts are not extinguished behind their backs. And the family home — the conjugal dwelling and its lot — is adjudicated under the special rules of Articles 102 and 129, not simply split like any other asset.
These duties are why nullity and annulment cases are not concluded by the decree alone. The liquidation, the delivery of presumptive legitimes, and the recording required by Article 52 all have to be carried out, and Article 53 makes completing them a condition of a valid remarriage.
Related provisions
- Article 51 — how the presumptive legitimes are valued and delivered.
- Article 52 — registration, without which the judgment does not bind third persons.
- Article 53 — compliance with these steps is required before either party may remarry.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on the mandatory liquidation-and-delivery steps under Article 50 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.