Text of the provision
Art. 66. The reconciliation referred to in the preceding Articles shall have the following consequences:
(1) The legal separation proceedings, if still pending, shall thereby be terminated at whatever stage; and
(2) The final decree of legal separation shall be set aside, but the separation of property and any forfeiture of the share of the guilty spouse already effected shall subsist, unless the spouses agree to revive their former property regime.
The court's order containing the foregoing shall be recorded in the proper civil registries.
(108a)
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
Article 66 says what the Article 65 reconciliation actually does, and it draws a careful line. If the case is still pending, reconciliation terminates it at whatever stage it has reached. If a final decree has already issued, that decree is set aside — the spouses are restored to a normal marriage.
But not everything is undone. The separation of property and any forfeiture of the guilty spouse's share that was already effected under Article 63 survive the reconciliation, unless the spouses affirmatively agree to revive their former property regime. Reconciliation restores the marriage; it does not automatically rewind the money.
Why the split
The personal effects of legal separation (living apart, the disqualifications) are relationship-based and dissolve when the relationship is repaired. The property effects, by contrast, may already have been carried out and involve third parties — so they persist unless the spouses take the deliberate step, governed by Article 67, of executing an agreement to revive the old regime. The court's order on all of this must be recorded in the civil registries so the public record matches reality.
Related provisions
- Article 65 — the joint manifestation that triggers these consequences.
- Article 63 — the property forfeiture that can survive reconciliation.
- Article 67 — how the former property regime is revived, if the spouses so choose.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on what survives reconciliation under Article 66 (2) will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.