Text of the provision
Art. 75. The future spouses may, in the marriage settlements, agree upon the regime of absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property, or any other regime. In the absence of a marriage settlement, or when the regime agreed upon is void, the system of absolute community of property as established in this Code shall govern.
(119a)
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
Future spouses are free to choose their property regime in a marriage settlement — absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property, or any other regime they design. But if they never execute a settlement, or the one they agreed to turns out to be void, the Code's own absolute community of property regime governs by default.
This default is why most Filipino marriages, having no prenuptial agreement, are automatically under absolute community — broadly, everything either spouse owned before the marriage or acquires during it becomes common property, subject to specific exclusions elsewhere in the Code.
Related provisions
- Article 74 — the hierarchy of sources this default regime fills.
- Article 77 — the formalities a marriage settlement must satisfy.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on the Article 75 default regime of absolute community will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.