Text of the provision
Art. 94. The absolute community of property shall be liable for:
(1) The support of the spouses, their common children, and legitimate children of either spouse; however, the support of illegitimate children shall be governed by the provisions of this Code on Support;
(2) All debts and obligations contracted during the marriage by the designated administrator-spouse for the benefit of the community, or by both spouses, or by one spouse with the consent of the other;
(3) Debts and obligations contracted by either spouse without the consent of the other to the extent that the family may have been benefited;
(4) All taxes, liens, charges and expenses, including major or minor repairs, upon the community property;
(5) All taxes and expenses for mere preservation made during marriage upon the separate property of either spouse used by the family;
(6) Expenses to enable either spouse to commence or complete a professional or vocational course, or other activity for self-improvement;
(7) Antenuptial debts of either spouse insofar as they have redounded to the benefit of the family;
(8) The value of what is donated or promised by both spouses in favor of their common legitimate children for the exclusive purpose of commencing or completing a professional or vocational course or other activity for self-improvement;
(9) Antenuptial debts of either spouse other than those falling under paragraph (7) of this Article, the support of illegitimate children of either spouse, and liabilities incurred by either spouse by reason of a crime or a quasi-delict, in case of absence or insufficiency of the exclusive property of the debtor-spouse, the payment of which shall be considered as advances to be deducted from the share of the debtor-spouse upon liquidation of the community; and
(10) Expenses of litigation between the spouses unless the suit is found to be groundless.
If the community property is insufficient to cover the foregoing liabilities, except those falling under paragraph (9), the spouses shall be solidarily liable for the unpaid balance with their separate properties.
(161a, 162a, 163a, 202a-205a)
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 paragraphs (7) and (9) the word "Antenuptial" is reproduced as it appears in the Arellano Law Foundation (LawPhil) text; ChanRobles renders it "Ante-nuptial" — a typographic variant of the same word, not a difference in meaning.
What this article means
Article 94 is the ledger of what the community property must pay for — the family's charges, in priority. The essentials come first: support of the spouses and their children (1), and debts contracted for the benefit of the community, whether by the administrator-spouse, both spouses, or one with the other's consent (2). Even a debt one spouse incurred without consent is charged to the community to the extent the family benefited (3).
It also covers taxes and repairs on community and family-used separate property (4)–(5), self-improvement / education expenses (6), (8), benefit-based antenuptial debts (7), and litigation between spouses unless groundless (10).
The two-tier liability
Paragraph (9) is different: a spouse's purely personal liabilities — antenuptial debts that did NOT benefit the family, support of illegitimate children, and debts from a crime or quasi-delict — are charged to the community only if that spouse's own separate property is insufficient, and then only as advances deducted from their share at liquidation. And if the community runs out, the spouses become solidarily liable with their separate property for everything except those paragraph-(9) personal debts. The line between "benefited the family" and "purely personal" is what most Article 94 disputes turn on.
Related provisions
- Article 91 and Article 92 — what is in, and out of, the community that answers for these charges.
- Article 95 — gambling losses, which are NOT charged to the community.
Cases interpreting this article
- The leading authorities on the "benefit to the family" test and the paragraph (9) personal-liability tier will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.