Text of the provision
Art. 98. Neither spouse may donate any community property without the consent of the other. However, either spouse may, without the consent of the other, make moderate donations from the community property for charity or on occasions of family rejoicing or family distress.
(n)
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. The notation (n) indicates a new provision with no direct Civil Code antecedent.
What this article means
Neither spouse may give away community property without the other's consent — the same protection that governs sales and mortgages under Article 96, applied to gifts. The exception is narrow: a spouse may make moderate donations, alone, for charity or on occasions of family rejoicing or family distress.
"Moderate" is the operative limit — a small, reasonable gift in proportion to the family's means, not a transfer that depletes the community. This lets a spouse make ordinary acts of generosity (a donation to a parish, help to a relative in crisis) without a signing ceremony, while blocking gifts large enough to harm the other spouse or the family.
Related provisions
- Article 87 — the separate, stricter ban on donations between the spouses themselves.
- Article 96 — the consent rule for disposing of or encumbering community property.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on the "moderate donation" limit in Article 98 will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.