What Happens to the Property of Spouses who Separate without undergoing any of the following; Annulment of Marriage, Legal Separation, or a Judicial Separation of Properties?

To start our educational discussion, let us first establish that the marriage we are discussing took effect after the effectivity of the Family Code and that there was no prenuptial agreement entered by the parties.

Thus, the property regime that governs our discussion is what we call Absolute Community of Property, or ACP for short.

Further, I will only focus the discussion on property issues since succession, legal status of children, possible criminal liabilities, etc... is a discussion for another time.

Let us continue. In ACP, the general rule is that all the property owned by the spouses (1) at the time of the celebration of the marriage, or (2) acquired thereafter are presumed part of the ACP (Article 91 Family Code). Thus, there is a co-ownership with equal sharing automatically established between the spouses upon marriage. In tagalog and simpler terms, automatic na hati kayo ng asawa mo sa lahat ng kayamanan pag kinasal na kayo.

Now, take note of number 2, "acquired thereafter". This is where big consequences usually occur.

For better understanding, I will give an example:

A abandoned and separated from his spouse, B, for 20 years already. All throughout, A acquired properties amounting to 10M pesos. All of a sudden, B is demanding that she be given a share in the profits of the properties.

The question now is, whether or not B has a claim to the income and what happens to the property? And the answer is, yes, B has a claim.

Remember number 2, "acquired thereafter". Therefore, absent a court order, the ACP between A and B still governs despite their separation de facto. Meaning, B is entitled to an equal share in all the properties that A acquired despite such separation.

In short, "lugi si A" simply because he slept on his legal remedies available and did not process either any of the following cases; legal separation, separation of properties, or nullity/annulment of marriage.

Remember, there are consequences every time you sleep or do not enforce your right/s in the proper manner.

Thus, always consult a licensed professional to better understand and know the best remedy for your legal situation.

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