Property RegimesProperty Regimes FAQs

1. What is a property regime?

Property regime is those set of rules agreed upon by the parties to a marriage which governs their property relations during the course of their married life. (Article 75 Family Code of the Philippines)

2. What are the different property regimes under Philippine law?

Philippine law recognizes three property regimes, to wit:

1. Regime of Absolute Community of Property;2. Regime of Conjugal Partnership of Gains; and3. Regime of Complete Separation of Properties.

3. What are the differences between the three property regimes?

Absolute Community of Property

Conjugal Partnership of Gains

Complete Separation of Properties

Parties deemed as co-owners of properties they both own at the time of the celebration of marriage and those acquired thereafter. (Article 90 Family Code of the Philippines

Parties retain ownership over their respective properties. The parties place in a common fund the proceeds, products, fruits and income from their separate properties and those acquired by either or both spouses through their efforts or by chance. Upon dissolution of the marriage or of the partnership, the net gains or benefits obtained by either or both spouses shall be divided equally between them, unless otherwise agreed in the marriage settlements. (Article 106 Family Code of the Philippines)

Each spouse shall own, dispose of, possess, administer and enjoy his or her own separate estate, without need of the consent of the other. To each spouse shall belong all earnings from his or her profession, business or industry and all fruits, natural, industrial or civil, due or received during the marriage from his or her separate property. (Article 145 Family Code of the Philippines)

It may refer to present or future property or both. It may be total or partial. In the latter case, the property not agreed upon as separate shall pertain to the absolute community. (Article 144 Family Code

of the Philippines)

Administration and enjoyment of the community property shall belong to both spouses jointly. (Article 96 Family Code of the Philippines)

The administration and enjoyment of the conjugal partnership shall belong to both spouses jointly. (Article 124 Family Code of the Philippines)

Parties are free to manage their respective properties without interference of the other.

Neither spouse may donate any community property without the consent of the other. (Article 98 Family Code of the Philippines)

Neither spouse may donate any conjugal partnership property without the consent of the other. (Article 125 Family Code of the Philippines)

Parties are free to donate without interference of the other.

4. If my boyfriend and I got married without making any pre-nuptial agreement, what property regime governs?

In the absence of a marriage settlement, the system of absolute community of property shall govern. (Article 75 Family Code of the Philippines)

5. When does the property regimes commence?

The property regimes shall commence at the precise moment that the marriage is celebrated.

6. My husband and I did not execute any pre-nuptial agreement before marriage. Can we change our property relations during our marriage?

No, in order that any modification in the marriage settlements may be valid, it must be made before the celebration of the marriage. (Article 76 Family Code of the Philippines)

However, parties may jointly file a verified petition with the court for the voluntary dissolution of the absolute community or the conjugal partnership of gains, and for the separation of their common properties during their marriage. (Article 136 Family Code of the Philippines)

7. My husband and I executed a pre-nuptial agreement before our marriage but we never registered the same with any government agency. Is it valid?

As between the two of you, yes it is valid as it is in the nature of a contract. Obligations arising from contracts have the force of law between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith. (Article 1159 Civil Code of the Philippines)

However, the pre-nuptial agreement shall not prejudice third persons unless they are registered in the local civil registry where the marriage contract is recorded as well as in the proper registries of properties. (Article 77 Family Code of the Philippines)

8. My husband and I did not execute a prenuptial agreement. During our marriage, my mother donated a property me alone. Is the property mine?

Yes, property acquired during the marriage by gratuitous title by either spouse is deemed excluded from the community property. (Article 92 (1) Family Code of the Philippines)

9. My husband and I have no pre-nuptial agreement. During our marriage my husband engaged in cock-fighting and incurred debts. Am I liable for his debts as well?

No. Whatever your husband lost during your marriage in any game of chance or in betting, sweepstakes, or any other kind of gambling whether permitted or prohibited by law, shall be borne by him and shall not be charged to the properties owned in common. (Article 95 Family Code of the Philippines)

10. Will the property I acquired before marriage form part of the community property?

Yes. All properties are deemed part of the community property in the absence of any marriage settlement executed prior to the marriage.

However, properties acquired before the marriage by either spouse who has legitimate descendants by a former marriage, and the fruits as well as the income, if any, of such property is deemed excluded from the community property. (Article 92(3) Family Code of the Philippines)

11. My husband and I executed a conjugal partnership of gains pre-nuptial agreement before our marriage. What property belongs to me?

The spouses retain the ownership, possession, administration and enjoyment of their exclusive properties. (Article 110 Family Code of the Philippines)

The following shall be the exclusive property of each spouse:

1. That which is brought to the marriage as his or her own;2. That which each acquires during the marriage by gratuitous title;3. That which is acquired by right of redemption, by barter or by exchange with

property belonging to only one of the spouses; and4. That which is purchased with exclusive money of the wife or of the husband.

(Article 109 Family Code of the Philippines)

12. My present partner and I are unmarried, what property regime govern?

When parties who are capacitated to contract marriage live together as man and wife without the benefit of marriage or under a void marriage, they are deemed as co-owners

in equal share of their wages, salaries and properties. (Article 147 Family Code of the Philippines)

13. My girlfriend and I are living together as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage does she have a share in my income despite the fact that I am the sole breadwinner?

Yes. In the absence of proof to the contrary, properties acquired while they lived together shall be presumed to have been obtained by their joint efforts, work or industry, and shall be owned by them in equal shares.

Under the law, your girlfriend's care and maintenance are deemed as her contribution to the union. (Article 147 Family Code of the Philippines)

14. I only recently learned that my marriage to my husband is void and that he knew all along that our marriage was void. What will happen to our properties?

The share of the party who is in bad faith shall be forfeited in favor of the common children. However, if the union produced no children or if the common children or their descendants waive their right to their respective share, the properties shall belong to you. (Article 147 Family Code of the Philippines)

15. My girlfriend is married to another man but they have since separated and we have been living together as man and wife for several years already. What governs our property relation?

You and your girlfriend are deemed as co-owners of the properties acquired through actual joint contribution of money, property, or industry in proportion to your respective contributions. Absent any proof actual contributions, the contributions and corresponding shares are presumed to be equal. The same rule and presumption shall apply to joint deposits of money and evidences of credit.

However, since your girlfriend is validly married to another, her share in the co-ownership shall accrue to the absolute community or conjugal partnership existing in her valid marriage. (Article 148 Family Code of the Philippines)

In terms of marriage settlements, the Family Code provides the following:

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 marriage settlements, or when the regime agreed upon is void, the system of absolute community of property as established in this Code shall govern

In order to have a better appreciation and understanding between conjugal partnership of gains and the system of absolute community, it is best to know their difference.

These two property regimes are just a part of other property regimes spouses may enter into.

Conjugal Property Distinguished from System of Absolute Community:

What is a system of absolute community?

This is one of the regimes or systems of property relations between the spouses and the default system in the absence of a prenuptial agreement or when the agreed system is null and void. This system commences at the precise moment that the marriage is celebrated, and any stipulation for the commencement of the community regime at any other time is void. In a nutshell, the husband and the wife are considered as co-owners of all properties they bring into the marriage (those that they owned before the marriage), as well as the properties acquired during the marriage, except for certain properties express excluded by law (listed below). The rules on co-ownership apply in all matters not provided under the Family Code.

What is the Conjugal Property of Gains?

Oftentimes referred to as the CPG, it is one of the property relations between the spouses, under which the husband and wife place in a common fund the proceeds, products, fruits and income from their separate properties and those acquired by either or both spouses through their efforts or by chance, and, upon dissolution of the marriage or of the partnership, the net gains or benefits obtained by either or both spouses shall be divided equally between them, unless otherwise agreed in the marriage settlements. In other words, the following are placed in a common fund:

1. The proceeds, products, fruits and income from their separate properties; and 2. Those acquired by either or both spouses through their efforts or by chance.

What are their differences?

A. In the system of absolute community, all the properties owned by the spouses at the time of the marriage become community property. In the conjugal partnership, each spouse retains his or her property before the marriage, and only the fruits and income of such properties become part of the conjugal properties during the marriage.

B. In the system of absolute community, what is divided equally between the spouses or their heirs upon the dissolution and liquidation of the community property is the net remainder of the properties of the absolute community, so that it may happen that a piece of land owned by either spouse before the marriage, being the only property left after the dissolution of the absolute community, would be divided between the spouses or their heirs. In the conjugal partnership of gains, however, the separate properties of the spouses are returned upon the dissolution of the partnership, and only the net profits of partnership are divided equally between the spouses or their heirs.

C. The system of absolute community is based essentially on mutual trust and confidence between the spouses and fosters oneness and unity between them. This is in fact the tradition and custom among the great majority of Filipinos and this is the reason why the Family Code adopts this system instead of the conjugal partnership of gains, which is taken from Spanish law. In conjugal partnership of gains, the capital or properties of the spouses are kept separate and distinct from the benefits acquired by them during the marriage. This constitutes an insurmountable obstacle to the presumption of solidarity between the spouses.

D. It is easier to liquidate the absolute community property because the net remainder of the community properties are just divided between the spouses or their heirs. In the conjugal partnership, the exclusive properties of the parties will have to be identified and returned, and sometimes, this identification is very difficult.