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LEGAL SEPARATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

April 6, 2006

The Family Code of the Philippines (continued)

TITLE II - LEGAL SEPARATION

TITLE II

LEGAL SEPARATION

Art. 55. A petition for legal separation may be filed on any of the following grounds:

(1) Repeated physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner;
(2) Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;
(3) Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement;
(4) Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years, even if pardoned;
(5) Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism of the respondent;
(6) Lesbianism or homosexuality of the respondent;
(7) Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
(8) Sexual infidelity or perversion;
(9) Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; or
(10) Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.

For purposes of this Article, the term "child" shall include a child by nature or by adoption. (9a)

Art. 56. The petition for legal separation shall be denied on any of the following grounds:

(1) Where the aggrieved party has condoned the offense or act complained of;
(2) Where the aggrieved party has consented to the commission of the offense or act complained of;
(3) Where there is connivance between the parties in the commission of the offense or act constituting the ground for legal separation;
(4) Where both parties have given ground for legal separation;
(5) Where there is collusion between the parties to obtain decree of legal separation; or
(6) Where the action is barred by prescription. (100a)

Art. 57. An action for legal separation shall be filed within five years from the time of the occurrence of the cause. (102)

Art. 58. An action for legal separation shall in no case be tried before six months shall have elapsed since the filing of the petition. (103)

Art. 59. No legal separation may be decreed unless the Court has taken steps toward the reconciliation of the spouses and is fully satisfied, despite such efforts, that reconciliation is highly improbable. (n)

Art. 60. No decree of legal separation shall be based upon a stipulation of facts or a confession of judgment.
In any case, the Court shall order the prosecuting attorney or fiscal assigned to it to take steps to prevent collusion between the parties and to take care that the evidence is not fabricated or suppressed. (101a)

Art. 61. After the filing of the petition for legal separation, the spouses shall be entitled to live separately from each other.

The court, in the absence of a written agreement between the spouses, shall designate either of them or a third person to administer the absolute community or conjugal partnership property. The administrator appointed by the court shall have the same powers and duties as those of a guardian under the >Rules of Court. (104a)

Art. 62. During the pendency of the action for legal separation, the provisions of Article 49 shall likewise apply to the support of the spouses and the custody and support of the common children. (105a)

Art. 63. The decree of legal separation shall have the following effects:

(1) The spouses shall be entitled to live separately from each other, but the marriage bonds shall not be severed;
(2) The absolute community or the conjugal partnership shall be dissolved and liquidated but the offending spouse shall have no right to any share of the net profits earned by the absolute community or the conjugal partnership, which shall be forfeited in accordance with the provisions of Article 43(2);
(3) The custody of the minor children shall be awarded to the innocent spouse, subject to the provisions of Article 213 of this Code; and
(4) The offending spouse shall be disqualified from inheriting from the innocent spouse by intestate succession. Moreover, provisions in favor of the offending spouse made in the will of the innocent spouse shall be revoked by operation of law. (106a)

Art. 64. After the finality of the decree of legal separation, the innocent spouse may revoke the donations made by him or by her in favor of the offending spouse, as well as the designation of the latter as beneficiary in any insurance policy, even if such designation be stipulated as irrevocable. The revocation of the donations shall be recorded in the registries of property in the places where the properties are located. Alienations, liens and encumbrances registered in good faith before the recording of the complaint for revocation in the registries of property shall be respected. The revocation of or change in the designation of the insurance beneficiary shall take effect upon written notification thereof to the insured.

The action to revoke the donation under this Article must be brought within five years from the time the decree of legal separation become final. (107a)

Art. 65. If the spouses should reconcile, a corresponding joint

Posted by adrian at 11:23 am | permalink

Previous Comments

My Question is i was married to a Filipina girl in Manila City Hall last year by a minister who was supposedly registered to marry. Since then the marriage has broken down and no chance of reconciling, I now find out that the marriage certificate was registered at Quezon City and the marriage licence number was registered at San Juan under 2 completely different names, the minister cannot find our documents, the minister used somone elses marriage licence number also we didn’t apply for a CNI certificate from my Embassy. Can this marriage be nullified on these grounds.

Posted by Ross at May 17, 2008, 3:06 am

if you have evidence that thereis no genuine marriage license, the marriage is voidable

Posted by adrian at January 5, 2009, 6:29 pm

hi.i just separated with my husband and we have 4 kids ages 9,7,5 and 3.now the problem is i have to leave the country but i want to take my kids and leave them with my sister but my husband doesnt agreed.do i have the right to insist my decision to think that my x husband does not giving full financial support.thanks

Posted by lily ann limon at March 10, 2009, 3:59 pm

recently i have found correspondence that suggest my husband’s infidelity with 3 other women, one is with a former girlfriend who is married. It seems that I have been deliberately deceived even before the marriage. I have to note that I have been given all out support in his career and even supported him financially for the past 4 years. I know that under phil law infidelity is only defined as sexual infidelity. In the absence of proof of sexual infidelity, is there any case that I can file against my cheating husband aside from just filing for an annulment? Is there anything in RA 9262 that can be applied, and does the emotional trauma that I am going through constitute “psychological abuse”?

Posted by nadia at March 17, 2009, 4:16 am

hi, ive been married for 12 years and i can say that i was physically and verbally abused by my wife, yes by my wife. I decided not to stay with her inside one roof and i went back to my parent’s house but still we are in the same compound. I am now living with my parents now for almost 2 years, i think my question would be, do i have a right to make a testimony saying that whatever may happen to me, all my properties and assets would be benefited by my 4 children and not included my so called wife. how this could be made legally and and whar could be my grounds in filing an annulment or file a legal separation, and if so though i understood that legal seperation does not mean that you can remarry, is there a degree or span of time where in you can remarry lets say if we are legally seperated for morder than 3 years if ever i cam file a legal seperation?
ps reply. thank you so much.

Posted by mon at March 18, 2009, 12:05 pm

do write to me at hilman1103″yahoo.com for more details of your query.
Adrian

Posted by adrian at April 11, 2009, 3:53 pm

i was separated f0r almost five and i want to marry again wii it be possible?what are the things i must to do for everything to be legal?tnx

Posted by roxanne at June 28, 2009, 10:34 am

Can i file a legal separation? Since March 2005, he abandoned us we’ve got 3 kids already… Since then, no financial support from him… he never look or call or text us…
but we lived in my inlaws… i’m the one who supported my inlaws at then…. since march 2005 to july 2007… we are there… and when all my 3 kids enrolled near in my parents house… i decided to rent a house near them… so i better decide to get out of their house… since then we are no longer connected to anyone of them… then one time my friend called me and then told to me that my ex husband lived at their house with that woman and with 2 kids already… I dont have enough money to file for this case…im the one who only supports my 3 kids… im working to support them… What is the best way? How long would it take? How much would it cost? Thank you very much for helping me out… Please reply… thanks and god bless….

Posted by Christine at July 6, 2009, 3:47 pm

roxanne, mon, nadia and liliy ann , PLEASE WRITE TO ME DIRECTLY AT hilman1108@yahoo.com

Posted by adrian at July 10, 2009, 8:04 am

hi adrian. I want to consult or i want to tell you about my problem. It was a sad part of my life. i was abandoned by my wife 10 years ago. We were living together in one of the housing project in our place. Due to arguements and misunderstanding, she challenged me to be separated and until she finally decided to pack all our belongings in our house and transfered to her parents. After 3 months from separation, i transferred also to my parents and my youngest was with me while my 2 kids visited me from time to time. My eldest already graduated, our daugther also graduated and she is now having her review in nursing. My youngest was a 4th year high school. I was the one who supported their educational needs and i have evidence for that.

I want to know from you if i marriage could be annulled. Should you want to get the details, im very willing to send you the details sir.

Posted by Eleazar R. Abellera at September 11, 2009, 10:18 am

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