Chapter 17: Laws

Concerning Marriage
and Family
Prepared by: Mylah Decena
BSEd – 2C
 Executive Order No. 209, s. 1987
“The Family Code of the Philippines”
I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of
the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and
promulgate the Family Code of the Philippines, as follows:

Chapter 1. Requisites of Marriage

Article 1. Marriage is a special contract of permanent union
between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with
law for the establishment of conjugal and family life…
Art. 2. No marriage shall be valid, unless
these essential requisites are present:

(1) Legal capacity of the contracting

parties who must be a male and a
female; and
(2) Consent freely given in the presence
of the solemnizing officer. (53a)
Art. 3. The formal requisites of marriage are:

(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer;

(2) A valid marriage license except in the cases
provided for in Chapter 2 of this Title; and
(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the
appearance of the contracting parties before the
solemnizing officer and their personal declaration that
they take each other as husband and wife in the
presence of not less than two witnesses of legal age.
(53a, 55a)
Art. 4. The absence of any of the essential or formal
requisites shall render the marriage void ab initio,
except as stated in Article 35 (2).

A defect in any of the essential requisites shall not

affect the validity of the marriage but the party or
parties responsible for the irregularity shall be civilly,
criminally and administratively liable.
Art. 5.

Any male or female of the age of eighteen

years or upwards not under any of the
impediments mentioned in Articles 37 and 38,
may contract marriage.

Example of voidable marriages include

marriages contracted by force, intimidation, or
mistake.
Art. 6. No prescribed form or religious rite for the
solemnization of the marriage is required. It shall be
necessary, however, for the contracting parties to
appear personally before the solemnizing officer and
declare in the presence of not less than two witnesses
of legal age that they take each other as husband and
wife. This declaration shall be contained in the
marriage certificate which shall be signed by the
contracting parties and their witnesses and attested by
the solemnizing officer.
In case of a marriage in articulo mortis,
when the party at the point of death is
unable to sign the marriage certificate, it
shall be sufficient for one of the
witnesses to the marriage to write the
name of said party, which fact shall be
attested by the solemnizing officer.
 TITLE II
LEGAL SEPARATION

Art. 55. A petition for legal separation may be filed on any of the
following grounds:ss
(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;
 TITLE II
LEGAL SEPARATION

(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.
 TITLE III
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS BETWEEN
HUSBAND AND WIFE
Art. 68. The husband and wife are obliged to live together,
observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help
and support.

Art. 72. When one of the spouses neglects his or her duties to
the conjugal union or commits acts which tend to bring danger,
dishonor or injury to the other or to the family, the aggrieved party
may apply to the court for relief.
 TITLE IV
PROPERTY RELATIONS BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE

Art. 75. 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 a
marriage settlement, or when the regime agreed upon is void, the
system of absolute community of property as established in this Code
shall govern

Art. 79. For the validity of any marriage settlement executed by a person
upon whom a sentence of civil interdiction has been pronounced or who
is subject to any other disability, it shall be indispensable for the guardian
appointed by a competent court to be made a party thereto.
 TITLE V
THE FAMILY

Chapter 1. The Family as an Institution

Art. 149. The family, being the foundation of the nation, is a basic social
institution which public policy cherishes and protects. Consequently,
family relations are governed by law and no custom, practice or
agreement destructive of the family shall be recognized or given effect.

Art. 50. Family relations include those:

(1) Between husband and wife;
(2) Between parents and children;
(3) Among brothers and sisters, whether of the full or half-blood.
 TITLE V
THE FAMILY

Art. 153. The family home is deemed constituted on a house and lot from
the time it is occupied as a family residence. From the time of its
constitution and so long as any of its beneficiaries actually resides
therein, the family home continues to be such and is exempt from
execution, forced sale or attachment except as hereinafter provided and
to the extent of the value allowed by law.

Art. 154. The beneficiaries of a family home are:

(1) The husband and wife, or an unmarried person who is the head of a
family; and(2) Their parents, ascendants, descendants, brothers and
sisters, whether the relationship be legitimate or illegitimate, who are
living in the family home and who depend upon the head of the family for
legal support.
 TITLE VII
ADOPTION

Art. 183. A person of age and in possession of full civil

capacity and legal rights may adopt, provided he is in a
position to support and care for his children, legitimate or
illegitimate, in keeping with the means of the family.
Only minors may be adopted, except in the cases when
the adoption of a person of majority age is allowed in this
Title.
In addition, the adopter must be at least sixteen years
older than the person to be adopted, unless the adopter is
the parent by nature of the adopted, or is the spouse of the
legitimate parent of the person to be adopted.
 TITLE VII
ADOPTION
Art. 184. The following persons may not adopt:
(1) The guardian with respect to the ward prior to the approval of the final
accounts rendered upon the termination of their guardianship relation;
(2) Any person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude;
(3) An alien, except:
(a) A former Filipino citizen who seeks to adopt a relative by consanguinity;
(b) One who seeks to adopt the legitimate child of his or her Filipino spouse;
or
(c) One who is married to a Filipino citizen and seeks to adopt jointly with his
or her spouse a relative by consanguinity of the latter.
Aliens not included in the foregoing exceptions may adopt Filipino children in
accordance with the rules on inter-country adoptions as may be provided by
law
Art. 189. Adoption shall have the following effects:

(1) For civil purposes, the adopted shall be deemed to be a

legitimate child of the adopters and both shall acquire the
reciprocal rights and obligations arising from the relationship of
parent and child, including the right of the adopted to use the
surname of the adopters;
(2) The parental authority of the parents by nature over the
adopted shall terminate and be vested in the adopters, except
that if the adopter is the spouse of the parent by nature of the
adopted, parental authority over the adopted shall be exercised
jointly by both spouses; and
(3) The adopted shall remain an intestate heir of his parents
and other blood relatives.
 TITLE VIII
SUPPORT

Art. 194. Support comprises everything indispensable

for sustenance, dwelling, clothing, medical attendance,
education and transportation, in keeping with the
financial capacity of the family.
The education of the person entitled to be supported
referred to in the preceding paragraph shall include his
schooling or training for some profession, trade or
vocation, even beyond the age of majority.
Transportation shall include expenses in going to and
from school, or to and from place of work.
 TITLE VIII
SUPPORT

Art. 195. Subject to the provisions of the succeeding articles,

the following are obliged to support each other to the whole
extent set forth in the preceding article:
(1) The spouses;
(2) Legitimate ascendants and descendants;
(3) Parents and their legitimate children and the legitimate
and illegitimate children of the latter;
(4) Parents and their illegitimate children and the legitimate
and illegitimate children of the latter; and
(5) Legitimate brothers and sisters, whether of full or half-
blood
 TITLE IX
PARENTAL AUTHORITY

Art. 211. The father and the mother shall jointly exercise parental authority
over the persons of their common children. In case of disagreement, the
father’s decision shall prevail, unless there is a judicial order to the
contrary.
Children shall always observe respect and reverence towards their
parents and are obliged to obey them as long as the children are under
parental authority.

Art. 212. In case of absence or death of either parent, the parent present
shall continue exercising parental authority. The remarriage of the
surviving parent shall not affect the parental authority over the children,
unless the court appoints another person to be the guardian of the person
or property of the children
 TITLE IX
PARENTAL AUTHORITY

Art. 211. The father and the mother shall jointly exercise parental authority
over the persons of their common children. In case of disagreement, the
father’s decision shall prevail, unless there is a judicial order to the
contrary.
Children shall always observe respect and reverence towards their
parents and are obliged to obey them as long as the children are under
parental authority.

Art. 212. In case of absence or death of either parent, the parent present
shall continue exercising parental authority. The remarriage of the
surviving parent shall not affect the parental authority over the children,
unless the court appoints another person to be the guardian of the person
or property of the children
References:
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