The Complete Separation of Property regime only applies if the husband and wife agreed

to it in their marriage settlements, which they have to execute prior to the wedding. They
cannot execute this after the wedding already.

The Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage applies to two kinds of couples living
together without being married:

1. Those who are legally capable of getting married, and

2. Those who cannot legally get married because of some legal impediment or
incapacity of either or both of them

Although these two are governed by the same property regime, there are different rules
for each one of them. The relationship between a man and his other woman falls
under the second kind. This is because under our general law, a man can only marry one
woman. If he is already married to one and their marriage is still in effect, he cannot
marry his other woman as well. This is an example of a legal impediment Im referring
to, above.

However, just because the other woman cannot be legally married by her partner,
doesnt always mean that she totally doesnt have any right whatsoever on the properties
that she and her man have accumulated together. The law apparently gives some
consideration to her rights also.

So now that you know what property regime applies to you, we can now move on to
knowing how each of these regimes work.

The following are some overview of what each of these property regimes are about. But
please note that theres still a lot of technicalities to each one of them that I cannot cover
here.

1.

Absolute Community of Property

2.

The general and overly simplified concept of ACP is that all the possessions of the
husband and the wife are pooled together into one common fund, including those
they already own prior to the marriage. And both of them have equal rights to
everything in this common fund.

3.

Both of them having equal rights to everything, consequently means that if they
have to go separate ways and dissolve their marriage, they will also equally divide
the community fund into two.
 4.

It will not matter if one of them brought a farm worth P100 million into the
marriage while the other only brought a motorbike worth P100 thousand. If they
enter into marriage after August 3, 1988 and they did not execute a marriage
settlements stipulating otherwise, the ACP regime applies to them. And when they
have to separate, both of them will get equal shares of the total of their
Community Fund.

5.

If youve heard someone say an easy way to get rich is to marry a rich person, it
cannot be exactly true unless the property regime applied in the marriage is ACP!
So be wise if youre still single and you want to take this route in getting rich.

6.
7.

Conjugal Partnership of Gains

8.

The CPG is very much similar to ACP. The only big difference is that the
properties already owned by each party before the marriage, will continue to be
their own exclusive properties during the marriage (after the wedding). However,
everything that those exclusive properties produce during the marriage, will go to
the common fund, or the Conjugal Property, of the spouses in which they have
equal rights.

9.

For example, before the wedding, the husband already owns 5 rental apartment
complexes. After the wedding, those apartments will continue to be his own
exclusive properties. But the rental income from those, will go to the common
fund of the spouses and the wife will have an equal share in that income.

10.

Also, under the CPG, everything else that they earn, make or acquire during the
marriage, will be added to the common fund just like with the ACP.

11.
 12.

Complete Separation of Property

13.

From the term itself, you can get the idea that this means each one of the spouses
owns his/her exclusive properties. This refers to both present and future property,
including those that they already own prior to the marriage.

14.

If the spouses choose this property regime, they will only have to contribute to the
common fund for supporting their family. The contribution of each will be
commensurate to their income capacity.

15.
16.

Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage

17.

For those couples who are perfectly capable of getting married, but for some
reason did not actually get married, their property relations work a lot like that in
CPG. Their possessions prior to the marriage stay exclusive to them. But
whatever they produce or acquire during the marriage, will be equally shared by
both of them.

18.

For those couples where one party or both of them have legal impediments to
marry, each one will keep his own property prior to the marriage. Each one will
also keep his own earnings and anything he or she exclusively acquires during
their cohabitation. Only those properties which they acquire together, by their
joint efforts will be commonly owned by both of them. But they will not
necessarily have equal shares in those property. Their share is only proportionate
to the actual contribution they made in acquiring those properties.

19.

When the Other Woman Comes Into the Scene

Lets say the husband does something stupid (because yeah, its usually the husband!

) and started an affair with another woman while he is still validly married to
his wife no annulment of marriage yet. If the man and his other woman live together
and/or acquire properties, their property relations will fall under the second type of the
Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage.

And heres how the rights of the legal wife compare with the rights of the other woman
when it comes to the properties:

1.

In Absolute Community of Property:

2.
Legal Wife Other Woman
As to the Community Property of the husband and the wife
Equal share with the husband no right at all
As to the income and fruits produced by the community property
Equal share with the husband no right at all
As to the property jointly acquired by the husband and the other
woman
The share of the husband in the
The share of the other woman is only
property will be included in the
up to the extent of her contribution
common fund in which the wife has an
in acquiring the property
equal share.
As to the income and fruits of the property jointly acquired by the
husband and the other woman
The share of the husband will go to The share of the other woman is only
the common fund in which the wife up to the extent of her contribution
has an equal share. in acquiring the property.
As to the salaries, wages and other earnings of the husband
Equal share with the husband no right at all
3.
4.

In Conjugal Partnership of Gains:

5.
Legal Wife Other Woman
As to the Conjugal Property of the husband and the wife
Equal share with the husband no right at all
 As to the income and fruits produced by the Conjugal Property
Equal share with the husband no right at all
As to the property jointly acquired by the husband and the other
woman
The share of the husband in the
The share of the other woman is only
property will go to the conjugal
up to the extent of her contribution
fund in which the wife has an equal
in acquiring the property
share.
As to the income and fruits of the property jointly acquired by the
husband and the other woman
The share of the husband will go to The share of the other woman is only
the conjugal fund in which the wife up to the extent of her contribution
has an equal share. in acquiring the property.
As to the salaries, wages and other earnings of the husband
Equal share with the husband no right at all
6.
7.

In Complete Separation of Property:

8.
Legal Wife Other Woman
As to the Common Property of the husband and the wife
Equal share with the husband no right at all
As to the income and fruits produced by the Common Property
Equal share with the husband no right at all
As to the Exclusive Property of the husband
no right at all no right at all
As to the income and fruits produced by the Exclusive Property of
the husband
no right at all no right at all
As to the property jointly acquired by the husband and the other
woman
The share of the other woman is only
no right at all up to the extent of her contribution
in acquiring the property
As to the income and fruits of the property jointly acquired by the
husband and the other woman
The share of the other woman is only
no right at all up to the extent of her contribution
in acquiring the property.
As to the salaries, wages and other earnings of the husband
no right at all no right at all
9.
(Source: Title IV of The Family Code)

REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT

URBAN LAND REFORM

Laws that regulate the relationship between sellers, developers and buyers of subdivision
lots and condominium units, and provide quasi-judicial and criminal remedies for breach
of statutory and contractual obligations.
RA 10884 An Act Strenghtening the Balanced Housing Development Program,
Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 7279, as Amended, Otherwise
Known as the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992
o Subdivision and Condominium Buyers Protective Decree Presidential
Decree No. 957 (As Amended By P.D. 1216) regulating the sale of
subdivision lots and condominiums, providing penalties for violations
thereof.
IRR of PD 957
o Batas Pambansa 220 an act authorizing the Ministry of Human
Settlements to establish and promulgate different levels of standards and
technical requirements for economic and socialized housing projects in
urban and rural areas from those provided under Presidential Decrees No.
957, 1216, 1096 and 1185.
IRR of BP 220
o Presidential Decree No. 1216 defining Open Space in residential
subdivision and amending Sec. 31 of P.D. 957, requiring subdivision
owners to provide roads, alleys, sidewalks and reserve open space for
parks or recreational use.
o Presidential Decree No. 1344 empowering the NHA to issue writ of
execution in the enforcement of its decisions under P.D. 957
o Republic Act 7279 Urban Development and Housing Act. An act to
provide for a comprehensive and continuing urban development and
housing program, establish the mechanism for its implementation, and for
other purposes.
o Republic Act 4726 The Condominium Act. An act to define
condominium, establish requirements for its creation, and govern its
incidents.
o Republic Act 7899 amending Sections 4 and 6 of R.A. 4726
o Executive Order 71 devolution of HLURBs function to approve
subdivision plans to LGUs.
o Executive Order 184 creating socialized housing one-stop processing
centers.
o Republic Act 6552 Realty Installment Buyer Protection Act.

Contac