Starting your own family is both an exciting and worrisome experience. It will be exciting since you will finally be taking your love to a new level and putting romance into the light of marriage. However, for many, this can also be scary because matters such as having children, moving in, finances, and properties must be addressed first. Unlike fairytales, the road to exchanging "I do's" and the journey afterward is not as simple as they appear; there will be many concerns and agreements to be settled first to assure a life worth living together.
As part of starting a new chapter with a partner, newlyweds often invest in their own homes and other significant assets, such as a vehicle, insurance policies, real estate properties, and other assets that can be utilized as investments. While a marriage built on love and trust is the ideal relationship, there's no harm in being extra cautious and understanding all that comes with marriage, including what conjugal property is and how it works, and the conjugal property rights Philippines.
What is a Conjugal Property?
Conjugal property is a property that both spouses own. Some or all of your property becomes conjugal property when you marry, as does some or all of your spouse's property. A property regime is a set of rules agreed upon by the spouses before marrying that govern their property relations during their marriage. Unless you signed a prenuptial agreement before being married, the Philippine law determines your conjugal property regime depending on the year you wed:
Conjugal Partnership of Gains
If there is no prenuptial agreement and the marriage occurred before August 3, 1988, the regime of conjugal partnership of gains applies. Any property that both spouses owned before their marriage is kept separate —excluded from the marital estate —but the proceeds and income from those exclusive properties accumulated after marriage are included. Only properties, finances, and other assets acquired during the marriage are considered conjugal property under the Conjugal Partnership of Gains.
In summary, the following properties are excluded from the Conjugal Partnership of Gains:
- Exclusive properties owned before marriage
- Those given through gratuitous titles during the marriage
- Those acquired using one of the spouses' exclusive money or property
A Conjugal Partnership of Gains can be waived before marriage through a marriage settlement or prenuptial agreement.
Absolute Community of Property
Absolute Community of Property is the default property regime for all marriages occurring on or after August 3, 1988, and for which no prenuptial agreement applies. Once the wedding is registered, all property owned by each spouse before the marriage automatically becomes conjugal property. Absolute Community of Property excludes properties acquired through the gratuitous title, properties for personal use, and properties from a previous marriage with children from becoming conjugal property.
Suppose you want to keep part or all of your property after marrying. In that case, you'll need to execute a prenuptial agreement before the marriage or a judicial separation of the property after that.
Complete Separation of Properties
Each spouse keeps individual ownership of any property acquired before and during the marriage. It could be all the property or just a part of it. For this property regime to take effect, both spouses must consent; otherwise, the default property regime based on the year of marriage would be implemented.
How to divide conjugal property?
In the dissolution of conjugal property, judicial separation of property can be utilized; it can be voluntary or for sufficient cause. Both spouses must file a joint petition to separate their conjugal property under voluntary Separation of Property. Meanwhile, only one of the spouses can file for Separation of Property for sufficient cause.
A sworn petition, jointly or separately, must be submitted to the Family Court to request Judicial Separation of Property. To file the case, you will need to present the conjugal property division and define the grounds. You'll also need to call witnesses to testify in court. The Family Court will hear the petition, and once it is granted, the marital estate will be liquidated according to the Family Code. Unless a different division was agreed upon in the marriage settlement or a voluntary waiver, the court's equal division of conjugal property should determine how to divide the conjugal property.
Dissolution of conjugal property may also take place when one of the spouses dies, a legal separation is issued, or marriage is annulled or declared invalid. When a spouse dies, the Absolute Community's conjugal property ends, and the property is distributed among the heirs. In a legal separation, the net profits of the conjugal property are awarded only to the innocent spouse.
Also Read: Why Is It Important To Have a Pre-Nup Agreement?
Now that you better understand conjugal property law and conjugal property rights in the Philippines, you can better plan your future with your partner. It's time for you to invest confidently, as long as you know and have discussed how your properties and finances will be managed with your partner.
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