Case

Digest: Fuentes, et al. v. Roca, et al.

G.R. No. 178902 April 21, 2010
MANUEL O. FUENTES and LETICIA L. FUENTES, Petitioners, vs. CONRADO G.
ROCA, ANNABELLE R. JOSON, ROSE MARIE R. CRISTOBAL and PILAR
MALCAMPO, Respondents. ABAD, J.:
Note: A forged affidavit of consent is void. Thus, anything based on such
instrument is likewise void.
The husband of a wife who no longer lives with him sold a conjugal property without
her consent as the affidavit of consent was forged. After their death, their children
questioned the sale. It must be emphasized that their marriage was contracted
under the Civil Code, but the sale was executed under the Family Code. Ruling that
the Family Code applies, the High Court held that the sale could be made by the
husband without the consent of the wife. The SC ruled:
Note: Even if the marriage took place under the Civil, the validity of sales of
community or conjugal property is still governed by the Family Code.
When the spouses got married, the Civil Code put in place the system of conjugal
partnership of gains on their property relations. While its Article 165 made the
husband the sole administrator of the conjugal partnership, Article 166 prohibited
him from selling commonly owned real property without his wifes consent. Still, if
he sold the same without his wifes consent, the sale is not void but merely
voidable. Article 173 gave the wife the right to have the sale annulled during the
marriage within ten years from the date of the sale. Failing in that, she or her heirs
may demand, after dissolution of the marriage, only the value of the property that
the husband fraudulently sold.
The Family Code took effect on August 3, 1988. Its Chapter 4 on Conjugal
Partnership of Gains expressly superseded Title VI, Book I of the Civil Code on
Property Relations Between Husband and Wife. The Family Code provisions were
also made to apply to already existing conjugal partnerships without prejudice to
vested rights. Thus:
Art. 105. x x x The provisions of this Chapter shall also apply to conjugal
partnerships of gains already established between spouses before the effectivity of
this Code, without prejudice to vested rights already acquired in accordance with the
Civil Code or other laws, as provided in Article 256. (n)