TITLE II

LEGAL SEPARATION

ARTICLE 63-67
ARTICLE 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 bond 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 com munity 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 in the will of the innocent spouse
shall be revoked by operation of law. (106a)
Scope
This Article applies regarding some effects after the
grant of a decree of legal separation

The effects of a decree of legal separation are clearly

set out by law. When the decree itself is issued, the
finality of the separation is complete after the lapse of
the period to appeal the decision to a higher court even
if the effects, such as the liquidation of the property,
have not yet been commenced nor terminated.
Macadangdang v. Court of Appeals,
108 SCRA 314, to wit:
We do not find merit in petitioner’s submission that the
questioned decision had not become final and executory
since the law explicitly and clearly provides for the
dissolution and liquidation of the conjugal partnership as
among the effects of the final decree of legal separation. x x
x
x x x Such dissolution and liquidation are necessary
consequences of the final decree. This legal effect of the
decree of legal separation ipso facto or automatically
follows, as an inevitable incident of, the judgment decreeing
the legal separation — for the purpose of determining the
share of each spouse in the conjugal assets.
Paragraph 1
Continued Existence of the Marriage
(a) Neither party can have paramour

(b) The married couple cannot insist on sexual

intercourse with each other.

(c) Even if the wife be the one guilty, she may

continue using her maiden name.
Paragraph 2
LIQUIDATION OF PROPERTY

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 favor of the common children
or, if there be none, the children of the guilty
spouse by a previous marriage or, in default of
children, the innocent spouse (Article 43[2]).
Paragraph 3
The innocent spouse shall be awarded the
custody of the minor children. However, in
all matters relating to the custody of the
child, the paramount interest of the child
shall be the standard. Hence, the court may
even award the custody of the child to a
third person if the court believes that both
spouses are not fi t to take care of the child.
Paragraph 4
Generally, the guilty spouse cannot inherit
from the innocent spouse.

Moreover, provisions in favor of the offending

spouse made in the will of the innocent spouse
shall be revoked by operation of law. The law
does not provide that such revocation by
operation of law will be rendered ineffectual in
case the legal separation decree is set aside by
the court upon manifestation of the parties that
they have reconciled.
ARTICLE 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 a 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 has become final. (107a)
 Two Things that May be Revoked by
the Innocent Spouse

(a) Donations made in favor of the

offending spouse.
(b) Designation of the offending spouse as
beneficiary in the insurance contracts of the
innocent spouse.
ARTICLE 65
If the spouses should reconcile, a
corresponding joint manifestation under
oath duly signed by them shall be filed
with the court in the same proceeding for
legal separation. (n)
ARTICLE 66
 The reconciliation referred to in the preceding article shall
have the following consequences:

 (1) The legal separation proceedings, if still

 pending, shall thereby be terminated in whatever stage;
and
 (2) The final decree of legal separation shall be set aside,
but the separation of property and any forfeiture of the
share of the guilty spouse already effected shall subsist,
unless the spouses agree to revive their former property
regime.

 The court’s order containing the foregoing shall be

recorded in the proper civil registries. (108a)
Effect of Reconciliation
If the spouses decide to reconcile and indeed
reconcile, they can file a joint manifestation of
reconciliation in court. If the legal separation
case is still pending, it shall be terminated. If the
decree has been issued already, whether with
finality or not, it shall be set aside. The order
containing the termination of the case or the
setting aside of the decree, as the case may be,
shall be recorded in the proper civil registries.
ARTICLE 67
 The agreement to revive the former property
regime referred to in the preceding article shall
be executed under oath and shall specify:

(1) The properties to be contributed anew to

the restored regime;

(2) Those to be retained as separate properties

of each spouse; and
(3) The names of all their known creditors,
their addresses and the amounts owing to
each.
 The agreement of revival and the motion
for its approval shall be filed with the court
in the same proceeding for legal separation,
with copies of both furnished to the creditors
named therein. After due hearing, the court
shall, in its order, take measures to protect
the interest of creditors and such order shall
be recorded in the proper registries of
property.
The recording of the order in the registries of
property shall not prejudice any creditor not
listed or not notified, unless the debtor-spouse
has sufficient separate properties to satisfy the
creditor’s claim. (195a, 108a)

 (a) Note the protection given to the creditors

 (b) Creditors who were not notified or not listed in the
order shall not be prejudice.
RECORDING OF THE ORDER OF
REVIVAL
If the order of revival has not at all been
recorded in the proper civil registry, the creditors
will not be prejudiced whether or not they are
listed in the order or they have been notified. It
is the recording of the order, the listing or non-
listing of the creditors in the said recorded order,
and the notification of the creditors which will
have an effect on the creditors’ claims as
provided for in the last paragraph of Article 67.
Thus, the recording of the order of revival in the
proper registry of property shall prejudice those
creditors listed in the order or those notified of the
motion for revival and of the order. Those creditors
who are not listed in the order or not notified shall not
be prejudiced by the recording of the order. However,
the creditors who are not listed or who have not been
notified shall nevertheless be prejudiced by the
recording of the order if the debtor-spouse has
sufficient separate properties to satisfy the creditors’
claims.
If A and B decide to reconcile after a decree of legal
separation, their separate properties resulting from the
liquidation will remain separate properties of each of them
even after the legal separation decree has been dissolved.
If they decide to revive their conjugal partnership
property, they can do so by filing a motion for that
purpose and notifying their creditors. If A and B decide to
put all their separate properties in the conjugal fund to
constitute their revived conjugal partnership properties, an
order can be issued to that effect subject however to
certain reservations which the court may issue for the
protection of the creditors. Hence, the court can set aside
certain separate properties of each spouse for purposes of
paying off or protecting the interests of each of the
spouses’ respective creditors.
If no properties were set aside for the listed creditors who were
notified but who did not file their claims to protect their interests,
they shall be prejudiced by the recording of the order in the
registry of property. Thus, if, long before the revival, A was
ordered by a particular court to pay X, his creditor, and X could
only execute on A’s house for the satisfaction of the judgment
debt, the subsequent order of another court, which issued the
legal separation decree, reviving the spouses’ conjugal
partnership properties which included the house of A, will
prejudice X in case he was notified of the motion for revival and
listed in the revival-order as a creditor or notified of the revival-
order. X thereafter cannot, upon default of A to pay the
obligation, execute anymore on the house considering that A and
B have become co-owners of the house as part of their revived
conjugal partnership property regime. Creditor X therefore has
been legally prejudiced. What X should have done was to file his
opposition or claim in the court proceeding which heard the
motion for revival and issued the revival-order so that the
said court could make provisions to protect his interest.

If, however, X was neither listed as a creditor in the

recorded- order nor notified of the proceedings and the
consequent order, then, upon the default of A to pay his
obligation, X can still foreclose on the house as if such
revived conjugal property is still the separate property of A.
However, if there are still separate properties owned by A
which are not included in the revived conjugal partnership
properties and which are enough to satisfy X’s claim, X
will be prejudiced even if he is not listed in the recorded
order as a creditor or if he has not been notified.
Consequently, he will not be able to execute on the house
or any other assets which have become part of the conjugal
partnership properties of A and B.