G.R. No. 178044 – 655 Phil. 175 – 640 SCRA 178 – Civil Law – Persons and Family Relations – Family Code – Article 36; Psychological Incapacity
Article 147 – Co-ownership as property regime – how property should be distributed after declaration of nullity
In 1998, Alain Diño vs Ma. Caridad Diño married each other. In 2001, Alain filed a petition to have their marriage be declared void on the ground that Caridad is psychologically incapacitated. In 2006, his petition was granted. But in the RTC’s ruling, it held that the decree of absolute nullity of marriage will only be issued after liquidation, partition and distribution of the parties’ properties under Article 50 and 51 of the Family Code. The RTC ruled that this ruling is pursuant to Section 19(1) of the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Null Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages which provides:
Decision. – (1) If the court renders a decision granting the petition, it shall declare therein that the decree of absolute nullity or decree of annulment shall be issued by the court only after compliance with Articles 50 and 51 of the Family Code as implemented under the Rule on Liquidation, Partition and Distribution of Properties.
ISSUE: Whether or not the ruling of the trial court is correct.
HELD: No. Section 19(1) of the Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Null Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages only applies to marriages dissolved under Article 40 (Bigamous Marriages) and 45 (Voidable Marriages) of the Family Code. In the case at bar, the marriage was dissolved under Article 36 (Psychological Incapacity) – which is a marriage void ab initio.
Meanwhile, Article 147 of the Family Code provides that if a man and a woman capacitated to marry each other lived exclusively with each other as husband and wife and their union is without the benefit of marriage, or their marriage is void, the property regime which shall govern them is co-ownership. In this case, Alain and Caridad met the foregoing elements as they were capacitated to marry each other, they lived together as husband and wife from 1998 to 2001, but their union was without the benefit of marriage (since their marriage was declared void ab initio due to psychological incapacity).
Since the rules on co-ownership apply, then the properties of Alain and Caridad should be liquidated in accordance with the Civil Code provisions on co-ownership. The rules on co-ownership can be found on Article 496 of the Civil Code which provides: “partition may be made by agreement between the parties or by judicial proceedings.”
Therefore, it is not necessary to liquidate the properties of the spouses in the same proceeding for declaration of nullity of marriage. The decree of absolute nullity of the marriage shall be issued upon finality of the trial court’s decision without waiting for the liquidation, partition, and distribution of the parties’ properties.
