In the Family Code Property Relations or also referred to as Property Regimes are divided into four types:
1. Complete Separation of Property
2. Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage
3. Conjugal Partnership of Gains
4. System of Absolute Community
While these four types of property relation may not apply to you, it will play a significant role once you get married. The property relations have to do with the law that applies to properties and other valuable things you accumulate over time. This includes your cars, jewelries and real estate. There are some details about property relation that you need to know whether you are the legal wife of the other woman or man.
The Family Code of the Philippines took effect on August 3, 1988. Since that day, the Absolute Community of Property will govern married couples. However, this property regime will only apply if they do not agree on another regime before getting married. The agreement before the weeding is referred to as the Marriage Settlements. Before August 3, 1988, the couples who got married without preparing marriage settlements beforehand, are covered by the Conjugal Partnership of Gains regime.
If the husband and wife agreed to Complete Separation of Property in their marriage settlements executed before the wedding, this Property Regime cannot be executed after the wedding.
On the other hand, the Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage is executed to two kinds of unmarried couples living together:
1. Those who are not legally married because of some legal impediment or incapacity of either or both of them, and
2. Those who are legally capable of marriage.
While both of these property relations are governed by the same property regime, each of them has different rules. Under the general law, a man is only allowed to marry one woman. If the man is already married to one and the marriage is still in effect, the other woman cannot be married. However, just because the other woman cannot be legally married does not necessarily mean that they do not have any right on the properties that they have accumulated together. According to the law, there are legal rights of the other woman that need to be taken into consideration.
Complete Separation of Property
This means each one of the spouses owns owns his or her exclusive properties, from both present and future property, including the ones they already own prior to getting married. If couples choose this property relation or regime, the means for supporting their family is through the use of common fund. The contribution of each part will depend on their income capacity.
Property Regime of Unions Without Marriage
It applies to couples who are capable of getting married but due to some reason did not get married because the property relations resemble that in CPG. This means their possessions prior to their marriage remain theirs, but the properties they produce or acquire during their marriage will be shared equally by both couples.
Conjugal Partnership of Gains
Conjugal Partnership of Gains (CPG) is similar to Absolute Community of Property except that there is a difference in how the properties are acquired by each party prior to getting married. The properties produced during the marriage will go to the common fund or the Conjugal Property where both spouses have equal rights.
Absolute Community of Property
This property regime pools the property of the husband and the wife together into one common fund. This will include the properties owned prior to the marriage. Both parties also have equal rights to the common fund. When married couples decide to go separate says or dissolve their marriage, the property should be equally divided.
