Title VIII: Support | Family Code of the Philippines
TITLE VIII FAMILY CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES – We are now going to know about the Title VIII of the Family Code of the Philippines.
The Family Code of the Philippines of 1987 was enacted into law by the 11th President of the Philippines Maria Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.
The EO was meant to supplant Book I of the Civil Code which concerns persons and family relations. Work on the said law began in 1979 and was drafted by two successive committees, with the first chaired by Supreme Court Justice Romero, and the second by former Supreme Court Justice J.B.L. Reyes.
EO 209 covers fields significant public interest, which also includes the laws on marriage.
Contents
Title VIII in the Executive Order No. 209 is titled Adoption and contains Articles 194 and 208. Here they are, according to this website:
Article 194
Support comprises everything indispensable for sustenance, dwelling, clothing, medical attendance, education and transportation, in keeping with the financial capacity of the family.
The education of the person entitled to be supported referred to in the preceding paragraph shall include his schooling or training for some profession, trade or vocation, even beyond the age of majority. Transportation shall include expenses in going to and from school, or to and from place of work. (290a)
Article 105
Subject to the provisions of the succeeding articles, the following are obliged to support each other to the whole extent set forth in the preceding article:
- The spouses;
- Legitimate ascendants and descendants;
- Parents and their legitimate children and the legitimate and illegitimate children of the latter;
- Parents and their illegitimate children and the legitimate and illegitimate children of the latter; and
- Legitimate brothers and sisters, whether of full or half-blood (291a)
Article 196
Brothers and sisters not legitimately related, whether of the full or half-blood, are likewise bound to support each other to the full extent set forth in Article 194, except only when the need for support of the brother or sister, being of age, is due to a cause imputable to the claimant’s fault or negligence. (291a)
Article 197
In case of legitimate ascendants; descendants, whether legitimate or illegitimate; and brothers and sisters, whether legitimately or illegitimately related, only the separate property of the person obliged to give support shall be answerable provided that in case the obligor has no separate property, the absolute community or the conjugal partnership, if financially capable, shall advance the support, which shall be deducted from the share of the spouse obliged upon the liquidation of the absolute community or of the conjugal partnership. (n)
Article 198
During the proceedings for legal separation or for annulment of marriage, and for declaration of nullity of marriage, the spouses and their children shall be supported from the properties of the absolute community or the conjugal partnership. After the final judgment granting the petition, the obligation of mutual support between the spouses ceases. However, in case of legal separation, the court may order that the guilty spouse shall give support to the innocent one, specifying the terms of such order. (292a)
Article 199
Whenever two or more persons are obliged to give support, the liability shall devolve upon the following persons in the order herein provided:
- The spouse;
- The descendants in the nearest degree;
- The ascendants in the nearest degree; and
- The brothers and sisters. (294a)
Article 200
When the obligation to give support falls upon two or more persons, the payment of the same shall be divided between them in proportion to the resources of each.
However, in case of urgent need and by special circumstances, the judge may order only one of them to furnish the support provisionally, without prejudice to his right to claim from the other obligors the share due from them.
When two or more recipients at the same time claim support from one and the same person legally obliged to give it, should the latter not have sufficient means to satisfy all claims, the order established in the preceding article shall be followed, unless the concurrent obligees should be the spouse and a child subject to parental authority, in which case the child shall be preferred. (295a)
Article 201
The amount of support, in the cases referred to in Articles 195 and 196, shall be in proportion to the resources or means of the giver and to the necessities of the recipient. (296a)
Article 202
Support in the cases referred to in the preceding article shall be reduced or increased proportionately, according to the reduction or increase of the necessities of the recipient and the resources or means of the person obliged to furnish the same. (297a)
Article 203
The obligation to give support shall be demandable from the time the person who has a right to receive the same needs it for maintenance, but it shall not be paid except from the date of judicial or extra-judicial demand.
Support pendente lite may be claimed in accordance with the Rules of Court.
Payment shall be made within the first five days of each corresponding month or when the recipient dies, his heirs shall not be obliged to return what he has received in advance. (298a)
Article 204
The person obliged to give support shall have the option to fulfill the obligation either by paying the allowance fixed, or by receiving and maintaining in the family dwelling the person who has a right to receive support. The latter alternative cannot be availed of in case there is a moral or legal obstacle thereto. (299a)
Article 205
The right to receive support under this Title as well as any money or property obtained as such support shall not be levied upon on attachment or execution. (302a)
Article 206
When, without the knowledge of the person obliged to give support, it is given by a stranger, the latter shall have a right to claim the same from the former, unless it appears that he gave it without intention of being reimbursed. (2164a)
Article 207
When the person obliged to support another unjustly refuses or fails to give support when urgently needed by the latter, any third person may furnish support to the needy individual, with right of reimbursement from the person obliged to give support. This Article shall particularly apply when the father or mother of a child under the age of majority unjustly refuses to support or fails to give support to the child when urgently needed. (2166a)
Article 208
In case of contractual support or that given by will, the excess in amount beyond that required for legal support shall be subject to levy on attachment or execution.
Furthermore, contractual support shall be subject to adjustment whenever modification is necessary due to changes of circumstances manifestly beyond the contemplation of the parties. (n)
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