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Pacete Vs Carriaga
Pacete Vs Carriaga
FACTS:
HELD:
The Civil Code provides that “no decree of legal separation shall
be promulgated upon a stipulation of facts or by confession of
judgment. In case of non-appearance of the defendant, the court
shall order the prosecuting attorney to inquire whether or not
collusion between parties exists. If there is no collusion, the
prosecuting attorney shall intervene for the State in order to take
care that the evidence for the plaintiff is not fabricated.”
The above stated provision calling for the intervention of the state
attorneys in case of uncontested proceedings for legal separation
(and of annulment of marriages, under Article 88) is to emphasize
that marriage is more than a mere contract.
Article 103 of the Civil Code, now Article 58 of the Family Code,
further mandates that an action for legal separation must “in no
case be tried before six months shall have elapsed since the filing
of the petition,” obviously in order to provide the parties a
“cooling-off” period. In this interim, the court should take steps
toward getting the parties to reconcile.
On 07 January 1980, the lower court granted the motion but only for
twenty (20) days to be counted from 20 December 1979 or until 09 January
1980. The Order of the court was mailed to defendants' counsel on 11
January 1980. Likely still unaware of the court order, the defendants, on 05
February 1980, again filed another motion (dated 18 January 1980) for an
extension of "fifteen (15) days counted from the expiration of the 30-day
period previously sought" within which to file an answer. The following
day, or on 06 February 1980, the court denied this last motion on the
ground that it was "filed after the original period given . . . as first
extension had expired."1
Macadangdang vs CA
Macadangdang vs CA
GR No. 38287, October 23, 1981
FACTS:
HELD:
The death of a spouse after a final decree of legal separation has no effect
on the legal separation. 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.
The law clearly spells out the effect of a final decree of legal separation on
the conjugal property. Therefore, upon the liquidation and distribution
conformably with the effects of such final decree, the law on intestate
succession should take over the disposition of whatever remaining
properties have been allocated to the deceased spouse.