PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS

Course Outline

Objective: Thorough and in-depth knowledge and understanding of the laws

affecting the rights, duties, obligations and remedies in all matters
affecting and governing the individual members of the family which
is the basic social institution of the nation.

Applicable laws:

1) Articles 1 – 51, Civil Code of the Philippines.

2) Family Code of the Philippines (Executive Order No. 209 which
repeals Titles III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XI and XV of the Civil Code
of the Philippines)
3) Domestic Adoption Act of 1998 (which repeals Articles 183-193 of
the Family Code of the Philippines)
4) Articles 305 – 413, Civil Code of the Philippines.

COURSE OUTLINE

I. General Principles (Articles 1 – 51, Civil Code of the Philippines)

A) Effect and application of laws

1) Effectivity of laws
2) Prospective application of laws
3) Repeal of laws
4) Effect of judicial decisions
5) Obligatory force of penal laws
6) Principle of Nationality
7) Principle of Lex Situs (governing real properties)
8) Principle of Lex Loci Celebrationes)

B) Human relations

1) Rules of conduct consistent with orderly and harmonious

relationship
2) Relief against public officials
3) Civil obligations

C) Persons

1) Juridical capacity and capacity to act

2) Natural persons
3) Juridical persons
4) Citizenship and domicile

II. The Family Code of the Philippines (Executive Order No. 209)

A) Marriage

1) Requisites of Marriage
2) Marriages Exempt from License Requirement
3) Void and Voidable Marriages
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a) Judicial declaration of nullity

b) Effects of a declaration of nullity on:

- conjugal properties
- status of children
- custody of children
- presumptive legitime of children

B) Legal Separation

1) Grounds
2) Procedure
3) Effects of a Decree of Legal Separation
4) Effects of Reconciliation

C) Rights and Obligations Between Husband and Wife

1) Duties and obligations

2) Expenses for support and household management
3) Exercise of profession
4) Separate property liability

D) Property Relations Between Husband and Wife

1) General Provisions

a) Property relations and ante-nuptial agreements

b) Marriage settlements
c) Efficacy of marriage settlements
d) Rules governing property relations

2) Donations by reason of marriage

a) Requirements
b) Effects of Donation
c) Effects on the donation in case marriage is not
celebrated, judicially declared void and in case of
legal separation
d) Void donations

3) Systems of Property Relations

a) System of absolute community

a-1) General provisions

a-2) What constitutes community property
a-3) Charges upon the property and obligations
a-4) Ownership, administration, enjoyment and
disposition of community property
a-5) Dissolution and liquidation of the absolute
community assets and liabilities

b) Conjugal partnership of gains

b-1) General provisions

b-2) Exclusive Property of Each Spouse
b-3) Conjugal Partnership Property
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b-4) Charges upon the property and obligations

b-5) Administration of conjugal partnership property
b-6) Dissolution and liquidation of conjugal
partnership assets and liabilities
b-7) Separation of property of the spouse and
administration of common property by one
spouse during the marriage

c) Regime of separation of property

c-1) Properties included

d) Property regime of unions without marriage

E. The Family

1) The family as an institution

a) Importance
b) Exemption from criminal liability in crimes against
property

2) The family home

a) Constitution
b) Beneficiaries
c) Disposition

F) Paternity and filiation

1) Legitimate children

a) Effects of artificial insemination

b) Declaration of legitimacy
c) Presumption of filiation
d) Proof of filiation
e) How filiation is established
f) Evidence required
g) Actions to claim legitimacy
h) Rights of the legitimate child

2) Illegitimate Children

a) Proofs required
b) Rights of an illegitimate child
c) Parental authority over an illegitimate child

3) Legitimated Children

a) Requirements
b) Effects of legitimation
c) Registration
d) Benefit to descendants

G. Adoption

1) Philosophy behind adoption

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2) Qualifications of the adopter and adoptee

3) Nature of Adoption Proceedings
4) Effectivity of adoption decree
5) Registration
6) Effects of adoption
7) Rescission of Adoption
8) Successional rights
9) Inter-country adoption

H. Support

1) Nature
2) Support between -

a) Spouses
b) Ascendants and Descendants
c) Legitimate ad illegitimate brothers and sisters
d) Support pendent elite
e) Order of priority
f) Contractual and testamentary support

I. Parental Authority

1) General provisions

a) Nature
b) Preferential Right of the Father
c) Renunciation and Transfer of Parental
Authority
d) Effects of-

d-1) Remarriage of a parent

d-2) Legal Separation
e) Parental preference rule
f) Maternal preference
g) Substitute parental authority of grandparents
h) Reason for filial privilege

2) Substitute and special parental authority

a) Transfer of parental authority

b) Liability of persons possessing special parental
authority
c) Liability of persons exercising substitute
parental authority
d) Defenses available to persons with special
parental authority

3) Effects of parental authority upon the property of the children

4) Suspension or termination of parental authority

J. Emancipation and age of majority

1) Parental consent
2) Tort liability of parents and guardians
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K. Judicial proceedings in the family law

1) Nature
2) Scope of application

a) Separation in fact between husband and wife

b) Incidents involving parental authority
c) Other matters

L. Funerals

1) Kinds
2) Arrangements
3) Liability of conjugal partnership

M. Care and education of children

N. Use of surnames

1) Legitimate, legitimated, illegitimate and adopted children,

married and legally separated women, widow,

2) Change of Name and Surname

- grounds
- effects
- nature of proceedings

O. Absence

1) Judicial declaration required

2) Effectivity of judicial declaration
3) Administration of the property of the absentee
4) Presumption of death
5) Effect of absence upon the contingent rights of the absentee
6) Missing persons

P. Civil Registry

1) Duties of the local civil registrar

2) Judicial and administrative proceedings involving the civil
registry