[Article 147 Family Code-Property Regime of Union Without Marriage; Article 148 - Rules on Co-ownership regarding polygamous/bigamous marriages, adulterous or concubinage relationships; Article 40 - Judicial Declaration of Nullity of Marriage]
FACTS:
SPO4 Santiago Cariño married Susan Nicdao in 1969 without
marriage license. They had two children. He then married Susan Yee on November
10 1992, with whom he had no children in their almost 10 year cohabitation
starting way back in 1982.
He passed away on November 23 1992. The two Susans filed
with the RTC of Quezon City the claims for monetary benefits and financial
assistance pertaining to the deceased from various government agencies. Nicdao
collected a total of P146,000 while Yee received a total of P21,000.
Yee filed an instant case for collection of half the
money acquired by Nicdao, collectively denominated as "death benefits." Yee admitted that her
marriage with the SPO4 took place during the subsistence of, and without first
obtaining a judicial declaration of nullity, the marriage between Nicdao and
the SPO4. She however claimed that she became aware of the previous marriage at
the funeral of the deceased.
In 1995, the trial court ruled in favor of Yee. Nicdao
appealed to the CA, which the CA affirmed the decision of the trial court.
ISSUE:
Whether or not Yee can claim half the amount acquired by
Nicdao.
RULING:
No. SC held that the marriage between Yee and Cariño falls
under the Article 148 of the Family Code, which refers to the property regime
of bigamous or polygamous marriages, adulterous or concubinage relationships.
Yee cannot claim the benefits earned by the SPO4 as a police
officer as her marriage to the deceased is void due to bigamy. She is only
entitled to the properties acquired with the deceased through their actual joint contribution. Wages and
salaries earned by each party belong to him or her exclusively. Hence, they are
not owned in common by Yee and the deceased, but belong to the deceased alone
and Yee has no right whatsoever to claim the same. By intestate succession, the said “death
benefits” of the deceased shall pass to his legal heirs. And, Yee, not being the legal wife, is not
one of them.
As regards to the first marriage, the marriage between
Nicdao and SPO4 is null and void due to absence of a valid marriage license.
Nicdao can claim the death benefits by the deceased even if she did not
contribute thereto. Article 147 creates a co-ownership in respect thereto,
entitling Nicdao to share one-half of the benefits. As there is no allegation
of bad faith in the first marriage, she can claim one-half of the disputed
death benefits and the other half to the deceased' to his legal heirs, by
intestate succession.
The marriage between Yee and SPO4 is likewise null and void
for the same has been solemnized without the judicial declaration of the
nullity of the marriage between Nicdao and SPO4. Under Article 40, if a
party who is previously married wishes to contract a second marriage, he or she
has to obtain first a judicial decree declaring the first marriage void, before
he or she could contract said second marriage, otherwise the second marriage
would be void. However, for purposes other than to remarry, no prior and
separate judicial declaration of nullity is necessary.
