PERSONS AND FAMILY RELATIONS

Absence - special status of a person who has left his domicile, and thereafter his whereabouts and fate are unknown, it being uncertain whether he is already dead or still alive.

Administration - care, management or control of the estate of another.

Administrator - one who administers or manages the affairs or property of another.

Aid to youth Associations- Barangay funds may be used for the payment of the cost of the uniforms and equipment required by these organizations.

Alienage- the state or condition of alien

Animus manendi - intention to remain permanently in one's residence

Animus revertendi -the intention of returning to one's residence.

Barangay Scholarships- Barangay funds may be appropriated to provide annual scholarships for indigent children who deserve public assistance in the development of their potentialities.

Capacity to act(capacidad de obrar) - the power to do acts with legal effects

Child-a person's natural offspring;A "child" should be distinguished from a "minor" who is anyone under 18 in the Philippines.

Citizenship - the membership in a political community which is more or less permanent in nature

Civil interdiction -An accessory penalty, which has the effect of depriving the offender during the time of his sentence of the rights of parental authority, or guardianship, either as to the person or property of any ward, of marital authority, of the right to manage his property and of the right to dispose of such property by any act or any conveyance inter vivos.

Civil register - office where acts, events, and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons are recorded

Civil Registrar - person who records the civil events and status of a person.

Civil registration - the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents

Civil Registry - the official record where all the entries are entered into

Civil Status - includes one’s status in life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death.

Civil Training - training relating to, or involving the general public, their activities, needs, or ways, or civic affairs as distinguished from special (as military or religious) affairs.

Community Activities - activities that a child should form or join into. These are social, cultural, educational, recreational, civic or religious organizations or movements and other useful community activities.

Contingent - it is likely but not certain to happen; dependent on or conditioned by something else

Council for the protection of children- Under PD 603, it is an organization which draws and implements plans for the promotion of the child and youth welfare.

Curfew- a regulation enjoining the withdrawal of usually specified persons such as juveniles from the streets or the closing of business establishments or places of assembly at a stated hour

Deaf-mute - a person who cannot speak. If sane, prescription may run against him. He may make a will but cannot be a competent witness to a notarial will.

Domicile -the place of habitual residence; denotes a fixed permanent residence, which in the absence of one has the intention of returning.

Domicile by choice - that which is voluntarily chosen by the individual.

Domicile by operation of law - ordinarily resulting from legal domestic relations as that of the wife by marriage or that of a parent and a child.

Domicile of origin - given by law to a person at birth.

Exhumation - to dig out a corpse from the ground

Extraordinary absence - absence of person who are in danger of death. This includes persons on board a vessel during a sea or voyage or an airplane which is missing and has not been heard of for four years since the loss, also includes a person in the armed forces who has taken part in war and persons who are in danger of death under other circumstances.

Extraordinary child - child with an intra-uterine life of less than seven (7) months

Extraordinary prescription -prescription required to prevent recovery of the absentee of his property.

Family Affairs -affairs that refer to personal, or private activity in the family.

Family relations - behavioral, psychological, and social relations among various members of the nuclear family and the extended family

Full or complete civil capacity(plena capacidad civil)- the union of the two kinds of capacity

Funeral - a ceremony where one remembers, sanctifies, respects the life of a person who died.

Imbecility (feeble mindedness) - a weakness of the mind, caused by the absence or obliteration of natural or acquired ideas. It is a condition in which a person thinks like a small child.

Insanity - a chronic disease, manifested by deviations from the healthy and natural state of mind such deviations consisting in a morbid perversion of the feeling, affections and habits; state of mental incoherence or constant hurry and confusion of thought.

Interment - the burial of a corpse in a grave or tomb

Intrauterine life - pre-natal life; interval of life between conception and birth; in humans, usually divided into embryonic and fetal periods

Junior - name added to the name of a son whose name is the same as his father’s name to avoid confusion. A person who is of specified number of years younger than someone else.

Juridical capacity (capacidad juridical)- the fitness to be the subject of legal relations

Juridical persons - Entity, as a firm, that is not a single natural person as a human being, authorized by law with duties and rights, recognized as a legal authority having a distinct identity, a legal personality.

Jus sanguinis - citizenship is determined by blood, wherever he may be born.

Jus soli -citizenship is determined by place of birth.

Juvenile Courts - this has been abolished. The Regional Trial Court has exclusive, original, jurisdiction of all civil and special proceedings falling under the Juvenile Courts.

Legal effects -operation of a law, of an agreement, or an act

Legal personality - grants a person or organization rights and responsibilities under the law;sum total of an individual’s legal advantages and disadvantages; the lawful characteristics and qualities of an entity.

Legal relations -relation that is regulated by law

Lucid interval - that space of time between two fits of insanity, during which a person non compos mentis is completely restored to the perfect enjoyment of reason upon every subject upon which the mind was previously cognizant.

Maiden name - A woman's family name before she gets married.Also called birth name.

Married minor - a married woman under 21 years of age; she cannot dispose of or encumber her own real property without parental consent. If her husband is the guardian, his consent is needed

Married woman - a married woman who is eighteen years of age or over; she is qualified for all acts of civil life except in cases specified by law.

Mausoleum - a large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.

Middle name - A person's name after the first name and before the surname; surname of the mother.

Minor - person who is 18 years old and below

Minority- the state or condition of a minor; infancy. It is one of the limitations on the capacity to act and does not exempt the minor from certain obligations, as when the latter arise from his acts or from property relations.

Monomania- insanity only upon a particular subject; and with a single delusion of the mind. In order to avoid any civil act done, or criminal responsibility incurred, it must manifestly appear that the act in question was the effect of monomania

Moral Training- training relating to the principles of right and wrong

Mrs.- a form of address for a married woman. A word that indicates that she is the wife of her husband.

National law -law of the country of which a person was a citizen at the moment of death

Nationality -racial or ethnic relationship(as distinguished from citizenship which is political)

Nationality of juridical persons - generally determined by the place of its incorporation, subject to some exceptions

Natural born citizens - citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship

Natural persons -human beings created by God through the intervention of the parents

Naturalization - process of acquiring the citizenship of another

Naturalization Law - a law that grants aliens the privilege of obtaining Philippine citizenship under certain conditions that must be complied with

Naturalized citizens -citizens who become such through judicial proceedings

Ordinary absence - it is an absence of 7 years, it being unknown if whether or not the absentee still lives.

Ordinary child -child with an intra-uterine life of at least seven (7) months

Parental Delinquency - said to be the cause of juvenile delinquency.

Parents - includes guardians and the head of institutions or foster homes which has custody of the child

Pen name - A pseudonym used by a writer; also called nom de plume.

Presumption of Survivorship -1. The assumption that one person has survived another when they both died in the same accident. 2. The assumption that a person is still alive even though no one has heard from them in some time.

Prodigality(prodigus) - characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure.

Reading Habit - providing the child with good and wholesome reading material, taking into consideration his age and emotional development.

Residence - indicates place of abode whether permanent or temporary

Stage name- A fictitious name used when the person performs a particular social role. Usually assumed for professional purposes by an actor or other performer

Surname - a name shared in common to identify the members of a family, as distinguished from each member's given name; also called family name, last name.

Tombstone - a large, flat, inscribed stone standing or laid over the grave.

Unauthorized use of surnames -the use of surname belonging to another which is not officially or legally allowed or approved of by the owner.

Unlawful use of surnames - illegal use of surname of another person

Usurpation of name - the unlawful assumption of the use of name of another person

Vices - include intoxicating drinks, narcotic drugs, smoking, gambling, and other vices or harmful practices.

Widow - A woman who has survived her husband, especially one who has not remarried.

Youth associations in Barangays- Barangay councils shall encourage membership in civic youth associations and help these organizations attain their objectives.

Civil register - office where acts, events, and judicial decrees concerning the civil status of persons are recorded

Civil Registrar - person who records the civil events and status of a person.

Civil registration - the system by which a government records the vital events of its citizens and residents

Civil Registry - the official record where all the entries are entered into

Civil Status - includes one’s status in life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death.

Civil Training - training relating to, or involving the general public, their activities, needs, or ways, or civic affairs as distinguished from special (as military or religious) affairs.

Community Activities - activities that a child should form or join into. These are social, cultural, educational, recreational, civic or religious organizations or movements and other useful community activities.

Contingent - it is likely but not certain to happen; dependent on or conditioned by something else

Council for the protection of children- Under PD 603, it is an organization which draws and implements plans for the promotion of the child and youth welfare.

Curfew- a regulation enjoining the withdrawal of usually specified persons such as juveniles from the streets or the closing of business establishments or places of assembly at a stated hour

Deaf-mute - a person who cannot speak. If sane, prescription may run against him. He may make a will but cannot be a competent witness to a notarial will.

Domicile -the place of habitual residence; denotes a fixed permanent residence, which in the absence of one has the intention of returning.

Domicile by choice - that which is voluntarily chosen by the individual.

Domicile by operation of law - ordinarily resulting from legal domestic relations as that of the wife by marriage or that of a parent and a child.

Domicile of origin - given by law to a person at birth.

Exhumation - to dig out a corpse from the ground

Extraordinary absence - absence of person who are in danger of death. This includes persons on board a vessel during a sea or voyage or an airplane which is missing and has not been heard of for four years since the loss, also includes a person in the armed forces who has taken part in war and persons who are in danger of death under other circumstances.

Extraordinary child - child with an intra-uterine life of less than seven (7) months

Extraordinary prescription -prescription required to prevent recovery of the absentee of his property.

Family Affairs -affairs that refer to personal, or private activity in the family.

Family relations - behavioral, psychological, and social relations among various members of the nuclear family and the extended family

Full or complete civil capacity(plena capacidad civil)- the union of the two kinds of capacity

Funeral - a ceremony where one remembers, sanctifies, respects the life of a person who died.

Imbecility (feeble mindedness) - a weakness of the mind, caused by the absence or obliteration of natural or acquired ideas. It is a condition in which a person thinks like a small child.

Insanity - a chronic disease, manifested by deviations from the healthy and natural state of mind such deviations consisting in a morbid perversion of the feeling, affections and habits; state of mental incoherence or constant hurry and confusion of thought.

Interment - the burial of a corpse in a grave or tomb

Intrauterine life - pre-natal life; interval of life between conception and birth; in humans, usually divided into embryonic and fetal periods

Junior - name added to the name of a son whose name is the same as his father’s name to avoid confusion. A person who is of specified number of years younger than someone else.

Juridical capacity (capacidad juridical)- the fitness to be the subject of legal relations

Juridical persons - Entity, as a firm, that is not a single natural person as a human being, authorized by law with duties and rights, recognized as a legal authority having a distinct identity, a legal personality.

Jus sanguinis - citizenship is determined by blood, wherever he may be born.

Jus soli -citizenship is determined by place of birth.

Juvenile Courts - this has been abolished. The Regional Trial Court has exclusive, original, jurisdiction of all civil and special proceedings falling under the Juvenile Courts.

Legal effects -operation of a law, of an agreement, or an act

Legal personality - grants a person or organization rights and responsibilities under the law;sum total of an individual’s legal advantages and disadvantages; the lawful characteristics and qualities of an entity.

Legal relations -relation that is regulated by law

Lucid interval - that space of time between two fits of insanity, during which a person non compos mentis is completely restored to the perfect enjoyment of reason upon every subject upon which the mind was previously cognizant.

Maiden name - A woman's family name before she gets married.Also called birth name.

Married minor - a married woman under 21 years of age; she cannot dispose of or encumber her own real property without parental consent. If her husband is the guardian, his consent is needed

Married woman - a married woman who is eighteen years of age or over; she is qualified for all acts of civil life except in cases specified by law.

Mausoleum - a large stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.

Middle name - A person's name after the first name and before the surname; surname of the mother.

Minor - person who is 18 years old and below

Minority- the state or condition of a minor; infancy. It is one of the limitations on the capacity to act and does not exempt the minor from certain obligations, as when the latter arise from his acts or from property relations.

Monomania- insanity only upon a particular subject; and with a single delusion of the mind. In order to avoid any civil act done, or criminal responsibility incurred, it must manifestly appear that the act in question was the effect of monomania

Moral Training- training relating to the principles of right and wrong

Mrs.- a form of address for a married woman. A word that indicates that she is the wife of her husband.

National law -law of the country of which a person was a citizen at the moment of death

Nationality -racial or ethnic relationship(as distinguished from citizenship which is political)

Nationality of juridical persons - generally determined by the place of its incorporation, subject to some exceptions

Natural born citizens - citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship

Natural persons -human beings created by God through the intervention of the parents

Naturalization - process of acquiring the citizenship of another

Naturalization Law - a law that grants aliens the privilege of obtaining Philippine citizenship under certain conditions that must be complied with

Naturalized citizens -citizens who become such through judicial proceedings

Ordinary absence - it is an absence of 7 years, it being unknown if whether or not the absentee still lives.

Ordinary child -child with an intra-uterine life of at least seven (7) months

Parental Delinquency - said to be the cause of juvenile delinquency.

Parents - includes guardians and the head of institutions or foster homes which has custody of the child

Pen name - A pseudonym used by a writer; also called nom de plume.

Presumption of Survivorship -1. The assumption that one person has survived another when they both died in the same accident. 2. The assumption that a person is still alive even though no one has heard from them in some time.

Prodigality(prodigus) - characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure.

Reading Habit - providing the child with good and wholesome reading material, taking into consideration his age and emotional development.

Residence - indicates place of abode whether permanent or temporary

Stage name- A fictitious name used when the person performs a particular social role. Usually assumed for professional purposes by an actor or other performer

Surname - a name shared in common to identify the members of a family, as distinguished from each member's given name; also called family name, last name.

Tombstone - a large, flat, inscribed stone standing or laid over the grave.

Unauthorized use of surnames -the use of surname belonging to another which is not officially or legally allowed or approved of by the owner.

Unlawful use of surnames - illegal use of surname of another person

Usurpation of name - the unlawful assumption of the use of name of another person

Vices - include intoxicating drinks, narcotic drugs, smoking, gambling, and other vices or harmful practices.

Widow - A woman who has survived her husband, especially one who has not remarried.

Youth associations in Barangays- Barangay councils shall encourage membership in civic youth associations and help these organizations attain their objectives

ADOPTION

Abandoned child- refers to one who has no proper parental care or guardianship or whose parent(s) has deserted him/her for a period of at least six (6) continuous months and has been judicially declared as such.

Authorized and accredited agency- refers to the State welfare agency or a licensed adoption agency in the country of the adopting parents which provide comprehensive social services and which is duly recognized by the Department.

Child- Any person below 15 years old (Inter-country)/ below 18 (domestic).

Child–caring agency - is a duly licensed and accredited agency by the Department that provides twenty four (24)-hour residential care services for abandoned, orphaned, neglected, or voluntarily committed children.

Child-placing agency-  is a duly licensed and accredited agency by the Department to provide comprehensive child welfare services including, but not limited to, receiving applications for adoption, evaluating the prospective adoptive parents, and preparing the adoption home study.

Department- refers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Inter-country adoption - refers to the socio-legal process of adopting a Filipino child by a foreigner or a Filipino citizen permanently residing abroad where the petition is filed, the supervised trial custody is undertaken, and the decree of adoption is issued outside the Philippines.

Inter-country adoption board -It acts as the central authority in matters relating to inter-country adoption and shall ensure that all possibilities for adoption of the child under the Family Code have been exhausted and that the inter-country adoption is for the best interest of the child.

Involuntarily committed child - is one whose parent(s), known or unknown, has been permanently and judicially deprived of parental authority due to abandonment; substantial, continuous, or repeated neglect; abuse; or incompetence to discharge parental responsibilities.

Joint Adoption - If a person seeking to adopt has a spouse, such person must adopt with his spouse jointly.

Legally–free child - A child voluntarily or involuntarily

JURISPRUDENCE:

LEGAL SEPARATION

1. X filed a complaint for legal separation against Y before the RTC, alleging that she suffered physical violence, threats, intimidation, and grossly abusive conduct. The RTC and CA decreed the legal separation. Y claims that X is guilty of abandonment and should, therefore, be denied legal separation following Art. 56(1). Is Y correct?

ANSWER: The claim of Y with regards X’s abandonment is without merit. The abandonment referred to by the Family Code is abandonment without justifiable cause for more than one year. As it was established that X left Y due to his abusive conduct, such does not constitute abandonment contemplated by the said provision. Ong Eng Kiam a.k.a. William Ong v. Lucita Ong G.R. No. 153206, Oct. 23, 2006

2. X and Y were married with two children. Y the left for the United States with one son and became a naturalized American citizen. Y obtained a valid divorce decree in 2000 capacitating her to remarry and thus, she contracted a marriage with Innocent Z, an American. X then filed a petition for authority to remarry under the Family Code. The Office of the Solicitor General contends that the invoked article was not

applicable and raises this pure question of law. They further posit that X should file for Legal Separation or annulment instead. Is legal separation a correct remedy to the case?

ANSWER: Legal Separation need not be the proper remedy as this is not futile to severe married tie. Republic vs. Obrecido G.R. NO. 154380 October 5, 2005

3. A, legal wife of the petitioner, B, filed with the RTC a complaint against petitioner for legal separation on the ground of concubinage with a petition for support and payment of damages. A, also filed a complaint for concubinage against B, the petitioner with MTC of General Santos City. And again for the application for the provisional remedy of support pendente lite. The respondent Judge Peñaranda ordered the payment of support pendente lite. Petitioner contends that the civil action for legal separation and the incidents thereto should be suspended in view of the criminal case for concubinage. Is Legal Separation on the grounds of concubinage requires the finding guilty of concubinage of the same?

ANSWER: Legal Separation on the grounds of Concubinage does not require that the husband be found guilty of the same. A decree of legal separation, on the ground of concubinage, maybe issued upon proof by preponderance of evidence in the action for legal separation.No criminal proceeding or conviction is necessary. Gandionco vs. Peńaranda, 155 SCRA 725

4. The petitioner, A, is the legal wife of B, herein private respondent. The latter admitted to have cohabited with 3 women and fathered 15 children. A filed a complaint against the husband for judicial separation of conjugal property in addition to an earlier action for support which was consolidated. RTC decision was a definite disposition of the complaint for support but none of that for the judicial separation of conjugal property. B elevated the decision to CA which affirmed rulings of the trial court. The complaint on the separation of property was dismissed for lack of cause. A, contested that the agreement between her and B was for her to temporarily live with her parents during the initial period of her pregnancy and for him to visit and support her. They never agreed to be separated permanently. She even returned to him but the latter refused to accept her. Is the abandonment on the part of B to warrant legal separation and judicial separation of conjugal property?

ANSWER: Under the Art. 128 of Family Code, the aggrieved spouse may petition for judicial separation on either of these grounds of abandonment by a spouse of the other without just cause; and failure of one spouse to comply with his or her obligations to the family without just cause, even if she said spouse does not leave the other spouse.

In the problem, B had already rejected the A, whom he denied admission to their conjugal home. The fact that she was not accepted demonstrates too clearly that he had no intention of resuming their conjugal relationship. He even refused to give financial support to the petitioner. The physical separation of the parties, coupled with the refusal by the private respondent to give support to the petitioner, sufficed to constitute abandonment as a ground for the judicial separation of their conjugal property. PRIMA PARTOSA-JO vs. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS and HO HANG G.R. No. 82606 December 18, 1992.

5. A and B agreed to separate. A filed a complaint for legal separation and change of surname. After a year, B begun cohabitating with C. A instituted the complaint for legal separation after another year. a. Is the action for legal separation already prescribed? b. Assuming it had not yet prescribed, is the agreement amounts to consent

precluding the action for legal separation?

ANSWER: a. YES, it already prescribed. An action for legal separation cannot be filed except

within one year from and after the date on which the plaintiff became cognizant of the cause and within five years from after the date when cause occurred.

b. Yes, there was already an express consent. The condonation and consent here are not only implied but expressed. The law (Art. 100 Civil Code), specifically provides that legal separation may be claimed only by the innocent spouse, provided there has been no condonation of or consent to the adultery or concubinage. Having condoned and/or consented in writing, the plaintiff is now undeserving of the court's sympathy. SOCORRO MATUBIS vs. ZOILO PRAXEDES, G.R. No. L-11766 October 25, 1960

6. A filed a petition for legal separation against B. B abandoned her after 9 years of their marriage when A discovered him cohabiting with another woman. A prayed for the issuance of the decree of legal separation. Before the trial could be completed, A died in a vehicular accident. With these B moved to dismiss the petition for legal separation on two grounds; the petition was filed beyond 1-year period and the death of petitioner abated the acted for legal separation. Is the death of plaintiff in action for legal separation before final decree abated the action?

ANSWER: YES, An action for legal separation which involves nothing more than the bed-and-board separation of the spouses is purely personal. The Civil Code of the Philippines recognizes this in its Article 100, by allowing only the innocent spouse and no one else to claim legal separation; and in its Article 108, by providing that the spouses can, by their reconciliation, stop or abate the proceedings and even rescind a decree of legal separation already rendered. Being personal in character, it follows that the death of one party to the action causes the death of the action itself actio personalis moritur cum persona. Lapuz-Sy vs. Eufemio, 43 SCRA 177