Executive
Order No. 209
The Family Code of the Philippines
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Title VIII: Support
Art. 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)
Art. 195.
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:
(1) The spouses;
(2) Legitimate ascendants and descendants;
(3) Parents and their legitimate children and the legitimate and
illegitimate children of the latter;
(4) Parents and their illegitimate children and the legitimate
and illegitimate children of the latter; and
(5) Legitimate brothers and sisters, whether of full or half-blood
(291a)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 199.
Whenever two or more persons are obliged to give support, the liability
shall devolve upon the following persons in the order herein provided:
(1) The spouse;
(2) The descendants in the nearest degree;
(3) The ascendants in the nearest degree; and
(4) The brothers and sisters.
(294a)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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)
Art. 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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