This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2000-03-27 |
GONZAGA-REYES, J. |
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| We see no reason to reverse respondent court. Petitioners' insistence that a co-ownership of properties existed between Lucio and Vicenta during their period of cohabitation before their marriage in 1968 is without lawful basis considering that Lucio's marriage with Gliceria was then subsisting. The co-ownership in Article 144 of the Civil Code [13] requires that the man and woman living together as husband and wife without the benefit of marriage must not in any way be incapacitated to marry.[14] Considering that the property was acquired in 1964, or while Lucio's marriage with Gliceria subsisted, such property is presumed to be conjugal unless it be proved that it pertains exclusively to the husband or to the wife.[15] Thus, we ruled in Pisueña vs. Heirs of Petra Unating and Aquilino Villar[16] that the prima facie presumption that properties acquired during the marriage are conjugal cannot prevail over a court's specific finding reached in adversarial proceedings to the contrary. | |||||