PHILIPPINE FAMILY-LAW REFERENCE
50 essential family-law terms, explained plainly
Use this glossary for concise, legally grounded definitions covering marriage, children, support, property, court procedure, civil registration, and international family cases. Each term links to the closest live FamilyCode.ph guide for requirements, evidence, procedure, and next steps.
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A–Z family-law glossary
A
Absolute Community of Property
The default property regime for many marriages celebrated after the Family Code took effect. In general, property owned at marriage and acquired afterward forms one community, subject to statutory exclusions and valid marriage settlements.
Acknowledgment of Paternity
A father’s legally significant recognition of a child’s filiation. It may appear in the birth record, a public document, or a private handwritten instrument signed by the father, subject to the governing rules.
Adoption
A legal process creating a permanent parent-child relationship between adopter and adoptee. Domestic administrative adoption is principally governed by Republic Act No. 11642 and handled through the National Authority for Child Care.
Affinity
A relationship created by marriage between one spouse and the blood relatives of the other. Affinity can matter in marriage impediments and other legal contexts.
Annulment
A court remedy for a voidable marriage—one considered valid until annulled because a statutory ground existed at the time of marriage.
B
Best Interests of the Child
The controlling consideration in decisions affecting a child’s custody, care, and welfare. Courts assess safety, stability, needs, relationships, and the parents’ circumstances.
Bigamy
Contracting another marriage before a prior marriage has been legally dissolved, or before an absent spouse has been judicially declared presumptively dead when required. It may carry civil and criminal consequences.
C
Child Marriage
A marriage in which one or both parties are children. Republic Act No. 11596 prohibits child marriage, treats it as void from the beginning, and penalizes specified acts that facilitate or solemnize it.
Child Support
Everything indispensable for a child’s sustenance, dwelling, clothing, medical attendance, education, and transportation, consistent with the family’s resources. Amount depends on need and means.
Civil Registrar
The public officer responsible for recording vital events and civil-status documents such as births, marriages, and deaths within the Philippine civil-registration system.
Collusion
An improper agreement to fabricate, suppress, or manipulate facts to obtain a judgment. Courts must guard against collusion in annulment, nullity, and legal-separation cases.
Conjugal Partnership of Gains
A regime where spouses generally retain separate property while fruits, income, and gains acquired during marriage form the partnership, subject to Family Code rules.
Consanguinity
Relationship by blood. Degrees of consanguinity help determine prohibited marriages and can affect support duties, succession, and other family-law rights.
Custody
The right and responsibility to keep, care for, and make day-to-day decisions for a child. It is distinct from the broader concept of parental authority.
D
Declaration of Nullity
A court action seeking a declaration that a marriage was void from the beginning. A final judgment is generally required for remarriage and official civil-status purposes.
E
Emancipation
The termination of parental authority when a child reaches the age of majority, generally eighteen. It does not erase obligations already due.
Essential Requisites of Marriage
The parties’ legal capacity and consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer. Absence generally makes the marriage void; a defect may make it voidable.
Exclusive Property
Property owned by only one spouse despite the marriage. What qualifies depends on the property regime, marriage settlements, timing and source of acquisition, and statutory exclusions.
F
Family Home
The family dwelling and the land on which it stands, constituted under the Family Code. It has limited protection from execution, forced sale, or attachment, subject to exceptions.
Filiation
The legally recognized relationship between a child and parent. It may be legitimate or illegitimate and affects surname, parental authority, support, and succession.
Foreign Divorce Recognition
A Philippine court proceeding to recognize a valid foreign divorce and establish its local legal effect. The foreign judgment and applicable foreign law generally must be pleaded and proved.
Formal Requisites of Marriage
Authority of the solemnizing officer, a valid marriage license unless exempt, and the required ceremony and declaration before witnesses. Absence, defects, and irregularities have different effects.
G
Guardianship
A court-supervised relationship authorizing a guardian to care for a minor or manage the minor’s person or property when required. It is not the same as adoption.
I
Illegitimate Child
A child conceived and born outside a valid marriage, subject to statutory rules. The child has support and inheritance rights and is generally under the mother’s parental authority.
Impediment to Marriage
A legal circumstance preventing a valid marriage, such as a subsisting prior marriage or certain prohibited relationships. The effect depends on the particular impediment.
J
Joint Parental Authority
The rule that parents jointly exercise authority over common children during marriage, with the child’s welfare controlling. Special rules apply when parents disagree or separate.
Judicial Separation of Property
A court-ordered separation of spouses’ property during marriage on statutory grounds. It changes property administration but does not dissolve the marriage.
L
Legal Capacity to Marry
The legal ability to contract marriage, including meeting the minimum age and being free from a subsisting marriage and other disqualifying impediments.
Legal Separation
A decree allowing spouses to live separately and separating specified property and marital effects without ending the marriage bond. Neither spouse may remarry.
Legitimate Child
A child conceived or born during a valid marriage, as defined by law. Status affects surname, parental authority, support, and succession.
Legitimation
A mechanism by which qualifying children conceived and born outside marriage acquire legitimate status after their parents validly marry, subject to statutory requirements.
M
Marriage Certificate
The civil-registry record showing that a marriage was celebrated and registered. It is important evidence, but the document alone cannot cure missing legal requisites.
Marriage License
A license issued by the local civil registrar before marriage unless an exemption applies. Its absence generally makes the marriage void; a mere irregularity may differ.
Marriage Settlements
A written premarital agreement governing property relations within legal limits. It must follow form and registration rules to affect third persons.
N
Nullity of Marriage
The legal condition of a marriage void from the beginning. It differs from annulment, which concerns a voidable marriage valid until annulled.
P
Parental Authority
Parents’ natural and legal rights and duties over their unemancipated children, including care, education, discipline, representation, and protection, subject to the child’s welfare.
Paternity
The legal relationship between father and child. When disputed, it may be established through the evidence and procedures governing filiation.
Presumptive Legitime
The share delivered to common children after certain judgments of annulment or nullity. It is calculated and recorded during the liquidation required by law.
Psychological Incapacity
A ground for declaring a marriage void when a spouse was psychologically incapable at celebration of complying with essential marital obligations. It is a legal concept, not merely a medical diagnosis.
Property Relations Between Spouses
Rules governing ownership, administration, enjoyment, liabilities, and liquidation of property during and after marriage. The regime may arise from valid settlements or statutory defaults.
Provisional Orders
Temporary orders while a family case is pending, potentially covering support, custody, visitation, and property administration. They do not finally resolve the main case.
PSA Certificate
A certified civil-registry document issued through the Philippine Statistics Authority, such as a birth, marriage, or death certificate or CENOMAR. Corrections or annotations may require a separate process.
R
Recognition of a Foreign Judgment
The Philippine judicial process for giving effect to a foreign court judgment, subject to Rule 39 and jurisprudence. The judgment and relevant foreign law must be properly proved.
S
Separation in Fact
Spouses living apart without a decree of legal separation, annulment, or nullity. It does not dissolve the marriage or automatically end all property and support obligations.
Separation of Property
A regime where each spouse generally owns and administers a separate estate and contributes to family expenses. It may arise by marriage settlement or judicial decree.
Solemnizing Officer
A person legally authorized to celebrate marriage, including specified judges, religious ministers, and certain officials in limited situations.
Support Pendente Lite
Temporary support ordered while a case is pending, based provisionally on the recipient’s needs and the giver’s resources until modified or resolved.
V
Void Marriage
A marriage invalid from the beginning due to a statutory ground. A judicial declaration is generally necessary before a party may remarry.
Voidable Marriage
A marriage considered valid unless and until annulled. Statutory grounds have different filing periods, ratification rules, and proof requirements.
Visitation or Parenting Time
Arrangements allowing a parent or other legally recognized person to maintain contact with a child. Courts shape access around the child’s best interests and safety.
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Primary legal sources
These definitions are concise orientation. Check the controlling text and current decisions for a specific case.
Questions about these terms
Is annulment the same as declaration of nullity?
No. Annulment concerns a voidable marriage valid until annulled. Nullity concerns a marriage void from the beginning, although a court judgment is generally required before remarriage.
Does a PSA marriage certificate prove every marriage is valid?
It proves that a marriage record exists, but it cannot cure the absence of an essential or required formal requisite.
Does living apart legally separate spouses?
No. Separation in fact does not itself create legal separation, dissolve the marriage, or automatically terminate all property and support duties.
Can these definitions replace legal advice?
No. They provide general legal information. A qualified Philippine family lawyer should assess the documents, evidence, deadlines, jurisdiction, and available remedies.
Editorial scope and review
This hub owns concise definition intent. Its links lead to verified, published FamilyCode.ph pages that explain the broader rule, documents, evidence, procedure, and practical next step.
Last substantively reviewed: September 17, 2026. Return to the Family Code hub or browse glossary articles.