Suggested questions for Person and Family Relations

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Question no. 1: Enumerate the effects of the decree of legal separation.

Answer: The decree of legal separation shall have the following effects:

  1. The spouses shall be entitled to live separately from each other, but the marriage bonds shall not be severed;
  1. The absolute community or the conjugal partnership shall be dissolved and liquidated but the offending spouse shall have no right to any share of the net profits earned by the absolute community or the conjugal partnership, which shall be forfeited in accordance with the provisions of Article 43(2);
  1. The custody of the minor children shall be awarded to the innocent spouse, subject to the provisions of Article 213 of the Family Code; and
  1. The offending spouse shall be disqualified from inheriting from the spouse by intestate succession. Moreover, provisions in favor of the offending spouse made in the will of the innocent spouse shall be revoked by operation of law.



Question no. 2:

Janie Reyes was born on September 1, 2017 to common law partners Juniper Reyes and Mateo Garcia. Mateo was a married man, who makes a living by selling drugs with the help of Juniper. Juniper gave up Janie to her sister and brother-in-law, Jadie Reyes-Carpio and Jude Carpio. Janie was then barely two weeks old. The petition for adoption was filed in the RTC of Siniloan and was granted on February 14,2018. Janie was then named Janie Jade Reyes-Carpio.

By midnight of February 28, 2018, Juniper sneaked inside the home of Jadie and Jude and took The child. Juniper and her partner, Mateo, went into hiding. They sent messages to Jadie and Jude saying that they would give Janie back if they pay Php. 100,000.00.

Jadie and Jude refuses to pay them. They filed a petition for habeas corpus for the child, Janie Jade.
The Court granted the petition and awarded custody of the child to Jadie and Jude Carpio. If you were the judge, who would you grant the custody to?

Answer:

I would grant the petition to the adoptive parents, Jadie and Jude Carpio.

In the case of Spouses Cervantes v. Fajardo, the Supreme Court held that in all cases involving the care, custody, education and property of children, the child’s welfare is always paramount. They further stated that in all controversies involving the custody of minors, the foremost consideration is the moral, physical and social welfare of the child concerned, taking into account the resources and moral as well as the social standing of the contending parents.

In this instant case, the adoptive parents have the capacity to cultivate the child’s moral character the best. The biological parents’ relationship and source of living would not guarantee the best environment for the child to be brought up in. The child’s welfare is always paramount, thus, the custody should be awarded to the adoptive parents who not only have the physical, but also the moral characteristics that would be most beneficial for the child.

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