Calimlim-Canullas v. Fortun

Facts:

Petitioner Mercedes Calimlim-Canullas and Fernando Canullas were married in 1962, with 5 children, and were living on a house situated on a land inherited by the latter. In 1978, Fernando abandoned his family and lived with Corazon Daguines. In 1980, Fernando sold the house and lot to Daguines, who initiated a complaint for quieting of title. Mercedes resisted, claiming that the house and lot were conjugal properties, and the sale was null nad void for she had not consented thereto.

Issues:

(1) Whether or not the construction of a conjugal house on the exclusive property of the husband ipso facto gave the land the character of conjugal property

(2) Whether or not the sale of the lot together with the house and improvements thereon was valid under the circumstances surrounding the transaction

Held:

(1) Both the land and the building belong to the conjugal partnership but the conjugal partnership is indebted to the husband for the value of the land. The spouse owning the lot becomes a creditor of the conjugal partnership for the value of the lot, which value would be reimbursed at the liquidation of the conjugal partnership. FERNANDO could not have alienated the house and lot to DAGUINES since MERCEDES had not given her consent to said sale.

(2) The contract of sale was null and void for being contrary to morals and public policy. The sale was made by a husband in favor of a concubine after he had abandoned his family and left the conjugal home where his wife and children lived and from whence they derived their support. That sale was subversive of the stability of the family, a basic social institution which public policy cherishes and protects. The law emphatically prohibits the spouses from selling property to each other subject to certain exceptions. Similarly, donations between spouses during marriage are prohibited. And this is so because if transfers or con conveyances between spouses were allowed during marriage, that would destroy the system of conjugal partnership, a basic policy in civil law. It was also designed to prevent the exercise of undue influence by one spouse over the other, as well as to protect the institution of marriage, which is the cornerstone of family law. The prohibitions apply to a couple living as husband and wife without benefit of marriage, otherwise, "the condition of those who incurred guilt would turn out to be better than those in legal union." Those provisions are dictated by public interest and their criterion must be imposed upon the wig of the parties.