For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Ecclesiastes 1:18
Our lesson today in Civil Law is on how properties of the family (particularly of the spouses) are to be liquidated after the termination of marriage (that is - one died, or marriage was void, or was annulled). The Family Code of the Philippines, it seems did not miss any hole covered, and every stone turned to answer everything about property, marriage and family. It was an exciting discussion where properties go to the surviving spouse and the issues (children) when the marriage eventually is terminated.
Then came the topic of the "other" woman or "other" family having to share with the property of the erring (and very dead) spouse. Surprisingly, the code did not leave any space for such question to be unanswered - it covered that too. All chapters pertaining to Property Regimes have one or a couple of answers to such predicament.
So I related this to my wife (who is busy doing her job), and said that I could have all the property she got from her parents and relatives should she die. She does have some properties named to her, and by default I also can benefit from them. Of course I told her, "I'm not interested to have them so I better execute a marriage settlement should I plan to marry again, so that our daughters would not share with the subsequent issues." She smiled with a nod.
A moment later, she said, "If you die, why would I execute a marriage settlement on my subsequent marriage to another - you don't have properties of your own to start with!"
Bam!
Enough said. I returned to my review for the Political Law, then.
