Dear PAO,
I just want to know who has the right to decide on the funeral arrangements for the deceased. Is it the estranged legal spouse who was not even there during the last days of the deceased, or the common-law spouse who has taken care of the deceased ever since he got sick?
Jairus
Dear Jairus,
Please be informed of Article 305 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines which states that:
“Article 305. The duty and the right to make arrangements for the funeral of a relative shall be in accordance with the order established for support, under article 294. In case of descendants of the same degree, or of brothers and sisters, the oldest shall be preferred. In case of ascendants, the paternal shall have a better right.”
Article 305 of the said Code, in relation to Article 199 of the Family Code, specifies the order of persons who have the right and duty to give support, and therefore to also make funeral arrangements for the deceased, to wit:
“Article 294. The claim for support, when proper and two or more persons are obliged to give it, shall be made in the following order:
“(1) From the spouse;
“(2) From the descendants of the nearest degree;
“(3) From the ascendants, also of the nearest degree;
“(4) From the brothers and sisters.
“Among descendants and ascendants, the order in which they are called to the intestate succession of the person who has a right to claim support shall be observed.”
Based on the foregoing, it is undeniable that the law simply confines the right and duty to make funeral arrangements for the members of the family to the exclusion of one’s common-law partner. Further, in the case of Valino vs. Adriano (GR 182894 April 22, 2014), the Supreme Court, through Associate Justice Jose Mendoza, held that: “indeed, Philippine Law does not recognize common law marriages. A man and woman not legally married who cohabit for many years as husband and wife, who represent themselves to the public as husband and wife, and who are reputed to be husband and wife in the community where they live may be considered legally married in common law jurisdictions but not in the Philippines. As applied to this case, it is clear that the law gives the right and duty to make funeral arrangements to Rosario, she being the surviving legal wife of Atty. Adriano. The fact that she was living separately from her husband and was in the United States when he died has no controlling significance. To say that Rosario had, in effect, waived or renounced, expressly or impliedly, her right and duty to make arrangements for the funeral of her deceased husband is baseless.”
Therefore, to answer your question, it is the legal wife who shall still have the right and duty to make funeral arrangements, not the common-law wife, notwithstanding the fact that the latter cared for the deceased prior to his demise.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
