This mortgage debt must be paid 50% by each of the spouses. The problem arises when you fulfil the payment obligation but your ex-partner does not pay his/her share of the mortgage instalment. In front of the bank, the non-compliance is the responsibility of both of you because the debt is joint and several (both co-owners have the obligation to pay the entire debt).
The bank has the power to declare the debt due and demand the execution of the mortgage against both of you (even if you have paid your part). What can be done to prevent the bank from executing? If you can afford it, one of the options is to pay the other's part of the mortgage. And then claim it through the right of recourse . If you find yourself in this situation and your ex-partner does not pay his part of the mortgage installment, it is best to hire the services of civil lawyers , since hiring a specialized lawyer will guarantee you greater knowledge about the issues discussed, since he has experience in similar cases before.
What are the consequences of non-payment by the ex-partner? Is this a crime? We analyse the new Supreme Court ruling that represents a change in interpretation.
Article 227 of the Criminal Code regulates the crime of non-payment of financial support in favour of one's spouse or children. It falls within the crimes of abandonment of family. The crime will occur if two consecutive installments or four non-consecutive installments are not paid . This will lead to a prison sentence or a fine.
The injured party must file a complaint and must have the will not to pay. That is, the ex-partner does not pay the benefits because he does not want to, not because he cannot.
For years, the courts' jurisprudence rejected the idea that non-payment of a list of contact numbers in philippines mortgage constituted a crime of abandonment of the family. The argument they maintained was that it was not a benefit established in favour of the spouse or the children.
But on June 25, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a ruling No. 348/2020 that changed this interpretation, stating:
(…) Article 227 of the Criminal Code makes no distinction between alimony and mortgage payments, or between debt of the community property and the burden of the marriage. It refers to “any type of financial benefit in favor of the spouse or children, established in a judicially approved agreement or court ruling, in the cases of legal separation, divorce, declaration of nullity of marriage, filiation proceedings, or alimony proceedings in favor of the children.
Regardless of the nature of the mortgage payment on the family home as a burden on the marriage or as a debt of the community property, what is clear is that it covers a basic need and that the portion that the defendant had to pay was taken into consideration when establishing, first in the court ruling that ended the marriage and then in the judgment modifying measures, the maintenance pension that the defendant had to pay to his children, since in the same ruling it was agreed that he had to face the payment of half of the mortgage.
Following the legal grounds, the High Court concludes that mortgage payments constitute an economic benefit in the legal and grammatical sense, payable by both parents, regardless of their nature as a burden on the marriage or as a debt of the community property. As such, they constitute the element of the type required by article 227.1 of the Criminal Code . And consequently, the amounts owed for this concept constitute the damage arising from the crime that must be repaired in accordance with the provisions of section 3 of the same provision.
If my ex-partner does not pay his share of the mortgage, what should we do?
Obligation to pay the mortgage included in the ruling or regulatory agreement
If we choose to resort to criminal proceedings to claim mortgage expenses, a series of requirements will have to be met :
Total non-compliance with the obligation, therefore partial non-payment is not valid.
Fraud in non-payment (intention, desire not to pay).
The complaining party must have paid his share , otherwise the criminal action would have no basis.
In such a case, it is best to go to civil court, as it will be quicker and easier than criminal proceedings. You can file a claim for enforcement to demand these unpaid debts, or a claim for enforcement to force the Court to comply with the judgment and pay its share of the mortgage (in the event that it is split 50/50). In either case, the competent Court will be the same one that heard the divorce judgment.