Conjugal Property and Re-marrying

I have this issue with our house. We have this house which was founded as a conjugal property loaned from National Home Mortgage Financial Corp. by our parents since 1989. They have been married since 1981.The house hasnt been paid since our mother died last 2008, so our areers grew higher and higher summing up to 200k including the balance. My father re-married a few years back and they are now staying at our house. Now, my father wants me to settle all the remaining debts since he insists that the house will belong to me and my siblings when he would pass away. I am willing to pay it fully, but I'm worried that half or worse, all of it would belong to her new wife since I understand that conjugal property is terminated upon the death of either spouse. Can you give me some legal advise? Thanks

Hi

I'm not a lawyer but here are my comments from what I know about your case.

You are correct .. conjugal partnership between your parents terminated upon the death of your mother. What should have been done was to settle the estate of your mother which means listing all her personal owned properties and half share from the conjugal properties. The assets of your mom less liabilities = net asset should have been divided among the heirs i.e you and your siblings and dad.

Your dad should have half the conjugal property.. plus his share as heir of your mom from her own separate and 1/2 share from their conjugal properties.

Now in the case of your house and lot. After your mom died and the estate was not settled as above the account remained open..

It is cumbersome if you just pay the 200K balance... without any documentation to the verbal agreement your dad proposed.
At the end of the day the title is in his name and easy for him to dispose of it and the new wife can claim her share.

If your dad s new wife will have children then that complicates things further.

To make it simpler for you at least cover yourself by having the property mortgage to you for the sum of 200K that you said you ought to fully pay.

Otherwise after you paid things could change .. mood, relationships estranged, your dad's memory is clouded and got selective in his recollection of the agreement. You will see that putting agreement in writing and formalised annotated on the title will give you a lot of peace of mind in the end.

gvaetax is right in most of his explanation. In addition, actually the 2nd marriage of your dad is void, for non delivery of legitime to compulsory heirs. Since it is a void marriage, they will be govern by the property regime of ART 148 of the family code. Verbal agreements between your dad cannot be relied upon. So if i were you, follow the advice of gvaetax.

I now have a copy of the Declaration of Real Property and it says "Owner (my deceased mother's name) married to (my father's name)." I hope this would give you a better prospective of our situation. I have consulted a family friend who is currently a Dean in the College of Law in one the universities here and he assured me that I don't have to worry too much because the property is considered a separate entity and as long as there is a living heir residing, it cannot be touched by my father's new wife. I'm not sure if I can lean on his statement. A second opinion would be great though. Thanks!