The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that if one spouse files a case for legal separation and the other spouse later files another legal separation case while the first one is still pending, the second case is not automatically prohibited under the rule called litis pendentia.

However, the Court said the second case should still be dismissed because allowing both spouses to run separate legal separation cases at the same time goes against public policy, which favors preserving marriage and avoiding unnecessary court battles.

In a 16-page decision written by Associate Justice Mario Lopez (retired), the SC reversed the Court of Appeals, which had dismissed the husband’s legal separation petition mainly because the wife had filed an earlier petition.

The case involved a couple married in 1996 with three children. Their relationship worsened in 2006 after the husband began suspecting his wife of having an affair.

In 2014, the wife filed a legal separation case, claiming the husband abused her and their children and had an affair. The husband denied the accusations and claimed the wife was the unfaithful one.

While the wife’s case was still being heard, the husband said he found out in 2015 that the wife was having an affair with a married man and filed adultery complaints.

The trial court later dismissed the wife’s case for lack of proof. After that, the husband filed his own petition for legal separation, saying the wife had sexual relationships with other men.

The wife argued that her earlier petition, which was under appeal, should block the husband’s case.

The lower court agreed with the wife and dismissed the husband’s case, saying there was litis pendentia and forum shopping. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal.

But the SC said litis pendentia applies only when two cases are basically the same — involving the same facts and the same claims — which was not true here because each spouse was accusing the other of different acts.

Still, the SC said courts should not allow two separate legal separation cases between the same couple to proceed at the same time.

The SC ruled the later case should be dismissed without prejudice, meaning it may be filed again later if necessary.

The SC then ordered the case returned to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with its ruling.