ABCs of Civil Law

Question 1

Accretion

Answer 1

Accretion as a mode of acquiring property under Article 457of the New Civil Code requires the concurrence of the following requisites: (1) that the accumulation of soil or sediment be gradual and imperceptible; (2) that it be the result of the action of the waters of the river; and (3) that the land where the accretion takes place is adjacent to the bank of the river.

Question 2

Agency

Answer 2

By the contract of agency a person binds himself to render some service or to do something in representation or on behalf of another, with the consent or authority of the latter. (Article 1868 of the New Civil Code)

Question 3

Aleatory Contract

Answer 3

By an aleatory contract, one of the parties or both reciprocally bind themselves to give or to do something in consideration of what the other shall give or do upon the happening of an event which is uncertain, or which is to occur at an indeterminate time.

Question 4

Animus Revocandi

Answer 4

Animus revocandi is one of the necessary elements for the effective revocation of a last will and testament. The intention to revoke must be accompanied by the overt physical act of burning, tearing, obliterating, or cancelling the will carried out by the testator or by another person in his presence and under his express direction.

Question 5

Antichresis

Answer 5

By the contract of Antichresis the creditor acquires the right to receive the fruits of an immovable of his debtor, with the obligation to apply them to the payment of the interest, if owing, and thereafter to the principal of his credit.

Question 6

Assignment of Credit

Answer 6

It is an agreement by virtue of which the owner of a credit, known as the assignor, by a legal cause, such as sale, dacion en pago, exchange or donation, and without the consent of the debtor, transfers his credit and accessory rights to another, known as the assignee, who acquires the power

Question 7

Certificate of Deposit

Answer 7

It is a written acknowledgment by a bank or banker of the receipt of a sum of money on deposit which the bank or banker promises to pay to the depositor, to the order of the depositor, or to some other person or his order, whereby the relation of debtor and creditor between the bank and the depositor is created.

Question 8

Collation

Answer 8

Every compulsory heir, who succeeds with other compulsory heirs, must bring into the mass of the estate any property or right which he may have received from the decedent, during the lifetime of the latter, by way of donation, or any other gratuitous title, in order that it may be computed in the determination of the legitime of each heir, and in the account of the partition.

Question 9

Common Carriers

Answer 9

Common carriers are persons, corporations, firms or associations engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, by land, water, or air, for compensation, offering their services to the public.

Question 10

Conjugal Partnership of Gains

Answer 10

By means of the Conjugal Partnership of Gains, the husband and the wife place in a common fund the fruits of their separate property and the income from their work or industry, and divide equally, upon the dissolution of the marriage or of the partnership, the net gains or benefits obtained indiscriminately by either spouse during the marriage. (Art. 142 of the Civil Code)

Question 11

Contract for a Piece of Work

Answer 11

By contract for a piece of work the contractor binds himself to execute a piece of work for the employer, in consideration of a certain price or compensation. The contractor may either employ only his labor or skill, or also furnish the material.

Question 12

Contract of Partnership

Answer 12

By the contract of partnership two or more persons bind themselves to contribute money, property, or industry to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the profits among themselves.

Question 13

Contract of Sale

Answer 13

A contract of sale is a contract by which one of the contracting parties obligates himself to transfer the ownership and to deliver a determinate thing and the other to pay therefor a price certain in money or its equivalent.

Question 14

Contributory Negligence

Answer 14

Contributory negligence is conduct on the part of the injured party, contributing as a legal cause to the harm he has suffered, which falls below the standard to which he is required to conform for his own protection.

Question 15

Doctrine of Assumption of Risks

Answer 15

The Doctrine of Assumption of Risk means that one who voluntarily exposes himself to an obvious, known and appreciated danger assumes the risk of injury that may result therefrom. It is based on voluntary consent, express or implied, to accept the danger of a known and appreciated risk; but one does not ordinarily assume the risk of any negligence which he does not know and appreciate.

Question 16

Doctrine of Last Clear Chance

Answer 16

The doctrine of last clear chance provides that where both parties are negligent but the negligent act of one is appreciably later in point of time than that of the other, or where it is impossible to determine whose fault or negligence brought about the occurrence of the incident, the one who had the last clear opportunity to avoid the impending harm but failed to do so, is chargeable with the consequences arising therefrom.

Question 17

Doctrine of Mortgagee in Good Faith

Answer 17

All persons dealing with property covered by a Torrens Certificate of Title, as buyers or mortgagees, are not required to go beyond what appears on the face of the title. The public interest in upholding the indefeasibility of a certificate of title, as evidence of the lawful ownership of the land or of any encumbrance thereon, protects a buyer.

Question 18

Donation

Answer 18

A Donation is an act of liberality whereby a person disposes gratuitously of a thing or right in favor of another, who accepts it.

Question 19

Fideicommissary Substitution

Answer 19

Also known as indirect substitution, it is a substitution by virtue of which the fiduciary or first heir instituted is entrusted with the obligation to preserve and transmit to a second heir the whole or part of the inheritance.

Question 20

Fortuitous Event

Answer 20

It is an event which, cannot be foreseen such as sudden coming of a storm which considered an Acts of God or known as Majeure or any other unexpected event such as robbery, insurrection which is considered Acts of man.

Four (4) requisites must concur: (a) the cause of the breach of the obligation must be independent of the will of the debtor; (b) the event must be either unforeseeable or unavoidable; (c) the event must be such as to render it impossible for the debtor to fulfill his obligation in a normal manner; and, (d) the debtor must be free from any participation in or aggravation of the injury to the creditor.

Question 21

General Agent

Answer 21

A general agent is one authorized to do all acts pertaining to a business of a certain kind or at a particular place, or all acts pertaining to a business of a particular class or series. He has usually authority either expressly conferred in general terms or in effect made general by the usages, customs or nature of the business which he is authorized to transact.

Question 22

Implied Trust

Answer 22

There is an implied trust when property is sold, and the legal estate is granted to one party but the price is paid by another for the purpose of having the beneficial interest of the property. The former is the trustee, while the latter is the beneficiary. However, if the person to whom the title is conveyed is a child, legitimate or illegitimate, of the one paying the price of the sale, no trust is implied by law, it being disputably presumed that there is a gift in favor of the child.

Question 23

Intestate Succession

Answer 23

Legal or intestate succession takes place:

(1) If a person dies without a will, or with a void will or one which has subsequently lost its validity;
(2) When the will does not institute an heir to or dispose of all the property belonging to the testator. In such a case, legal succession shall take place only with respect to the property of which the testator has not disposed;
(3) If the suspensive condition attached to the institution of heir does not happen or is not fulfilled, or if the heir dies before the testator, or repudiates the inheritance, there being no substitution, and no right of accretion takes place;
(4) When the heir instituted is incapable of succeeding, except in cases provided in this Code.

Question 24

Iron Curtain Rule

Answer 24

It prohibits absolutely a succession ab intestato between the illegitimate child and the legitimate children and relatives of the father or mother of the said illegitimate child.

Question 25

Joint Obligation

Answer 25

A Joint Obligation is one in which each debtor is liable only for a proportionate part of the debt, and the creditor is entitled to demand only a proportionate part of the credit from each debtor.