Atty. Gozon

Question 1

Juridical Capacity

Answer 1

• fitness to be the subject of legal relations
• inherent in every natural person
• lost only through death

Art. 37

the abstract possibility of receiving legal effects

Question 2

Capacity to act

Answer 2

• the power to do acts with legal effect
• is acquired and may be lost

Art. 37

power to give life to juridical acts, to execute acts
with legal effect

Question 3

Restrictions on capacity to act

Answer 3

1. Minority
2. Insanity or imbecility
3. The state of being a deaf-mute (only those who cannot write)
4. Prodigality
5. Civil interdiction (Civil interdiction is an accessory penalty imposed upon an accused who is sentenced to a principal penalty not lower than reclusion temporal which is a penalty ranging from twelve years and one day to twenty years)

Modifications/limitations on capacity to act:

1. age
2. insanity
3. imbecility
4. the state of being a deaf-mute
5. penalty
6. prodigality
7. family relations
8. alienage
9. absence
10. insolvency
11. trusteeship

Arts. 38-39

Question 4

Capacity to act is not limited on account of religious belief or political opinion. T or F.

Answer 4

True.

Question 5

What determines personality?

Answer 5

Birth

Art. 40

XPN: The law considers the conceived child as born for all purposes favorable to it if born alive. Therefore, the child has a presumptive personality, which has two characteristics:

1. Limited (because only under conditions favorable to him)
2. Provisional or conditional (dependent on the child being alive)

Question 6

When is a child/fetus considered born?

Answer 6

For civil purposes, the fetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother’s womb. However, if the fetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb.

Art. 41

Complete delivery means the cutting of the umbilical cord so that if after the cutting of the umbilical cord the child is alive, even only for a few hours, it is considered a person.

Question 7

What extinguishes civil personality?

Answer 7

Death.

Art. 42`

Question 8

For civil purposes, the fetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother’s womb. However, if the fetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb.

T or F.

Answer 8

True.

Art. 43

Question 9

Art. 5, PD 603 (The Child and Youth Welfare Code)

Answer 9

Art. 5. Commencement of Civil Personality. – The civil personality of the child shall commence from the time of his conception, for all purposes favorable to him, subject to the requirements of Article 41 of the Civil Code.

Civil Personality
It is the aptitude of being the subject, active or passive,
of rights and obligations.

Question 10

Can juridical capacity exist without capacity to act?

Answer 10

Yes. Juridical capacity is inherent in every natural person and can only be lost through death while capacity to act is acquired.

Question 11

Juridical capacity v. Capacity to act

Answer 11

(1)
JC: fitness to be the subject of legal relations
CA: power to do acts with legal effects

(2)
JC: passive
CA: active

(3)
JC: inherent
CA: merely acquired

(4)
JC: lost only through death
CA: lost through death and other causes

(5)
JC: can exist without capacity to act
CA: cannot exist without juridical capacity

(6)
JC: cannot be limited or restricted
CA: can be restricted, modified, or limited

Question 12

Is a child considered born if it had an intra-uterine life of 7 months but dies less than 24 hours later?

Answer 12

Yes, if it was alive upon complete delivery.

Question 13

Concept of person and personality

Answer 13

A person is any being susceptible of rights and obligations or more specifically, it is every physical or moral, real or juridical and legal being susceptible of rights and obligations or being the subject of legal relations. Personality, on the other hand, is the aptitude to be the subject, active or passive, of juridical relations. One is a person, while one has personality.

Question 14

The union of both juridical capacity and capacity to act constitutes full civil capacity.

Answer 14

Different ito from civil personality

Question 15

A contract entered into by a minor, without the consent or assistance of a guardian

Answer 15

either voidable or unenforceable

If unenforceable, the ratification by the parent or guardian of one of the contracting parties has the effect of converting the contract to a voidable one.

Question 16

A contract where one of the parties is incapable of giving consent thereto

Answer 16

Voidable or annullable

• may be ratified by the guardian of the minor

If the contract is voidable on the ground of minority, an action for annulment of such contract must be commenced within a period of 4 years counted from the time the guardianship ceases, that is, when the
minor reaches the age of majority. If the action is not commenced within such period, the right of the party to institute the action shall prescribe.

Question 17

A contract where both parties are incapable of giving consent to a contract

Answer 17

Unenforceable

Question 18

Insanity v. Imbecility

Answer 18

An imbecile is a person who while advanced in age has the mental capacity comparable to that of a child between two and seven years of age while an insane person is one whose mental faculties are diseased.

Question 19

Succession

Answer 19

A mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and obligations to the extent of the value of the inheritance, of a person are transmitted through his death to another or others either by his will or by operation of law

Art. 774

Question 20

Decedent

Answer 20

general term applied to the person whose property is transmitted through succession, whether or not he left a will

Art. 775

testator, if he leaves a will

Question 21

Inheritance

Answer 21

includes all the property, rights and obligations of a person which are not extinguished by his death

Art. 776

Question 22

The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent.

Answer 22

Yes.

Art. 777

Question 23

Kinds of succession

Answer 23

1) Testamentary - that which results from the designation of an heir, made in a will executed in the form prescribed by law (779)
2) Legal or intestate
3) Mixed - that effected partly by will and partly by operation of law (780)

Question 24

Laws relating to ________________ of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.

Answer 24

family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity

Art. 15

Question 25

Heir

Answer 25

A person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of law

Art. 782

Question 26

Legatee/Devisee

Answer 26

Persons to whom gifts of real and personal property are respectively given by virtue of a will

Art. 782

Question 27

Miciano v. Brimo

Bellis v. Bellis

Answer 27

Testator was a Turkish citizen, who wrote that his will shall be executed in accordance with Philippine laws. Institution of legatees as well as other clauses were valid except for the part that it shall be in accordance with Philippine laws as it violates nationality principle.

Question 28

Article 16, par. 2, and Art. 1039 of the Civil Code, render applicable the national law of the decedent, in intestate or testamentary successions, with regard to four items:

Answer 28

a) order of succession
b) amount of successional rights
c) intrinsic validity of the provisions of the will
d) the capacity to succeed

Question 29

Lex rei sitae

Answer 29

Article 16. Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is stipulated.

However, intestate and testamentary successions, both with respect to the order of succession and to the amount of successional rights and to the intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions, shall be regulated by the national law of the person whose succession is under consideration, whatever may be the nature of the property and regardless of the country wherein said property may be found.

Question 30

Lex loci celebrationis

Answer 30

Article 17. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and other public instruments shall be governed by the laws of the country in which they are executed.

When the acts referred to are executed before the diplomatic or consular officials of the Republic of the Philippines in a foreign country, the solemnities established by Philippine laws shall be observed in their execution.

Prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or property, and those which have for their object public order, public policy and good customs shall not be rendered ineffective by laws or judgments promulgated, or by determinations or conventions agreed upon in a foreign country.