Obligations in General - Natural Obligations

Question 1

Concept of a Natural Obligation

Answer 1

• An obligation that arises from a moral duty, as opposed to a legal duty
  
  • The natural obligation (as opposed to the civil obligation) produces limited effects:
    
    • Obligee has no right to enforce performance of the natural obligation BUT
    • Obligor may not recover a performance freely rendered.

Question 2

Sources of Natural Obligations

Answer 2

A natural obligation arises from circumstances in which the law implies a particular moral duty to render a performance.” (La. Civ. Code art. 1760)
- The source is a particular moral duty. Not all moral duties create natural obligations.

Question 3

Criteria for a Natural Obligation

Answer 3

i. Doctrinal Guidance—Professor Litvinoff offers the following criteria for natural obligations:
(a) The moral duty must be felt toward a particular person and not towards all person in general.
(b) Special circumstances must exist that allow the inference that the person immersed in them feels so strongly about his moral duty that his conscience would not be placated unless that duty is fulfilled, or, in other words, that the person involved truly feels he owes a debt.
(c) The duty must be such that it can be fulfilled through rendering a performance whose object is of pecuniary value.

Question 4

Examples of Natural Obligations

Answer 4

(a) In the Civil Code—“Examples of circumstances giving rise to a natural obligation are (1) When a civil obligation has been extinguished by prescription or discharged in bankruptcy; (2) When an obligation has been incurred by a person who, although endowed with discernment, lacks legal capacity; (3) When the universal successors are not bound by a civil obligation to execute the donations and other dispositions made by a deceased person that are null for want of form.” La. Civ. Code art. 1762.

					(i) Obligation Extinguished by Prescription or Bankruptcy—Hypo—Jack causes a car accident with Kyle through his negligence.  After one year passes, Kyle’s action against Jack has prescribed.  Jack still owes a natural obligation to repair the damage he caused to Kyle.
					(ii) Obligation Incurred by Person Lacking Capacity—Hypo—Jack, who is 17, procures a loan from Kyle.  Even if Kyle cannot enforce repayment from Jack due to Jack’s lack of capacity, Jack owes a natural obligation to repay the loan.  
					(iii) Obligations of Universal Successors—Jack, again a major, makes a donation of immovable property to Kyle using an act under private signature rather than an authentic act.  When Jack dies, his child and heir, Jill, is not bound to honor that donation, but instead is legally entitled to seek judicial recognition of its absolute nullity.  However, Jill owes a natural obligation to honor those improper donations.

IN the Jurisprudence

• The moral duty must be felt towards a particular person
• The person must feel so strongly about the moral duty that he truly feels he owes a debt
• The duty can be fulfilled through rendering a performance that has pecuniary value
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• Fufilment of the obligation would not impair the moral order.
• A recognition of the obligation by the obligor must occur, either through performing the obligation or promising to perform