Effectivity of laws (Art.

2)
GENERAL RULE: Laws take effect 15 days following the completion of its publication

EXCEPTION: Unless otherwise provided by the law. This refers to the 15-day period and NOT to the requirement of publication.
(Tanada vs. Tuvera)

NOTE: Administrative rules and regulations must also be published if their purpose is to enforce or implement existing laws pursuant
to a valid delegation. The publication must be in full since its purpose is to inform the public of the contents of the law. (Phil. Int’l
Trading Corp. vs. Angeles)

BAR QUESTION:

After a devastating storm causing widespread destruction in four Central Luzon provinces, the executive and legislative
branches of the government agreed to enact a special law appropriating P1 billion for purposes of relief and
rehabilitation for the provinces. In view of the urgent nature of the legislative enactment, it is provided in its effectivity
clause that it shall take effect upon approval and after completion of publication in the Official Gazette and a newspaper
of general circulation in the Philippines. The law was passed by the Congress on July 1, 1990. signed into law by the
President on July 3, 1990, and published in such newspaper of general circulation on July 7, 1990 and in the Official
Gazette on July 10, 1990.

(a) As to the publication of said legislative enactment, is there sufficient observance or compliance with the
requirements for a valid publication? Explain your answer.
(b) When did the law take effect? Explain your answer.
(c) Can the executive branch start releasing and disbursing funds appropriated by the said law the day following its
approval? Explain your answer.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
(a) Yes, there is sufficient compliance. The law itself prescribes the requisites of publication for its effectivity, and all
requisites have been complied with. (Article 2, Civil Code)
(b) The law takes effect upon compliance with all the conditions for effectivity, and the last condition was complied with
on July 10, 1990. Hence, the" law became effective on that date.
(c) No. It was not yet effective when it was approved by Congress on July 1, 1990 and approved by the President on July
3, 1990. The other requisites for its effectivity were not yet complete at the time.

Ignorance of the law excuses no one (Art. 3)

considered a CONCLUSIVE presumption and applies only to mandatory and prohibitory laws. (Consunji vs. CA)

GR:
Everyone is conclusively presumed to know the law. Hence, ignorance of the law excuses no one from compliance therewith (NCC,
Art. 3).

This conclusive presumption presupposes that the law has been published. Without such notice and publication, there would be no
basis for the application of the maxim ignoratia legis non excusat (Rabuya, 2009).

XPNs:

a. Mistake upon a doubtful or difficult question of law may be the basis of good faith [NCC,Art. 526 (3)].
b. Payment by reason of a mistake in the construction or application of a doubtful or difficult question of law may come within the
scope of the preceding article (NCC, Art. 2155).
c. In order that fraud may make a contract voidable, it should be serious and should not have been employed by both contracting
parties. Incidental fraud only obliges the person employing it to pay damages (NCC, Art. 1344).

Q: Cheong Boo, a native of China died intestate in Zamboanga. He left a property worth P100,000. The estate of the
deceased was claimed on one hand by Gee, who alleged that he was a legitimate child by a marriage contracted by Boo
with Tan Dit in China in 1895. The estate was claimed, on the other hand, by Mora Adong who alleged that she had been
lawfully married to Boo in 1896. Gee introduced in evidence a document in Chinese stating the marriage ceremony that
took place in Amoy, China. Is the document presented by Gee sufficient enough to prove the Chinese marriage of
Cheong Boo and Tan Dit?

A: NO. The Supreme Court held that the document is not sufficient to prove the Chinese marriage between Cheong Boo
and Tan Dit. Gee only presented a document in Chinese stating the alleged marriage ceremony but there is no
competent testimony as to what the laws of China in the Province of Amoy concerning marriage were in 1895.
Therefore, there is lacking proof so clear, strong and unequivocal as to produce a moral conviction of the existence of
the alleged prior Chinese marriage. Ignorance of a foreign law is not ignorance of the law but of fact because such
foreign law must be first alleged and proved as a matter of fact, there being no judicial notice of said foreign law. The
Chinese marriage was not adequately proved (Estate of Boo v. Gee, G.R. No. 18081, March 3, 1922).
Non-retroactivity of laws (Art. 4)
GENERAL RULE: Laws have no retroactive effect.

EXCEPTIONS: (UCIPELT)
1.Unless the law otherwise provides
2. Curative statutes
3. Interpretative statutes
4. Procedural/remedial
5. Emergency laws
6. Laws creating new rights
7. Tax laws

EXCEPTIONS TO THE EXCEPTIONS:

1. Ex post facto laws
2. Laws that impair obligation of contracts

Acts Contrary To Law (Art. 5)

GENERAL RULE: Acts which are contrary to mandatory or prohibitory laws are void.

EXCEPTIONS:
1. When the law itself authorized its validity (ex. lotto, sweepstakes)
2. When the law makes the act only voidable and not void (ex. voidable contracts where consent is vitiated)
3. When the law makes the act valid but punishes the violator (ex. marriage solemnized by a person without legal authority)

Waiver of rights (Art. 6)

Requisites: (EKI)
1. Existence of a right
2. Knowledge of the existence of a right
3. Intention to relinquish the right

GENERAL RULE: Rights can be waived.

EXCEPTIONS:
1. If the waiver is contrary to law, public order, public policy, morals or good customs (LPPMG)
2. If the waiver is prejudicial to a third party with a right recognized by law.

NOTE: A stipulation requiring the recipient of a scholarship grant to waive his right to transfer to another school, unless he refunds
the equivalent of his scholarship in cash is null and void. The school concerned obviously understands scholarship awards as a
business scheme designed to increase the business potential of an educational institution. Thus, conceived, it is not only inconsistent
with sound policy, but also with good morals. (Cui vs. Arellano University)

Laws applicable
1. Penal laws and laws of public security territoriality rule governs laws of the Philippines will govern upon ALL those who live or
sojourn in it
2. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons nationality rule applies laws of
the Philippines will govern its citizens, regardless of their residence

EXCEPTION: When a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly
obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have the capacity to
remarry under Philippine law. (Article 26(2) Family Code)
NOTE: domiciliary rule supplants the nationality rule in cases involving stateless persons

3. Laws on property
lex rei sitae applies
real property, as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is situated
4. Laws on forms and solemnities
lex loci celebrationis applies

BAR QUESTION:

B. DON, an American businessman, secured parental consent for the employment of five minors to play certain roles in
two movies he was producing at home in Makati. They worked at odd hours of the day and night, but always
accompanied by parents or other adults. The producer paid the children talent fees at rates better than adult wages. But
a social worker, DEB, reported to OSWD that these children often missed going to school. They sometimes drank wine,
aside from being exposed to drugs. In some scenes, they were filmed naked or in revealing costumes. In his defense,
DON contended all these were part of artistic freedom and cultural creativity. None of the parents complained, said
DON. He also said they signed a contract containing a waiver of their right to file any complaint in any office or tribunal
concerning the working conditions of their children acting in the movies. Is the waiver valid and binding? Why or why
not? Explain. (5%)

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
The waiver is not valid. Although the contracting parties may establish such stipulations, clauses, terms and conditions
as they may deem convenient, they may not do so if such are contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order, or
public policy (Article 1306, Civil Code). The parents' waiver to file a complaint concerning the working conditions
detrimental to the moral well-being of their children acting in the movies is in violation of the Family Code and Labor
laws. Thus, the waiver is invalid and not binding. The Child Labor Law is a mandatory and prohibitory law and the rights
of the child cannot be waived as it is contrary to law and public policy.

Repeal of Laws (Art. 7)

Laws are repealed only by subsequent ones, and their violation or non-observance shall not be excused by disuse, or custom or
practice to the contrary (NCC, Art. 7, 1st par.).

Ways of repealing laws

1. Express - If the law expressly provides for such;
2. Implied - If the provisions of the subsequent law are incompatible or inconsistent with those of the previous law, provided, it is
impossible to reconcile the two laws.

Judicial Decisions (Art. 8)

Doctrine of Stare Decisis

It is adherence to judicial precedents. Once a question of law has been examined and decided, it should be deemed
settled and closed to further argument. However, when in the light of changing conditions, a rule has ceased to be
beneficial to the society, courts may depart from it.

Duty to render judgment (Art. 9)

Rendering of judgment by reason of silence of law

No judge or court shall decline to render judgment by reason of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the laws (NCC,
Art. 9). (2003 BAR)
However, in criminal prosecutions, the judge must dismiss the case if a person is accused of a non-existent crime
following the maxim “nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege” (Rabuya, 2009).
NOTE: This duty, however, is not a license for courts to engage in judicial legislation. The duty of the courts is to apply or
interpret the law, not to make or amend it.

Guidelines on rendition of decisions under Art. 9:

1. When there is no law exactly applicable to the point in controversy, the custom of the place shall be applied and in
default thereof, the general principles of law;
2. Decisions of foreign courts;
3. Opinions of known authors and professors;
4. Applicable rules of statutory construction;
5. Principles formulated in analogous cases.

Presumption and applicability of customs (Arts. 10-12)

Presumption in case of doubt in the interpretation of laws

In case of doubt in the interpretation or application of laws, it is presumed that the lawmaking body intended right and
justice to prevail (NCC, Art. 10). (2003 BAR)

In case of silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the law with respect to a particular controversy

Necessity of proving customs GR: A custom must be proved as a fact, according to the rules of evidence (NCC, Art. 12).
XPN: Courts may take judicial notice of a custom if there is already a decision rendered by the same court recognizing
the custom

Legal Periods (Art. 13)

Computation of period
1. Year – 12 calendar months (CIR v. Primetown Property Group, Inc., G.R. No. 162155, August 28, 2007).
 NOTE: In the said case, the Supreme Court declared that the provision of Section 31, Chapter VII, Book I of the
Administrative Code of 1987, being a more recent law, governs the computation of legal periods with respect to
counting “a year.”
A Calendar Month is “a month designated in the calendarwithout regardto thenumber ofdaysitmay contain.” It
is the “period of time running from the beginning of a certain numbered day of the next month, and if there is not
sufficient number of days in the next month, then up to and including the last day of that month.”

2. Month – 30 days, unless designated by their name, in which case, they shall be computed according to the number of
days which they respectively have;
3. Day– 24 hours;
4. Night time – from sunset to sunrise;
5. Week – 7 successive days regardless of which day it would start;
6. Calendar week – Sunday to Saturday. NOTE: In the computation of period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last
day included.

Rules on Personal Law (Arts. 15-17)

DOMICILIARY RULE NATIONALITY RULE

Basis for determining personal law of an individual is basis for determining personal law of an individual is
his domicile his citizenship

LEX NATIO-NALII LEX REI SITAE LEX LOCI CELEBRA-TIONIS

Art. 15, CC Art. 16, CC Art. 17, CC

Citizenship is the basis for Law of the place where the property Law of the place where the contract was
determining the personal law is situated is the basis for executed is the basis for determining law
applicable determining law applicable applicable

Covers family rights & duties, status, Covers both real & personal property Covers only the forms & solemnities
condition & legal capacity (extrinsic validity)
Exception: Exceptions: Exceptions:
Art. 26, par. 2 of Family Code (CIAO) 1. Art. 26, par. 1 of Family Code (marriage
1. Capacity to succeed involving Filipinos solemnized abroad,
*divorce obtained by alien spouse 2. Intrinsic validity of the will (legality) when such are void in the Philippines)
3. Amount of successional rights 2. Intrinsic validity of contracts
4. Order of succession

Renvoi Doctrine
 Where the conflict rules of the forum refer to a foreign law, and the latter refers it back to the internal law, the latter (law
of the forum) shall apply.

NOTE: If the foreign law refers it to a third country, the said country’s laws shall govern, and is referred to as the transmission
theory.

Doctrine of Processual Presumption

 The foreign law, whenever applicable, should be proved by the proponent thereof; otherwise, such law shall be presumed
to be exactly the same as the law of the forum.

BAR QUESTION:
1. Applicable Laws; Arts 15, 16, 17 (2002)
2. Felipe and Felisa, both Filipino citizens, were married in Malolos, Bulacan on June 1, 1950.
3. In 1960 Felipe went to the United States, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1975.
4. In 1980 they obtained a divorce from Felisa, who was duly notified of the proceedings. The divorce decree
became final under California Law.
5. Coming back to the Philippines in 1982, Felipe married Sagundina, a Filipino Citizen.
6. In 2001, Filipe, then domiciled in Los Angeles, California, died, leaving one child by Felisa, and another one by
Sagundina.
7. He left a will which he left his estate to Sagundina and his two children and nothing to Felisa. Sagundina files a
petition for the probate of Felipe’s will.
8. Felisa questions the intrinsic validity of the will, arguing that her marriage to Felipe subsisted despite the
divorce obtained by Felipe because said divorce is not recognized in the Philippines.
9. For this reason, she claims that the properties and that Sagundina has no successional rights.
A. Is the divorce secured by Felipe in California recognizable and valid in the Philippines? How does it affect Felipe’s
marriage to Felisa? Explain. (2%).
B. What law governs the formalities of the will? Explain. (1%)
C. Will Philippine law govern the intrinsic validity of the will? Explain. (2%)

SUGGESTED ANSWER:
A. (1.) The divorce secured by Felipe in California is recognizable and valid in the Philippines because he was no
longer a Filipino at that time he secured it, Aliens may obtain divorces abroad which may be recognized in the
Philippines provided that they are valid according to their national law (Van Dorn V. Romillo, Jr., 139 SCRA 139
[1985]; Quita v. Court of Appeals, 300 SCRA 406 [1998]; Llorente v. Court of Appeals, 345 SCRA 595 [2000] ). (2).
With respect to Felipe the divorce is valid, but with respect to Felisa it is not. The divorce will not capacitate
Felisa to remarry because she and Felipe were both Filipinos at the time of their marriage. However, in DOJ
Opinion No. 134 series of 1993, Felisais allowed to remarry because the injustice sought to be corrected by
Article 26 also obtains in her case.

B. The foreigner who executes his will in the Philippines may observed the formalities described in:
a. The Law of the country of which he is a citizen under Article 817 of the New Civil Code, or
b. The law of the Philippines being the law of the place of execution under Article 17 of the New Civil Code.

C. Philippine law will not govern the intrinsic validity of the will. Article 16 of the New Civil Code provides that
intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions shall be governed by the National Law of the person whose
succession is under consideration. California law will govern the intrinsic validity of the will.

Human Relations (Arts. 19-36)

 Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due,
and observe honesty and good faith. (Art. 19 of NCC)

NOTE: The elements of an abuse of right under Art. 19 are:

1. There is a legal right;
2. Which is exercised in bad faith;
3. For the sole intent of prejudicing or injuring another. (Albenson Ent. Corp. vs. CA)

Example:
 The SC in Velayo vs. Shell held the defendant liable under Art. 19 for disposing of its property (a perfectly legal
act) in order to escape the reach of a creditor (prejudicing or injuring another).

Article 19, 20 and 21 in the enforcement and sanctions of abuse of right

While Art. 19 lays down the rule of conduct for the government of human relations, it does not provide a remedy (Rabuya, 2006).

Generally, an action for damages under either Art. 20 or Art. 21 of the NCC would be proper.

Art. 21 deals with acts contra bonus mores or contrary to good morals and presupposes loss or injury, material or otherwise, which
one may suffer as a result of such violation. Under Arts. 19 and 21, the act must be intentional (Rabuya, 2006).

Article 20 speaks of the general sanction for all other provisions of law which do not especially provide for their own sanction.

 Every person who, contrary to law, willfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the
same. (Art. 20 of NCC)

 Any person who willfully causes loss or injury to another in a manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or public
policy shall compensate the latter for the damage. (ART. 21 of NCC)

NOTE: Art. 21 deals with acts contra bonus mores, and has the following elements:
1. There is an act which is legal;
2. But which is contrary to morals, customs, public order;
3. and it is done with intent to injure.

Arts. 19, 20 and 21 are related to each other and, under these articles, an act which causes injury to another may be made the basis
for an award of damages.

The SC in Pe vs. Pe, applying Art. 21 ruled that a married man had seduced a girl through an ingenious and tricky scheme,
i.e. on the pretext of teaching her how to pray the rosary, to the extent of making her fall in love with him. Verily, he has
committed an injury to the girl’s family in a manner contrary to morals, good customs and public policy.
 However, in Tanjanco vs. CA, the SC denied the award of moral damages based on the fact that for one year, from 1958-
1959, the plaintiff, a woman of adult age, maintained intimate sexual relations with defendant, with repeated acts of
intercourse. Such conduct is incompatible with the idea of seduction. Plainly, there is here voluntariness and mutual
passion; for had the plaintiff been deceived, had she surrendered exclusively because of the deceit, artful persuasions and
wiles of defendant, she would not have again yielded to his embraces, much less for one year without exacting early
fulfillment of the alleged promises of marriage and would have cut short all sexual relations upon finding that defendant did
not intend to fulfill his promises. Hence, no case is made under Art. 21 of Civil Code.

The obligation of cohabitation of husband and wife is not enforceable by contempt proceedings. In private relations,
physical coercion is barred under the the old maxim – “Nemo potestprecisocogi ad factum.” However, the refusal of the
wife to perform her wifely duties, her denial of consortium and her desertion of her husband would certainly constitute a
willful infliction of injury upon her husband’s feelings in a manner which is contrary to morals, good customs and public
policy for which Arts. 21 and 2210 (10) of the CC authorize an award for moral damages. (Tenchavez vs. Escano)

Q: Soledad a high school teacher used to go around together with Francisco who was almost ten (10) years younger than
her. Eventually, intimacy developed between them after Soledad became an underwriter in Cebu. One evening, they
had sexual intercourse in Francisco’s cabin on board M/V Escaño, to which he was then attached as apprentice pilot.
After a few months, Soledad advised Francisco that she was pregnant, whereupon he promised to marry her. Later their
child was born. However, subsequently, Francisco married another woman. Soledad filed a complaint for moral damages
for alleged breach of promise to marry. May moral damages be recovered for breach of promise to marry?

A: NO. It is the clear and manifest intent of our lawmaking body not to sanction actions for breach of promise to marry.
Francisco is not morally guilty of seduction, not only because he is approximately 10 years younger thanthe complainant
— who around 36 years of age, and as highly enlightened as a former high school teacher and a life insurance agent are
supposed to be — when she became intimate with him, than a mere apprentice pilot, but, also, because, the Court of
First Instance found that, complainant “surrendered herself” to Francisco because, “overwhelmed by her love” for him,
she “wanted to bind” “by having a fruit of their engagement even before they had the benefit of clergy (Hermosisima v.
CA, G.R. No. L14628, September 30, 1960).

Breach of promise to marry

GR: A breach of promise to marry per se is not an actionable wrong. There is no provision in the NCC authorizing an
action for breach of promise to marry.

XPN: When the act constitutes one where damages pursuant to Art. 21 of the NCC may be recovered and is not a mere
breach of promise to marry, such as:
1. Where the woman is a victim of moral seduction (Gashem Shookat Baksh v. CA, G.R. No. 97336, February 19, 1993).
2. Where one formally sets a wedding and go through and spend for all the preparations and publicity, only to walk
out of it when the matrimony was about to be solemnized (Wassmer v. Velez, G.R. No. L-20089, December 26, 1964).
3. Where the woman is a victim of abduction and rape, and thereafter the accused promised to marry her to avoid
criminal liability but later reneged on his promise (Buñag, Jr. v. CA, G.R. No. 101749, July 10, 1992).

Prohibition against Unjust Enrichment

No one shall unjustly enrich himself at the expense of another (Pacific Merchandising Corp. v. Consolacion Insurance and
Surety Co., Inc., G.R. No. L-30204, October 29, 1976). NOTE: The article applies only if:
1. Someone acquires or comes into possession of “something” which means delivery or acquisition of “things”; and
2. Acquisition is undue and at the expense of another, which means without any just or legal ground.

Q: Mekeni Food Corp. offered its employee Locsin a car plan. One-half of the cost of the vehicle is to be paid by Mekeni
and the other half is to be deducted from Locsin’s salary. The car was an absolute necessity in Mekeni’s business
operations. Locsin paid for his 50% share through monthly salary deductions. Subsequently, Locsin resigned. By then, a
total of ₱112,500 had been deducted from his monthly salary and applied as part of his share in the car plan. The vehicle
remained in the ownership and possession of Mekeni, and so Locsin sought reimbursement of his amortization
payments on the vehicle and posits that if the amount is not reimbursed, unjust enrichment would result, as the vehicle
remained in the possession and ownership of Mekeni. Should the amortization payments be refunded in favor of Locsin?

A: YES, the amortization payments must be refunded in favor of Locsin. In the absence of specific terms and conditions
governing a car plan agreement between the employer and employee, the employer may not retain the installment
payments made by the employee on the car plan and treat them as rents for the use of the service vehicle, in the event
that the employee ceases his employment and is unable to complete the installment payments on the vehicle. The
underlying reason is that the service vehicle was precisely used in the employer's business; any personal benefit
obtained by the employee from its use is merely incidental. Mekeni may not enrich itself by charging Locsin for the use
of its vehicle which is otherwise absolutely necessary to the full and effective promotion of its business. (Locsin v.
Mekeni Food Corporation,G.R. No. 192105, 09 December 201) (Del Castillo, J.).
Prejudicial Question (Art. 36)

GENERAL RULE: If both criminal and civil cases are filed in court, the criminal case takes precedence.
EXCEPTION: When there is a prejudicial question or a question that arises in a case, the resolution of which is a logical antecedent
of the issue involved herein, and the cognizance of which pertains to another tribunal.

Requisites (Sec. 7, Rule 111, Rules of Court)

a. Previously instituted civil action involves an issue similar or intimately related to the issue raised in the subsequent
criminal action, and
b. The resolution of such issue determines whether or not the criminal action may proceed

NOTE: The Civil Code has suppletory application in matters governed by special laws

PERSONS (Arts. 37-51)

Articles 37 – 39

CIVIL PERSONALITY
 aptitude of being the subject, active or passive, of rights and obligations

Article 37

Juridical capacity
 fitness to be subject to legal relations
 inherent in every person
 lost through death
 acquired at birth

Juridical capacity
 power to do acts with legal effects
 maybe acquired or lost
 reached at a certain age of majority
 lost in civil interdiction

Example:
A 1-year old boy has juridical capacity but has no capacity to act. When he will have full civil capacity.

Article 38 - Restrictions on capacity to act

 Minority
 Insanity or Imbecility
 State of being deaf-mute
 Prodigality
 Civil Interdiction

Article 39 – Modification or limit the capacity to act

 Age
 Insanity
 Deaf-mute
 Penalty
 Prodigality
 family relations
 Alienage and so on

Natural persons (Articles 40 – 43)

GENERAL RULE: Birth determines personality.

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

1. limited; and
2. provisional/conditional (Quimiguing vs. Icao)

NOTES:
 The presumption as to the child’s personality applies only in cases beneficial to the child.

 The concept of provisional personality CANNOT be invoked to obtain damages for and in behalf of an aborted child. (Geluz
vs. CA)
When is a Child Considered Born
GENERAL RULE: For civil purposes, the fetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother’s
womb.
EXCEPTION: If the fetus had an intrauterine life of less than 7 months, it is not deemed born if it dies within 24 hours after its
complete delivery from the maternal womb.

Presumption of survivorship
Two or more persons, called to succeed each other, shall be presumed to have died at the same time, subject to the following
conditions:
1. parties are heirs to one another
2. no proof as to who died first
3. with doubt as to who died first

NOTE: Article 43 applies when the parties are called to succeed each other. But if the parties are not called to succeed each
other, Rule 131, Sec. 3 (jj) of the Rules of Court applies. Both are to be applied only in the absence of facts.

Q: Jaime, who is 65, and his son, Willy, who is 25, died in a plane crash. There is no proof as to who died first. Jaime’s only surviving
heir is his wife, Julia, who is also Willy’s mother. Willy’s surviving heirs are his mother, Julia, and his wife, Wilma. In the settlement of
Jaime’s estate, can Wilma successfully claim that her late husband, Willy, had a hereditary share since he was much younger than his
father and therefore, should be presumed to have survived longer?

A: NO, Wilma cannot successfully claim that Willy had a hereditary share in his father’s estate. Two persons “who are called to
succeed each other” are presumed to have died at the same time, in the absence of proof as to which of them died first (NCC, Art.
43). This presumption of simultaneous death applies in cases involving the question of succession as between the two who died,
who in this case, are mutual heirs, being father and son.

Juridical persons (will be discussed further on Partnerships and Corporation)

WHO:
State and its political subdivisions
Corporations, institutions and entities for public purpose or interest
Corporations, partnership and associations for private interest
HOW CREATED: For (a) and (b), by the laws creating or recognizing them; private corporations are governed by BP 68 and
partnership and associations are governed by the provisions of this Code concerning partnerships.

NOTE: The Roman Catholic Church is a corporation by prescription, with acknowledged juridical personality, inasmuch as it is an
institution which antedated, by almost a thousand years, any other personality in Europe, and which existed when Grecian
eloquence still flourished in Antioch and when idols where still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. (Barlin vs. Ramirez)

The estate of a deceased person should be considered an artificial or juridical person for the purposes of the settlement and
distribution of his estate which, of course, include the exercise during the judicial administration thereof of those rights and the
fulfillment of those obligations of his which survived after his death. (Limjoco vs. Intestate Estate of Pedro Fragrante)

Cessation of Civil Personality

1. If natural persons: by death
2. If juridical persons: by termination of existence

CITIZENSHIP AND DOMICILE

RESIDENCE DOMICILE
Used to indicate a PLACE OF ABODE, whether permanent denotes a FIXED PERMANENT RESIDENCE, which when absent,
or temporary one has the intention of returning

There can be several places of residence There can only be ONE place of domicile

Elements of Domicile
a. Physical presence in a fixed place
b. Intention to remain permanently (animus manendi)

Kinds of Domicile
1. Domicile of origin - received by a person at birth.
2. Domicile of choice - the place freely chosen by a person sui juris.
3. Constructive domicile - assigned to a child by law at the time of his birth.