A. Classification of Property

A. Classification of Property

• Immovables and Movables – Civil Code, arts. 414-418
• Public Dominion; Patrimonial; Private – Civil Code, arts. 419-425

Immovables and Movables – Civil Code, arts. 414-418

TITLE I

CLASSIFICATION OF PROPERTY

PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

Article 414. All things which are or may be the object of appropriation are considered either:

(1) Immovable or real property; or

(2) Movable or personal property. (333)

CHAPTER 1

Immovable Property

Article 415. The following are immovable property:

(1) Land, buildings, roads and constructions of all kinds adhered to the soil;

(2) Trees, plants, and growing fruits, while they are attached to the land or form an integral part of an immovable;

(3) Everything attached to an immovable in a fixed manner, in such a way that it cannot be separated therefrom without breaking the material or deterioration of the object;

(4) Statues, reliefs, paintings or other objects for use or ornamentation, placed in buildings or on lands by the owner of the immovable in such a manner that it reveals the intention to attach them permanently to the tenements;

(5) Machinery, receptacles, instruments or implements intended by the owner of the tenement for an industry or works which may be carried on in a building or on a piece of land, and which tend directly to meet the needs of the said industry or works;

(6) Animal houses, pigeon-houses, beehives, fish ponds or breeding places of similar nature, in case their owner has placed them or preserves them with the intention to have them permanently attached to the land, and forming a permanent part of it; the animals in these places are included;

(7) Fertilizer actually used on a piece of land;

(8) Mines, quarries, and slag dumps, while the matter thereof forms part of the bed, and waters either running or stagnant;

(9) Docks and structures which, though floating, are intended by their nature and object to remain at a fixed place on a river, lake, or coast;

(10) Contracts for public works, and servitudes and other real rights over immovable property. (334a)

CHAPTER 2

Movable Property

Article 416. The following things are deemed to be personal property:

(1) Those movables susceptible of appropriation which are not included in the preceding article;

(2) Real property which by any special provision of law is considered as personalty;

(3) Forces of nature which are brought under control by science; and

(4) In general, all things which can be transported from place to place without impairment of the real property to which they are fixed. (335a)

Article 417. The following are also considered as personal property:

(1) Obligations and actions which have for their object movables or demandable sums; and

(2) Shares of stock of agricultural, commercial and industrial entities, although they may have real estate. (336a)

Article 418. Movable property is either consumable or nonconsumable. To the first class belong those movables which cannot be used in a manner appropriate to their nature without their being consumed; to the second class belong all the others. (337)

PROPERTY, OWNERSHIP, AND ITS MODIFICATIONS

I. Classification of Property

• As to mobility
• Movable
• Immovable
• As to ownership
• Public property
• Private property
• As to alienability
• Within the commerce of man (or which may be the objects of contracts or judicial transactions)
• Outside the commerce of man
• As to existence
• Present property (res existents)
• Future property (res futurae)

Note: Both present and future property may be the subject of sale but generally not the subject of donation. (The seller need not own the property when the contract of sale is perfected, but must have the right to transfer its ownership when the property is delivered.)

• As to materiality
• Tangible or corporeal
• Intangible or incorporeal
• As to dependence or importance
• Principal
• Accessory
• As to capability of substitution
• Fungible: Capable of substitution by other things of the same quality and quantity
• Non-Fungible: Incapable of such substitution, hence, the identical thing must be given or returned
• As to nature or definiteness
• Generic – one referring to a group or class
• Specific – one referring to a single, unique object
• As to Whether in The Custody Of The Court Or Free?
• In “Custodia Legis” – in the custody of the court
• “Free” property (Tolentino, supra, p. 7-10)

Fungible and non-fungible things

• Fungible thing is one where the parties have agreed to allow the substitution of the thing given or delivered with an equivalent thing. (3 Manresa 58)
• Non-fungible thing is one where the parties have the intention of having the same identical thing returned after the intended use. (Ibid.)

NOTE: As to whether a thing is consumable or not, it depends upon the nature of the thing. As to whether it is fungible or not, it depends upon the intention of the parties.

Fungibles are usually determined by number, weight, or measure.

What are the two Classifications of Movables According to Nature?

• Consumable – cannot be utilized w/o being consumed
• Non-consumable (Tolentino, supra, p. 10)

What are the two Classifications According to Intention of the Parties/Purpose?  (whether it can be substituted by other things of same kind, quality, and quantity)

• Fungible (res fungibles) – only the equivalent is returned
• Non-fungible (res nec fungibles) – the identical thing is returned; do not admit of substitution (Tolentino, supra, p. 10)