Civil Law and Land Titles and Deeds › Property, Ownership, and its Modifications › Classification of Property
1. According to Nature
Concept of Treasure: (HUM)
- Hidden and unknown
- Unknownowner
- Consists of Money, jewels, or other precious objects. (not raw materials) (Art. 439)
Kinds of Animals
- Wild considered res nullius when not yet captured; when captured and escaped becomes res nullius again
- Domesticated animals originally wild but have been captured and tamed; now belong to their capturer; has habit of returning to premises of owner; becomes res nullius if they lose that habit of returning and regain their original state of freedom
- Domestic/tamed animals born and ordinarily raised under the care of people; become res nullius when abandoned by owner. (De Leon, supra)
Q: Can land be partly mineral and partly agricultural?
A: NO. The rights over the land are indivisible and that the land itself cannot be half agricultural and half mineral. The classification of land must be categorical; the land must be either completely mineral or completely agricultural. (Republic v. CA, G.R. No. L-43938, 15 Apr. 1988)
Fertilizer Actually Used on a Piece of Land
Fertilizers still in the barn or still wrapped inside some newspaper even though already on the ground are still movables.
Requisites: (SID)
- The two things belong to Different owners.
- They form a Single object.
- They are Inseparable; that their separation would impair their nature or result in substantial injury to either component. (Paras, supra, p. 265)
Rules on Fruits
What happens to the fruits of a thing depends on whether the possessor held it in good faith or in bad faith. Only fruits that are manifest or born count as natural or industrial fruits; the young of animals count once they are in the mother's womb (Civil Code, Art. 444).
| Possessor in good faith | Possessor in bad faith | |
|---|---|---|
| Natural and industrial fruits already gathered or severed | Keeps them. They are treated as received when gathered or severed (Art. 544). | Must reimburse the fruits received and the fruits the lawful possessor could have received (Art. 549). |
| Civil fruits | Accrue daily and belong to the possessor in proportion to the time of good-faith possession (Art. 544). | Must reimburse them (Art. 549). |
| Fruits still growing when good faith ends | Shares in the expenses of cultivation and in the net harvest, both in proportion to the time of possession; charges are divided the same way. The owner may instead let the possessor finish the cultivation and harvest as payment; a possessor who refuses loses any other indemnity (Art. 545). | No share in the pending fruits. Recovers only necessary expenses and the expenses of producing, gathering and preserving the fruits (Arts. 443, 546 and 549). |
| Necessary expenses | Refunded, with the right to keep the thing until paid (Art. 546). | Refunded, but without the right to keep the thing (Arts. 546 and 549). |
| Useful expenses | Refunded, with the same right of retention; the winning party may pay either the expenses or the increase in value (Art. 546). Improvements that can be removed without damage may be removed, unless that choice is exercised (Art. 547). | Not refunded. |
| Expenses for luxury or mere pleasure | Not refunded. The ornaments may be removed if the thing is not injured and the successor does not choose to pay for them (Art. 548). | Not refunded. The objects may be removed if the thing is not injured and the lawful possessor does not choose to keep them by paying their value when he takes possession (Art. 549). |
Authorities
- De Leon
- Republic v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. L-43938, 15 April 1988