USUFRUCT

I. Define
a. Usufruct gives a right
b. To enjoy the property of another
c. With the OBLIGATION of
i. Preserving its form and substance
d. UNLESS the title constituting it or the law provides otherwise
II. RIGHTS OF HOLDER USUFRUCTRUARY
a. To ENJOY
b. To the FRUITS
i. Natural
ii. Industrial
iii. Civil
c. Even in the absence of agreement
III. OBLIGATIONS of the USUFRUCTUARY (HOLDER)
a. To preserve it forms and substance
i. Exemptions
1. Unless the contract/law provides that he is not obliged to do so
2. When it includes things, which, without being consumed,
gradually deteriorate through ordinary wear and tear
3. Includes things which cannot be used without being consumed
ii. ALLOWED ALTERATIONS
1. Improvement
a. Provided that it can be removed without causing damage to
the property at the end of the usufruct
b. Or although cannot be removed, it will not cause the
successor to spend considerable expenses in its
preservation
c. When the usufructuary guarantees to restore thing to its
original state.
IV. MANNER OF CREATION
a. By law (legal U)
b. By the will of private persons (will, contracts, donations)
c. By prescription (mixed usufruct)
V. OBJECT
a. Real
b. Personal
c. Corporeal thing or right
i. Not be strictly personal
ii. Must not be intransmissible
iii. Must have its own independent existence
VI. OBLIGATIONS OF THE USUFRUCTUARY (BEFORE)
a. Inventory of all the property
 b. Give security or bond
VII. EFFECTS OF NON COMPLIANCE TO ABOVE REQUIREMENTS
a. Contract of usufruct is still effective and will commence to run
b. However, U may not posess and enjoy the property
VIII. EFFECTS OF COMPLIANCE
a. Shall retroact to the day of the constitution of the usufruct
IX. OBLIGATIONS of the NAKED OWNER pending COMPLIANCE
a. The immovables may be placef unde administration
b. Demand possession of the property
c. Immpvables may sold and its proceed be invested in safe securities
d. The capital sums in cash may be invested in safe securities
X. EXEMPTIONS to the SECURITY
a. When the donor reserved the usufruct of the property donated
b. In case of legal useufruct of the parents over the propertu of the minor children
living in their custody and under their parental authority
i. Except when the parents contracts a 2nd marriage
ii. When the market value of the property or annual income of the child
exceeds 50K
XI. WHEN USUFRUCTUARY MAY BE RELIEVED FROM ABOVE OBLIGATIONS
a. When no one will be injured
b. When the subject property is to be acquired through CAUTION JURATORIA
i. CJ refers to the promise under oath in court
ii. By usufructuary who has not given the security for the purpose of
acquiring the use of the following:
1. Furniture necessary for his use
2. Dwelling house
3. Implements, tools and other movable property necessary for an
industry or vocation in which he is engaged
a. In this case the usufructuary cannot alienate or lease his
right for it would mean that he does not need the house,
furniture and implements
XII. OBLIGATIONS OF THE USUFRUCTUARY (DURING THE LIFE OF THE
USUFRUCT)
a. Preserve its form and substance
b. Observe the diligence of a good father of a family
c. Make the ordinary repairs
i. Born by the usufructuary
d. Pay annual charges and taxes (imposed on the fruits of the property)
e. Notify of the owner of the need of urgent EXTRAORDINARY repairs
i. At the expense of the owner
1. Failure of the owner to act – the usu may initiate the same
2. May demand for the termination
3. May demand to retain the property pending reimbursement
 f. notify the owner of any act of a third person that may be prejudicial to the rights of the
owner
i. failure to do – liable for damages
XIII. EXTINGUISHMENT
a. Usufruct is extinguished by:
i. Death of the usufructuary
ii. Expiration of the period
iii. Merger of the usufruct and ownership in the same person
iv. Renunciation of the usufructuary
v. Loss of the thing in usufruct
vi. Termination of the right of the person constituting the usufruct
vii. Prescription
XIV. OBLIGATIONS UPON TERMINATION
a. Usufructuary losses the right to the possession
b. To deliver the same to the owner

EASEMENTS or SERVITUDES
I. Define
a. Is an encumbrance (burden)
b. Imposed upon an immovable
c. For the benefit of another immovable
d. Belonging to a different owner
II. DOMINANT ESTATE – immovable in favor of which the easement is established
(ung makikinabang)
III. SERVIENT ESTATE – owner of the immovable where easement is to be established
(may ari ng property)
IV. EASEMENT – passive aspect
V. SERVITUDE – active aspect (it is a limitation on the servient owner’s right pf
ownership, because it restricts his right to exclude others from his property.
VI. RIGHTS – real rights
a. Since it is constituted on the thing itself and not upon its owner or its occupant
b. Consists limited rights to use and enjoyment without possession
c. Gives rise to an action in rem in favor of the owner of the servient estate
d. Only give right of use for special purpose
VII. KINDS OF EASEMENTS
a. Continuous – constant, without the intervention of any act of man
i. Easement of drainage
ii. Easement of light and view
b. Discontinuous – used at intervals and depend upon the acts of man
i. Easement of right of way
 c. Apparent – those that are made known and are continually kept in view by
external signs that reveals the use and enjoyment of the same
i. Light and view
d. Non-apparent – no external indication of their existence
e. Positive – is one which impose upon the owner of the servient estate the
obligation of allowing something to be done or of doing it himself
i. Right of way
f. Negative – which prohibits the owner of the servient estate from doing something
which he could lawfully do if the easement did not exist
i. Not to build higher
VIII. CHARACTERISTICS OF EASEMENTS
a. It is inseparable from the estate to which it is actively or passively belongs
i. Servitudes are merely accessories to the tenements of which they form
part
ii. As mere accessories, they cannot be alienated or mortgaged separately
from the tenement
iii. Cannot maintain independent existence
b. It is indivisible
IX. MODES OF ACQUIRING EASEMENTS
a. By title (continuous, discontinuous, apparent or non-apparent, positive or
negative)
b. By prescription (only continuous and apparent)
i. Making the road permanently cemented or asphalted does not make it
continuous in character/nature
ii. The test is according to the manner they are exercised not according to the
presence or signs
iii. PRESCRIPTION – 10 years (positive easement) counted from the day on
which the owner of the dominant estate, or the person who may have made
use of the easement commenced to exercise it upon the servient estate
iv. PRESCRIPTION – 10 years (negative easement) is counted from the day
on which the owner of the dominant estate prohibited, by an instrument
acknowledged before a notary public, the owner of the servient estate,
from executing an act which would be lawful without the easement
X. MODES OF ACQUIRING TITLE TO AN EASEMENT
a. If it had subsequently entered into a contractual right of way with the heirs for the
continued used of the land under the principle of voluntary easements
b. If it had filed a case against the heirs for conferment on it of a legal easement of
right of way
i. Proof of conferment
1. It is surrounded by other immovables and has no adequate outlet to
a public highway
2. Payment of proper indemnity
3. The isolation is not the result of its own acts
 4. The right of way claimed is at point least prejudicial to the servient
estate, and, insofar as consistent with this rule, the distance from
the dominant estate to the highway is shortest
XI. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE OWNER OF DOMINANT ESTATE
a. Granted incorporeal rights but not title thereto
b. Shall have the right to make any works on the servient estate if the same be
necessary for the use and preservation of the servitude, subject to the following
conditions:
i. It must be necessary for the use and preservation of the servitude
ii. The work is done at the expense of the owner of the dominant estate
iii. The work can be done without altering the servitude or rendering it more
burdensome
iv. Owner of SE is notified of the intended work
v. The time and manner of making the work should be the most convenient
to the owner of the SE or in such a manner that it causes the least
inconvenience to the owner of the servient estate
c. If there a several owners of the dominant estate, they will borne expenses
proportionally according to the benefits each may derive therefrom.
XII. MODES OF EXTINGUISMENT OF EASEMENTS
a. Merger in the same person of the ownership of the DE and SE
i. Nobody can have an easement over his own property
b. Non-user for 10 years (presupposes that the easement was used but later
abandoned)
i. Discontinuous – from the day on w/c they ceased to be used
ii. Continuous – from the day w/c an act contrary to the same took place
c. Impossibility of use - When either or both estate fall into such condition that it
cannot be used (subsequent condition will again permit the use)
d. By expiration of the term or fulfilment of the condition
e. By renunciation of the owner of the DE
f. By the redemption agreed upon between the owner
XIII. REQUISITES FOR COMPULSARY EASEMENT OF RIGHT OF WAY
a. The DE is surrounded by other immovables and has no adequate outlet to a public
highway
b. After payment of proper indemnity
c. That the isolation was not due to acts of the proprietor of the dominant estate
d. That the right of way claimed is at the point least prejudicial to the servient estate
(DE is shortest in distance from to a public highway)
NUISANCE
I. Nuisance, define
a. Any act
b. Or omission
c. Establishment
 d. Business
e. Condition of property
f. Or anything else
g. Which causes the following:
i. Injures or endangers the health or safety of others
ii. Annoys or offends the senses
iii. Shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality
iv. Obstructs or interferes with the free passage of any public highway or
street, or any body of water
v. Hinders or impairs the use of property
II. NUISANCE vs TORT
a. Nuisance is a tort governed by the rules on tort generally – legal liability is
predicated on an invasion of another person’s legal rights by an act or
unwarranted by law, or from a neglect of duty imposed by law – resulting damage
to another
b. However, while nuisance is a tort, it differs from negligence in the sense that the
legal basis of liability for nuisance is not negligence but the resulting injury to
others regardless of the degree of care exercise to avoid such injury.
III. CLASSIFICATIONS
a. PUBLIC – affects a community or any considerable number of persons although
the extent of the annoyance, danger or damage upon individuals may be unequal
b. PRIVATE – affects only an individual or a limited number of people
c. MIXED
IV. TRESSPASS
a. Trespass is an invasion of the plaintiff’s interest in the exclusive possession of his
land (in trespass – does not require damage)
b. While nuisance is an interference with his use and enjoyment of it (must suffer
damage) (physical damage or discomfort)
V. REQUISITES FOR RECOVERY FOR DAMAGE (PRIVATE NUISANCE)
a. That there was damage to the property
b. The interference is either
i. Intentional and unreasonable
ii. Unintentional and otherwise negligent or reckless conduct
iii. Resulting in abnormally dangerous activities in an appropriate place
VI. NUISANCE PER SE and PER ACCIDENS
a. PER SE (AT LAW)
i. Nuisance under any and all circumstances
ii. Regardless of location or surroundings
iii. Because it constitute direct menace to public health or safety
1. Test – whether it has become dangerous at all times and under all
circumstance to life, health, or property
2. Those prohibited by law – gambling, prostitution houses
 3. These activities are nuisance per se regardless of the surroundings
and location
b. ACCIDENS (IN FACT)
i. Not a nuisance per se but may become a nuisance because of the
circumstances of the location and surroundings or manner in which it is
performed or operated
ii. Its existence is being a question of fact
iii. It cannot be abated without due hearing
VII. ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE
a. One who maintains on his premises dangerous instrumentalities or appliance of a
character likely to attract children in play, and who fails to exercise ordinary care
to prevent children from playing therewith or resorting thereto, is liable to a child
of tender years who is injured thereby, even if the child is technically a trespasser
in the premises.
VIII. PRESCRIPTION
a. Lapse of time cannot legalize any nuisance, whether public or private
IX. REMEDIES (public nuisance)
a. Criminal
b. Civil
c. Abatement, without judicial proceedings (only possible if it is nuisance per se)
Because in nuisance per accidens there is a need to prove the fact that indeed
there is a nuisance
i. Demand first upon the owner
ii. The demand has been rejected
iii. Approved by the district health officer, assisted by local police
iv. The value of destruction does not exceed 3K
X. REMEDIES (private nuisance)
a. Civil action
b. Abatement, without judicial proceedings (only possible if it is nuisance per se)
DONATIONS
I. Define
a. An act of liberality
b. Whereby one person disposes GRATUITOUSLY of a thing or right in favor of
another – who accepts it
II. PERFECTION
a. At the moment the donor knows of the acceptance of the done
III. CAPACITY
a. At the time of making of the donation (moment of perfection)
b. At the time the donor knows of the acceptance by the done
c. Article 1323 of CC- Death -insanity- insolvency – civil interdiction – offer
becomes ineffective (contracts) may be applied in case of donation
IV. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
a. The essential reduction of the patrimony of the donor
b. The increase in the patrimony of the donee
c. The intent to do an act of liberality or animus donandi (no considerations)
i. For immovable property (additional requirements)
1. Be made in a public instrument
2. Acceptance of the done
a. In the same instrument or
b. In a separate public document (the donor should be notified
thereof in an authentic form, to be noted in both
instruments)
V. CLASSIFICATIONS
a. MORTIS CAUSA (rules on succession)
i. Donation made in contemplation of the donor’s death
ii. The full or naked ownership of the donated properties will pass to the
donee only because of the donor’s death – the time the donation takes
effect
iii. It should be embodied in a last will and testament
b. INTER VIVOS (laws on donation)
i. Donations which take effect during the lifetime or independently of the
donor’s death
1. KINDS
a. PURE or SIMPLE – pure liberality (truest form)
b. Remuneratory or compensatory – made for the purpose of
rewarding the done for past services – such service do not
amount to a demandable death
c. Conditional or modal – in consideration of future services
(with conditions attached)
d. Onerous (imposes upon the done reciprocal obligation)
i. The cost of the service/obligation is EQUAL or
GREATER than the thing donated
ii. This is governed by law on contracts not by law on
donations
VI. WHO MAY GIVE DONATIONS
a. All persons who may contract and dispose of their property
VII. WHO CANNOT DONATE
a. Guardians and trustees – property entrusted to them
VIII. CAPACITY
a. Determined at the time of the making of the donation
IX. WHO MAY ACCEPT
a. All those not disqualified by law
X. VOID DONATIONS/Disqualified donees
 a. Between persons who ere guilty of adultery or concubinage at the time of the
donation
b. Between persons found guilty of the same criminal offense, in consideration
thereof
c. Between public officer or his wife, descendants and ascendants, by reason of
his office
d. Those who are incapacitated to succeed by will
e. Between spouses, made during the marriage – except moderate ones
f. Those made between living together as husband and wife without valid marriage
– made during cohabitation
XI. WHO ARE DISQUALIFIED DONEES (740)
a. The priest who overheard the confession of the donor during his last illness, or the
minister of the gospel who extended spiritual aid to him during the same period
b. The relatives of such priest or minister of the gospel within the fourth degree, the
church, order, chapter, community, organization, or institution to which such
priest or minister may belong;
c. A guardian with respect to donations made by a ward in his favor before the final
accounts of the guardianship have been approved in his favor before the final
accounts of the guardianship have been approved, even if the (donor) should die
after the approval thereof; nevertheless, any donations made by the ward in favor
of the guardian when the latter is his descendant, descendant, brother, sister, or
spouse, shall be valid
d. Any physician, surgeon, nurse, health officer or druggist who took care of the
donor during his last illness
e. Individuals, associations and corporations not permitted by law to receive
donations
XII. DOUBLE DONATIONS – double sale rule will apply
XIII. FORMALITIES
a. MOVABLE
i. Oral or in writing
ii. Requires simultaneous delivery of the thing
iii. If it exceeds 5K -donation and acceptance be in writing (otherwise void)
b. IMMOVABLE requisites
i. Must be made in a public document (regardless of the value)
ii. Specifying the property donated
iii. The value of the charges which the done must satisfy
iv. Acceptance may be in the same separate public document
v. Shall take effect unless done during the lifetime of the donor
vi. If acceptance is made in a separate instrument, the donor shall be notified
thereof in an authentic form, and this shall be noted in both instruments
XIV. DONATION INTER VIVOS
a. Governed by articles 748 and 749
b. only but for remuneratory and simple donations
 c. onerous donations – governed by rules on contracts
d. EXAMPLES
i. donation which will take effect only at the lifetime of the donor
ii. donor reserves the right of usufruct
iii. limited right to dispose
iv. for services rendered by the done
v. warranty that nobody will disturb the right of the donee
XV. DONATION MORTIS CAUSA
a. Forms prescribed in wills
b. Takes effect only after the death of the donor
c. Prohibition against registration before the death of the donor
d. reservation to revoke due to any cause (revocable at will)
e. reservation to dispose within 10 years after the death of the donor
f. the done cannot dispose at any rate without the donors consent
XVI. DONATION PROPTER NUPTIAS
a. Allows donation of future prop between the spouses - governed by the provisions
on testamentary succession and the formalities of wills
b. It must be made before the celebration of the marriage
c. It must be made in consideration of marriage
d. It must be made in favor of one or both of the future spouses
i. Done and donor must be either future spouses or a third person.
e. DONATIONS not considered PROPTER NUPTIAS
i. Those made in favor of the spouses after the celebration of marriage
ii. Those executed in favor of the future spouses but not in consideration of
the marriage
iii. Those granted to persons other than the spouses even though they may be
founded on the marriage
XVII. REQUIREMENT OF NOTIFICATION AND NOTATION
a. Accepted in a PUBLIC INSTRUMENT and the DONOR DULY NOTIFIED
THEREOF
b. ACCEPTANCE –
i. may be made in the very same instrument of donation
ii. if the acceptance does not appear in the same document – it must be made
in another – but it is necessary that formal notice thereof must be noted in
both instruments –
XVIII. EXTENT OF DONATION
a. ALL his property or part thereof - GR
i. EXCEPT
1. Future property – owner must be the owner of the thing donated as
donation results to an effective transfer of title over the property
2. Must reserve – in full ownership or in usufruct
 3. Sufficient means to support of himself and all of his relatives who
at the by law entitled to be supported at the time of the acceptance
of the donation
4. He cannot give by donation more that he can give by will
XIX. RIGHT OF ACCRETION
a. GR – no accretion
b. EXCEPT – if the donees are spouses
c. Xpn to xpn - if provided by the donor
i. WHEN there is accretion
1. Repudiation
2. Incapacity
3. Predeceased
XX. REVERTION
a. May be validly establish in favor of the donor
b. Not in favor of other persons – unless both are living at the time of the donation
XXI. DEBTS
a. Done not obliged to pay debts of the donor – unless there is an order – but only up
to the existing debts
b. But if donation is made in fraud – regardless there is or no order to pay the
creditors – the creditors have the right for recourse
c. Good faith is not a valid defense in case of fraud
XXII. IMPOSSIBLE or ILLEGAL CONDITION
a. Will not affect the donation – the condition shall be simply ignored
i. 100 years prohibition to alienate – illegal condition
XXIII. REVOCATION AND REDUCTION
a. BAR –
i. Birth
ii. Adoption
iii. Appearance
b. FOUR YEARS
c. Only to the extent of in officious donations
d. There must be a case filed for reduction and revocation
e. Must be alleged in the information
XXIV. GROUNDS – non compliance of the conditions
a. If the done fails to comply of the conditions – 4 years
b. 4 years does not apply if there is a stipulation of automatic revocation
XXV. EXEPTIONS TO IRREVOCABILITY
a. Subsequent appearance of children
b. Non-fulfillment of charges imposed in the donation
c. Ingratitude
d. The fact that the donation is in officious
XXVI. EFFECTS OF REDUCTION AND REVOCATION
a. The property affected shall be returned, or if it cannot be returned, at least its
value
b. The property is mortgaged, the donor may redeem the mortgage, by paying the
amount guaranteed, with a right to recover his payment from the donee
c. The done shall return the fruits of the property affected only from the filing of the
complaint