Philippines Real Estate Ownership, in General

Excerpted from Civil Law, Vol. 2 by Justice Jose Vitug, pp. 12-16.

<< Read previous ...

Hidden Treasures

Hidden treasure is any hidden and unknown deposit of money, jewelry or other precious objects, the lawful ownership of which does not appear (Art. 439, Civil Code). Under the ejusdem generis rule, the term "other precious objects" should be understood as being similar to money or jewelry; if not, the rules on occupation (infra.), as a mode of acquiring ownership (see Art. 712, et. seq., Civil Code), would be pertinent or applicable.

When certain objects without any known owner are discovered, the following rules may be considered, viz.:

1. Where the things discovered do not qualify as hidden treasures in the manner defined by the law (Art. 439, Civil Code), the rules on occupation, as a mode of acquiring ownership, should apply;
2. Where the things discovered are hidden treasures, then the ownership thereof shall, as a rule, belong to the owner of the property where found, unless —
   1. a.) The finder is a person other than the owner of the property where such treasures are found;
      
      and
      
      
   2. b.) The finder is neither a trespasser (since a person cannot be held to benefit from his own unlawful act) nor subject to an agreement with the owner.
3. Where conditions (a) and (b) concur, the finder would be entitled to a half interest on the treasures. By the very nature of hidden treasure, there would always be an element of uncertainty or contingency in its discovery that should ipso facto give an entitlement to the finder in the absence of a prohibition against his entry by the owner of the property or of a contract or a previous understanding that would govern their respective entitlements to the treasure.

Home Page

Legal Aspects
  Philippines Civil Code
   Legal Foundations

Articles
  Explore “Exotic Cebu”
  Real Estate Basics
  Discrete Realty Cases

Helpful Supplements
  Documentation Guides
  Real Estate Forms
  Government Documents

Find Properties
  More Properties
  Setup Buyer Profile
  List Your Properties

Meet the Agents
Search diligent real estate executives nationwide, read agents’ profile & more.

Current Events
Latest real estate updates all over Cebu and Philippines & more.

Conversion Tables
Factors for computing equal monthly amortizations at various interest rates & more.