PHILIPPINE CIVIL LAW DECISION AND REMEDIES PLATFORM
Philippine Civil Law Answers: Property, Inheritance, Contracts and Remedies
Start with your problem, not with the Code
A land title that does not match the fence. A property four siblings inherited and cannot agree on. A lot with no road access. CivilLaw.PH covers property and ownership, succession and inheritance, obligations and contracts, damages and civil liability, persons and civil status, and the courts and remedies for private disputes. Each guide explains the rule, the evidence to gather, the remedy and the next filing step.
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CivilLaw.PH is a practical guide to the Civil Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 386) – the law that governs property and ownership, inheritance, contracts and obligations, civil liability for damage, and the remedies available when a private dispute has to be settled. Every guide is written from the law itself and from government sources, for the decisions people actually face.
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Pick the situation closest to yours. Each guide sets out the governing rule, the documents and evidence that decide it, the remedy that fits, and the court or office where it belongs.
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TITLE AND PROOF
I am not sure my papers prove I own it
What a certificate of title proves, what a tax declaration does not, and what to do when the land is untitled.
BOUNDARIES
My neighbor’s fence or wall crosses my line
How a boundary is legally fixed, what a relocation survey settles, and the order of steps before any case is filed.
- Obtain your title, technical description and approved survey plan; ask the neighbor for their corresponding records.
- Have a licensed geodetic engineer conduct a relocation survey and document the fence against the established line.
- Discuss correction or settlement in writing; check whether barangay conciliation is required.
- If the line remains disputed, take the survey and title records to a Philippine lawyer to choose the appropriate boundary, possession or ownership action. Do not move the fence unilaterally.
Supreme Court: a reliable relocation survey may decide an encroachment dispute.
OCCUPANTS
Someone is on my land without permission
Which case fits – forcible entry, unlawful detainer or a plenary action – and the one-year deadline that decides it.
The key is how possession began and when it became unlawful. Compare the remedies below, then read the possession guide.
CO-OWNED PROPERTY
We inherited it together and cannot agree
What one co-owner may sell without the others, who may occupy it, who owns the rent, and how partition ends it.
Can one heir sell or occupy the whole parcel? A co-owner may transfer only their undivided interest; the buyer steps into that interest, subject to the outcome of partition. Each co-owner may use the common property without excluding the others or defeating its shared purpose. How does it end? A co-owner may demand partition, subject to legal or valid agreed limits; partition allocates the resulting shares. See Civil Code Articles 486, 493–495 and the co-owner sale guide.
ACCESS
My lot has no road access
The four requisites for a compulsory right of way, how the route is chosen, and what indemnity is due.
Under Civil Code Articles 649–650, establish all four:
- Your lot has no adequate outlet to a public highway.
- You will pay proper indemnity.
- Your own acts did not cause the isolation.
- The proposed route is least prejudicial to the neighboring estate; shortest distance matters only insofar as consistent with that rule.
BEFORE YOU BUY
I am about to buy land
The verification checklist: certified true copy, annotations, survey, taxes, occupants, and the seller’s authority.
- Order a current certified true copy from the Land Registration Authority or Registry of Deeds and compare its owner, lot number, technical description, liens and annotations with the seller’s papers.
- Check the approved plan and actual boundaries through a survey, and inspect the site for occupants, access and encroachments.
- Verify the seller’s identity and authority to sell, including a valid special power of attorney, corporate authority or co-owner/heir documents when relevant.
- Check tax declarations, real property tax status and the transfer costs; a tax declaration alone is not proof of ownership.
Which possession remedy fits? The one-year summary ejectment period needs prompt review; ownership and longer-standing possession disputes follow different actions.
| Remedy | When it fits | Timing and forum |
|---|---|---|
| Forcible entry | Possession taken through force, intimidation, threat, strategy or stealth. | File ejectment in the first-level court generally within one year of unlawful entry; stealth has a discovery nuance. |
| Unlawful detainer | Entry was lawful at first, such as a lease or permission, but the right to stay ended and possession is withheld. | Ejectment in the first-level court generally within one year of the last demand or termination that makes possession unlawful, as applicable. |
| Accion publiciana / reivindicatoria | The one-year ejectment period has passed or the main issue is the better right to possess; reivindicatoria seeks ownership and possession. | A plenary court action; jurisdiction and prescription depend on the claim. Get case-specific advice. |
See Supreme Court distinctions among possession actions and the full remedy guide.
THE SIX AREAS WE COVER
Philippine civil law, in six parts
The Civil Code runs to more than two thousand articles. These six hubs group it the way problems actually arrive.
Property and Ownership
Titles and tax declarations, boundaries and encroachment, co-ownership, possession, right of way and other easements.
Succession and Inheritance
Who inherits and in what shares, legitimes and compulsory heirs, wills, disinheritance, extrajudicial settlement and partition.
Obligations and Contracts
When an agreement binds, breach and delay, void and voidable contracts, rescission, and which agreements must be in writing.
Damages and Civil Liability
Negligence and quasi-delict, liability of parents, employers and vehicle owners, abuse of rights, and how damages are proved.
Persons and Civil Status
Civil personality, change of name, corrections to birth records, absence and presumptive death, and the civil registry.
Barangay, Courts and Civil Remedies
Where a civil claim belongs, when barangay conciliation comes first, small claims, demand letters and prescriptive periods.
| Hub | Start here when the issue concerns |
|---|---|
| Property and Ownership | Title and proof, boundaries, possession, co-ownership, easements. |
| Succession and Inheritance | Heirs, wills, legitimes, estate settlement and partition. |
| Obligations and Contracts | Validity, performance, breach, rescission and contract remedies. |
| Damages and Civil Liability | Negligence, quasi-delict, civil liability and proof of loss. |
| Persons and Civil Status | Capacity, personality and civil-registry records. |
| Barangay, Courts and Civil Remedies | Conciliation, demand letters, filing forum, deadlines and enforcement. |
Use the hub that matches the question; each links to its focused guides. The current coverage and update dates should be checked on the individual guide.
Which civil dispute forum fits? Check the parties, the relief requested, the amount and any arbitration clause before filing.
| Path | Use it when | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Barangay conciliation | A dispute among natural persons falls within the lupon’s authority under the Local Government Code. | Usually a required precondition before court; residence, property location and statutory exceptions matter. |
| Small claims | The relief is a covered money claim of ₱1,000,000 or less under the current expedited rules. | Check the current court forms and any required barangay referral; it is not a way to decide land title. |
| Arbitration | An arbitrable dispute is subject to a valid agreement to arbitrate. | Read the clause and RA 9285 exclusions; court relief or enforcement may still be needed. |
| Regular courts | The claim calls for ownership, possession, broader relief or money beyond the small-claims procedure. | Confirm subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction, prerequisites and filing deadline. |
Primary rules: Local Government Code §§ 408–412, Supreme Court expedited rules, and RA 9285 on arbitration.
Latest guides
Newly published, each with its governing articles, the evidence that decides it, and the next practical step.
- Car Repossession in the Philippines: Lender Rights and Defenses
When can a lender take back your car without a court order? Learn the breach-of-peace limits, the notice and sale rules under the PPSA, when the Recto Law bars a deficiency, your defenses and deadlines. - Co-Maker on a Loan: When Do You Have to Pay?Signed as co-maker? See when a lender can collect the whole loan from you, the defenses that can release you, how to get your money back from the borrower, and the deadlines that apply.
- Can You Be Jailed for Not Paying a Debt in the Philippines?No one can be jailed for simply failing to pay a debt in the Philippines. Jail is possible only when a separate crime is proved, such as a bouncing check under BP 22 or estafa. Here is where the line falls, what collectors cannot threaten, and what to do next.
- No Interest in Writing, No Interest: Article 1956 ExplainedUnder Article 1956 of the Civil Code, agreed interest on a loan is collectible only if expressly stipulated in writing. What counts as writing, what happens to interest already paid, how legal interest still applies, deadlines and what to do next.
- Accion Publiciana vs Reivindicatoria vs Ejectment: Which Case?Forcible entry, unlawful detainer, accion publiciana or accion reivindicatoria? How to pick the right case to recover land in the Philippines: the one-year rule, which court by assessed value, what to prove and what to file first.
- Landlord Sold the Property During My Lease: Does It Survive?A sale does not automatically end a lease in the Philippines. When a buyer may end it under Article 1676, how rent control changes the answer, who to pay rent to, and what tenants should do next.
EDITORIAL STANDARD
Written from the law itself
Primary sources only
Every rule traces to the Civil Code, a Republic Act, the Rules of Court, a Supreme Court decision or the agency itself. We do not build guides on other people’s summaries, and we do not invent figures.
Rule, evidence, next step
A guide that stops at what the law says is only half an answer. Each one continues into what you must prove, which documents matter, the deadline, the remedy, and the court or office that hears it.
Keep the proof: current certified title and annotations; approved plan and relocation survey; tax records; deed, lease, receipts and payment trail; demand letters and proof of delivery; dated photographs, messages and witness details. Keep originals and a dated copy of each relevant record.
Dated and rechecked
Thresholds, procedures and doctrine change. Each guide carries the date it was last materially reviewed, and where the law is genuinely unsettled we say so instead of choosing a side.
How can I check currency? Read the guide’s review date, follow its linked Civil Code provisions, court rules and decisions, and confirm later amendments or rulings before acting. The page timestamp shows when content changed, which may differ from its last substantive legal review.
CivilLaw.PH is published by the same team behind LaborCode.ph (Philippine labor law), FamilyCode.ph (marriage, family and the Family Code) and CyberCode.ph (data privacy, cybercrime and technology law). Where a question belongs to one of those subjects, we say so and link across rather than duplicating it here.
CivilLaw.PH publishes general legal information, not legal advice. Civil cases turn on their own documents, dates and facts. This site is independent and is not a government agency, a court, a registry or a law firm. For advice on your own situation, consult a Philippine lawyer or the Public Attorney’s Office.