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SPANISH CIVIL CODE.

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jLxv\^ i (

THESPANISH CIVIL CODEIN FORCE IN

SPAIN, CUBA, PUERTO RICO,AND THE PHILIPPINES

TRANSLATED 13Y

Licenciados Clifford S, Walton and Nestor Ponce de Leon,

PUBLISHED UNDER AUTHORITY OF

MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM LUDLOWMILITARY GOVERNOR OF HAVANA.

EDITED BYMAJOR CLIFFORD S WALTON,

Member of the College of Lawyers of Havana and of the Washington, D. C. Bar.

HAVANA.LA PROPAGANDA LITERARIA

PRINTING HOUSE.

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'.? 4- I 4Bancroft Libra??

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF HAVANASPECIAL ORDERS, ^ Jforafc 21, 1899.No. 68.

i. Major C. S. Walton, C. P. M., Department of Havana,in addition to his other duties, is hereby directed to arrangefor the making of a translation into English of the Spanish CivilCode, with a view to its subsequent publication for general useand information; the particulars of the arrangements proposedand the estimate of cost will be submitted for approval####**

By command of Major General Ludlow.H. L. SCOTT.

Adjutant General.

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ROYAL DECREE.

Upon the proposal of the Minister of Colonies (Ultramar),approved by the Council of Ministers;

In the name of my August Son, the King D. Alfonso XIII,and as Queen Regent of the Kingdom,I decree the following:

Article i. The Civil Code in force in the Peninsula, enac-ted in conformity with the provisions of the law of May n,1888, and approved by Royal Decree of the 24th. instant, ishereby extended to the Islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and thePhilippines.

Art. 2. This Code will go into effect in the aforesaid Islandstwenty days after its publication in the official papers of thesame.

Art. 3. In harmony with the provisions of art. I of thesame Code, the laws shall go in force in the Colonial provinces,twenty days after their promulgation, it being understood thatthis shall be considered as made the day on which their insert-ions in the official papers of the Islands terminate.

Given at San Ildefonso, the thirty first day of July 1889.MARIA CHRISTINA.

The Minister of the Colonies,MANUEL BECERRA.

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CIVIL CODEPRELIMINARY TITLE.

LAWS, THEIR EFFECT, AND GENERAL RULES FOR THEIRAPPLICATION.

Article 1. Laws shall be binding in the Peninsula, the ad-jacent Islands, the Canaries, and African territory, subject toPeninsular legislation, twenty days after their promulgation, ifit is not otherwise provided in them.The promulgation is understood to be made upon the dayof the termination of the insertion of the law in the (Official)Gazette.

2. Ignorance of the law does not excuse from compliancewith the same.3. Laws shall not have a retroactive effect, unless thecontrary is provided in them.

4. Acts executed against provisions oflaw are null, exceptin the cases in which the same law orders their validity.

Rights conceded by the laws may be renounced, providedthey are not contrary to public interest or order or prejudicialto a third person.5. Laws are abrogated only by other subsequent laws,and the disuse or any custom or practice to the contrary shallnot prevail against their observance.

6. Any tribunal which refuses to give sentence on thepretext of silence, obscurity, or insufficiency of the laws shallincur

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When there is no law exactly applicable to the point incontroversy, the custom of the place shall be applied, and, indefault thereof, the general principles of law.

7. If, in the laws, months, days or nights are referred to,it will be understood that months have thirty days, days twentyfour hours, and nights from the setting to the rising of the sun.

If the months are designated by their names, the numberof days which they respectively contain shall be computed.

8. Penal laws, police laws, and those of public security arebinding on all those who reside in Spanish territory.

9. Laws relating to family rights and obligations, or tothe status, condition, and legal capacity of persons are bindingon Spaniards, even when residing in a foreign country.10. Personal property is subject to the laws of the nation

of the owner; real property to the laws of the country in whichit is situated.

Nevertheless, legal and testamentary successions, in respectto the order of succeeding as well as to the amount of thesuccessional rights and the intrinsic validity of their provisionsshall be regulated by the laws of the nation of the person whosesuccession is considered, whatever may be the nature of theproperty and the country in which it may be found.

Biscayanes, although they may reside in towns, shall con-tinue to submit, in respect to the property they possess in thelevel lands, to law 15, title 20 of the Fuero of Vizcaya.11. The forms and solemnities of contracts, wills, and oth-er public instruments are governed by the laws of the countryin which they are executed.When such instruments are authorized by diplomatic orconsular officials of Spain in a foreign land, the solemnities re-quired for their execution by Spanish laws shall be observed.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this and the precedingarticle, prohibitive laws concerning persons, their acts or prop-erty, and those which have for their object the public orderand good morals, shall ot become ineffective by laws or sen-tences dictated or by regulations or conventions agreed uponin a foreign country.

12. Provisions under this title in as far as they determine

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the effects of the laws, statutes, and general rules for their ap-plication are binding in every province of the Kingdom. Theprovisions contained in title 4, book I, are similarly binding.

In all other matters, the provinces and territories, in whichlocal law (derecho foral) is in force, shall preserve it, for thepresent, in its entirety without suffering any alteration in itsexisting juridical regime, whether written or customary, by thepublication of this Code which shall be enforced only as sup-plementary law in default of that which may be considered assuch supplementary law by their special laws.

13. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding ar-ticle, this Code shall go into effect in Aragon and in the Balea-ric Islands at the same time as in the provinces, not under locallaw, in so far as it may not oppose those provisions, local orcustomary, which are actually in force.

14. In accordance with the provision of art. 12, what isestablished in arts. 9. 10, and n, respecting persons, acts, andproperty of Spaniards in a foreign land, and that of foreigners inSpain, is applicable to persons, acts, and property of Spaniardsin territories or provinces having different civil legislation.

15. Family rights and obligations, those relating to thestatus, condition, and legal capacity of persons, and those oftestamentary or intestate succession, declared in this Code, areapplicable:

1. To persons born in common law (derecho comun) prov-inces or territories of parents subject to local law, if the latter,during the minority of the children, or the same children withinthe year following their majority or emancipation, declare it istheir will to subject themselves to the Civil Code.

2. To the children of a father, and, if he does not exist oris unknown, of the mother belonging to provinces or territoriessubject to common law, even when born in provinces or territo-ries where local law is in force.

3. To those who, proceeding from provinces or territorieshaving local law, should have gained a residence in places sub-ject to common law.

For the effects of thi s article, a residence will be gained; bya residence of ten in or territories to

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common law, unless the interested party, before the terminationof this period, manifests his will to the contrary; or by a resi-dence of two years, whenever the interested party manifests thisto be his will.

Both manifestations should be made before a municipal judgefor the corresponding inscription in the Civil Registry.

In every case, the wife shall follow the condition of the hus-band; and the children, not emancipated, that of their father,and, in his default, that of their mother.

The provisions of this article are of reciprocal application toSpanish provinces and territories having different civil legis-lation.

16. In matters which are governed by special laws, thedeficiency thereof shall he supplied by the provisions of thisCode.

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BOOK FIRSTPERSONS.TITLE I.

SPANIARDS AND FOREIGNERS.Article 17. The following are Spaniards:1. Persons born in Spanish territory.2. Children of a Spanish father or mother, although they

may have been born out of Spain.3. Foreigners who may have obtained letters of natural-

ization.4. Those who, without them, may have gained a residence

in any place in the Monarchy.18. Children, while they remain under the parental power

(patria potestad), have the nationality of their parents.In order .that those born of foreign parents in Spanish ter-

ritory may enjoy the benefits granted to them by no. I ofart. 17, it shall be an indispensable requisite that the parentsdeclare, in the manner and before the officials specified in art. 19,that they choose, in the name of their children, Spanish national-ity, renouncing any other.

19. Children of a foreigner, born in Spanish dominion,should declare, within the year following their majority oremancipation, if they desire to enjoy the quality of Spaniardswhich art. 17 concedes to them.

Those who are in the Kingdom shall make this declarationbefore the official in charge of the Civil Registry of the town in

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one of the consular or diplomatic agents of the Spanish gov-ernment; and those who are in a country in which the gov-ernment has no agent shall address the Spanish Minister ofState.

20- The quality of a Spaniard is lost by acquiring nat-uralization in a foreign country, or by accepting employmentfrom another government, or by entering the armed service ofa foreign power without permission of the King.

21. A Spaniard who loses this quality by acquiringnaturalization in a foreign country can recover it, upon returningto the Kingdom, by declaring before an official in charge of theCivil Registry of the domicil which he elects that such is hiswill, in order that the official may make the corresponding in-scription therein, and by renouncing the protection of the flagof such country.

22. A married woman follows the condition and nation-ality of her husband.

A Spanish woman who marries a foreigner, shall, upondissolution of the marriage, recover Spanish nationality by ful-filling the requisites expressed in the previous article.

23. Any Spaniard, who loses this quality by acceptingemployment of any other government, or by entering thearmed service of a foreign power without the King's permission,shall not recover Spanish nationality without previously obtain-ing the royal authorization.24. Any person, born in a foreign country of a Spanishfather or mother, who may have lost Spanish nationality onaccount of the parents having lost it, may also recover it by com-plying with the conditions prescribed by art. 19.

25. In order that foreigners who have obtained letters ofnaturalization or gained a residence in any place in the Monar-chy may enjoy Spanish nationality, they

have to previouslyrenounce their former nationality, swear to the Constitution ofthe Monarchy, and inscribe themselves as Spaniards in the CivilRegistry.

26. Spaniards who change their domicil to a foreign coun-try, where they may be considered as natives without other con-ditions than that of residence in it, in order to [preserve their

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Spanish nationality, shall be required to manifest that such istheir will before the Spanish diplomatic or consular agent whoshall inscribe them in the Registry of Spanish residents, as wellas their consorts, if they are married, and any children whichthey may have.

27. Foreigners enjoy in Spain the rights which the civillaws concede to Spaniards with the exception of what is provi-ded in art. 2 of the Constitution of the State or in internationaltreaties.

28. Corporations, institutions , and associations recog-nized by law and domiciled in Spain shall enjoy Spanish nation-ality, provided they possess the character of juridical persons inaccordance with the provisions of the present Code.

Associations domiciled in a foreign land shall have in Spainthe consideration and rights which treaties or special laws maydetermine.

TITLE IIBIRTH AND EXTINCTION OF CIVIL PERSONALITY.

CHAPTER FIRST.NATURAL PERSONS.

Article 29. Birth determines personality; but the con-ceived child is considered as born for all the effects favorable to it,provided that it be born with the conditions which are expressedin the following article.

30. For civil effects , the foetus shall only be consideredas born when it may have a human figure and shall live twentyfour hours entirely separated from the mother (seno materno).

31. Priority of birth, in case of double parturition, gives tothe first born the rights which the law recognizes in primogen-iture.

32. Civil personality is extinguished by the death of aperson.

Minority, insanity or imbecility, state of being deafand dumb,prodigality, and civil interdiction are only restrictions upon jurid-ical personality. Those who are in any of these conditions are

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obligations arise from the facts or the relations between theproperty of the incapacitated and a third person.33. If there is doubt, between two or more persons calledto succeed each other, which of them has died first, he, whoalleges the prior death of one or the other, shall be obliged toprove it; in default of proof, it will be presumed that they bothdied at the same time, and the transmission of rights from oneto the other will not take place.

34. In respect to the presumption of the death of an absentperson and its effects, the provisions of title 8 of this book shallrule.

CHAPTER II.JURIDICAL PERSONS,

Article 35. The following are juridical persons:I. Corporations, associations, and institutions of public

interest recognized by law.Their personality begins from the very moment in which,

in accordance with law, they shall have become validly consti-tuted.

2 Associations of private interests, whether they may becivil, mercantile or industrial, to which the law concedes properpersonality, independent of that of each one of the associates.

36. The associations, to which no. 2 of the previousarticle refers, shall be governed by the provisions relative to thecontract of association, according to the nature of the same.

37. The civil capacity of corporations shall be regulatedby the laws which have created or recognized them, those ofassociations by their statutes; and those of institutions by therules of their establishment, duly approved by administrativeauthority, when such requirement is necessary.

38. Juridical persons can acquire and possess property ofevery class, as well as contract obligations and enforce civil andcriminal actions, in conformity with the laws and rules of theirconstitution.

The Church shall be governed, in this particular, by what hasbeen agreed between both powers; and the establishments of in-struction and beneficence the of the laws.

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39, When corporations, associations, and institutions haveceased to act, because of the expiration of the periods duringwhich they should legally exist, or by having realized the endsfor which they were constituted, or because it has become impos-sible to apply to such ends the activity and the means at theirdisposal, their property shall receive the application which thelaws or their statutes or the clauses of their foundation haveassigned to them in anticipation of such cases.When nothing has been previously established, the propertyshall be applied to the realization of similar purposes in theinterests of the region, province, or municipal district whichshould have principally reaped the benefits of the extinguishedinstitutions. TITLE III.

DOMICIL.Article 40. For the enforcement of the rights and the

fulfillment of civil obligations, the domicil of natural persons isthe place of their usual residence; and, in certain cases, thatdetermined by the Law of Civil Procedure.The domicil of diplomatic residents, who by reason of theirduties in a foreign land enjoy the rights of extra- territoriality,shall be the last domicil which they had when in Spanishterritory.

41. When neither the law which has created or recog-nized them, nor the statutes or rules of their foundation shall fixthe domicil of juridical persons, it shall be understood that theyhave it at the place where their legal representation is establishedor where they exercise the principal functions for which theywere established. TITLE IV.MARRIAGE.

CHAPTER FIRST.GENERAL PROVISION.SECTION FIRST.

FORMS OF MARRIAGE.Article 42. The law recognizes two forms of marriage, the

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tract, and the civil, which shall be celebrated in the mannerprovided in this Code.

SECTION SECOND.PROVISIONS COMMON TO BOTHS FORMS OF MARRIAGE.

Article 43. Future espousals do not cause obligation tocontract marriage. No tribunal shall entertain a complaint inwhich their fulfillment is claimed.

44. When the promise has been made in a public orprivate document by a person of age, or by a minor, assisted bythe person whose consent is necessary in order to celebrate themarriage, or when the banns have been published, the one whorefuses to marry, without just cause, shall be obliged to indem-nify the other party for the expenses which he or she may haveincurred by reason of the promised marriage.An action in order to recover the indemnity for expenses,to which the previous paragraph refers, can be exercised onlywithin a year, counted from the day of the refusal to celebratethe marriage.

45. Marriage is forbidden:1. To the minor who has not obtained consent and to a

person of age who has not asked the advice of the persons towhom it pertains to authorize one or the other, in the casesprovided for by law.

2. To the widow, during the three hundred and one daysfollowing the death of her husband, or before child birth if sheshould have been left pregnant, and to the woman whose mar-riage may have been declared null, under the same circum-stances and limitations, to be counted from her legal separation.

3. To the guardian and his or her descendants withrespect to persons whom such guardian may have or may havehad under charge, until the guardianship has terminated and theaccounts of the same have been approved, except in the caseswhere the father of the person, subject to guardianship, hasauthorized the marriage in a will or in a public instrument.

46. The consent, referred to in no. i of the precedingarticle, ought to be granted to the legitimate children by the

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grant it devolves, in this order; upon the mother, the paternaland maternal grandparents, and, in default of all of them, uponthe family council.

Recognized natural children or children legitimated byroyal concession should ask such consent of those who haverecognized or legitimated them, of their ascendants, and of thefamily council, in the order stated in the preceding paragraph.

Adopted children shall ask such consent of the adoptingfather, and, in his default, of the persons of the natural familyupon whom it may devolve.

Other illegitimate children should obtain the consent oftheir mother, when she is lawfully known, that of the maternalgrandparents, in similar cases, and, in default of the above, thatof the family council.

It pertains to the heads of foundling institutions to giveconsent for marriage to those educated therein.

47. Children of age are obliged to ask the advice of thefather, and, in his default, of the mother. If they should nothave obtained it, or it should he unfavorable, the marriage can-not be celebrated until three months after the petition is made.

48. The consent and the favorable advice for the celebra-tion of a marriage should be proven, upon the latter being asked,by a document authorized by a civil or ecclesiastical Notaryor the Municipal Judge of the petitioner's domicil.

When the consent has been asked in vain, the lapse of time,to which the preceding article refers, shall be proven in thesame manner.

49. None of those called to give their consent or adviceis obliged to make known the reasons for granting or denyingit, nor is there any remedy against such dissent.

50. When, notwithstanding the prohibition of art. 45,the persons comprehended within it get married, their marriageshall be valid; but the contracting parties, without prejudiceto the provisions of the Penal Code, shall remain subject to thefollowing rules:

i. The marriage shall be understood as contracted withthe absolute separation of property, and each consort shallretain the dominion and administration of that which to

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him or her, making as his or her own all the fruits, althoughwith the obligation of proportionally contributing to the supportof the marriage charges.

2. Neither one of the consorts shall receive from the otheranything by donation or by will.The provisions of the two preceding rules shall not applyin the cases of no. 2 of art. 45, when dispensation has beenobtained.

3. When one of the consorts is a minor, not emancipated,he shall not receive the administration of his property until heattains majority.

In the meantime, he shall only have a right to supportwhich shall not exceed the net income from his property.

4. In the cases of no. 3 of art. 45, the guardian shall,besides, lose the administration of the property of the wardduring her minority.

51. Civil or canonical marriage shall produce no civileffects, when either one of the consorts is already lawfullymarried.

52. Matrimony is dissolved by the death of one of theconsorts.

SECTION THIRD.PROOF OF MARRIAGE.

Article 53. Marriages celebrated before this Code wentinto effect shall be proven in the manner established by theformer laws. Those contracted afterwards shall be proven onlyby the certification of the record of the Civil Registry, unlessthe books thereof have not existed or have disappeared or aquestion is pending before the courts, in which cases all kindsof proof are admissible.

54. In the cases referred to in paragraph second of theprevious article, the constant possession of the status of theparents, united to the certifications of the births of their childrenas legitimate ones, shall be one of the means of proof of themarriage of the parents, if it is not shown that one of the twowas bound by another previous marriage.

55. A contracted in a where

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such acts are not subject to a regular or authenticate registra-tion, may be proven by any of the means of proof admittedby law.

SECTION FOURTH.RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS BETWEEN HUSBAND ANE WIFE.

Article 56. The consorts are obliged to live together, tobe faithful to and mutually help each other.

57. The husband is obliged to protect the wife and thelatter to obey the husband.

58. The wife is obliged to follow her husband whereverhe may establish his residence. The tribunals, nevertheless,may, with just cause, exempt her from this obligation when thehusband changes his residence beyond the seas or to a foreigncountry.

59. The husband is the administrator of the property ofthe conjugal society, except when stipulated to the contrary,and that provided in art. 1384.When he is under eighteen years of age, he cannot admin-ister without consent of his father and, in his default, withoutthat of the mother, and, in default of both, without that of hisguardian.

Neither can he appear in a suit in court without the assis-tance of said persons.

In no case, until he has attained majority, can the husband,without the consent of the persons, mentioned in the precedingparagraph, borrow money, burden nor alienate the real pro-perty.

60. The husband is the representative of his wife. Shecannot, without his permission, appear in a suit by herself orthrough an attorney.

Nevertheless, she does not require such permission todefend herself in a criminal proceeding or for bringing suit ordefending herself in suits with her husband, or when she mayhave obtained habilitation in conformity with what the law ofCivil Procedure may provide.

61. Neither can the wife without the permission or power

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title, alienate her property or bind herself, except in the cases andwith the limitation established by law.

62. Acts, executed by the wife, contrary to the pro-visions of the preceding articles, are null and void, except whenthey involve things which by their nature are destined for theordinary consumption of the family, in which case, purchasesmade by the wife shall be valid.

Purchases of jewels, furniture and precious objects, made,without the permission of the husband, shall only be confirmedwhen he may have consented that his wife should have the useand enjoyment of such objects.

63. The wife, without permission of the husband, can:1. Execute a will.2. Exercise the rights and fulfill the duties which pertain

to her in respect to legitimate and recognized natural childrenwhom she may have had by another, and in respect to theproperty of the same.

64. The wife shall share the honors of the husband,except those which may be strictly and exclusively personal,and shall retain them as long as she does not contract a newmarriage.

65. Only the husband and his heirs can claim the nullityof the acts executed by the wife without competent permissionor authorization.

66. What is established in this section is understoodwithout prejudice to the provisions of the present Code, aboutabsence, incapacity, prodigality, and interdiction of the husband.

SECTION FIFTH.EFFECTS OF NULLITY OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE.

Article 67. The civil effects of petitions and decrees aboutthe nullity of marriage and about divorce can only be obtainedbefore the ordinary tribunals.

68. After the petitions, which are referred to in thepreceding article, are interposed and admitted, the followingprovisions shall be adopted during the pendency of the suit:

i . To the consorts in every case.

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2. To place the wife under protection in the cases and inthe form provided by the Law of Civil Procedure.

3. To place the children under the care of one or both ofthe consorts, as may be proper.4. To provide for the support of the wife and the childrenwho do not remain under the power of the father.

5. To decree the necessary measures to prevent the hus-band, who may have given cause for the divorce,or against whomthe petition for nullity of the marriage has been instituted, fromcausing injury to the wife in the administration of her property.

69. Marriage contracted in good faith produces civileffects, although it may be declared null and void.When good faith has existed on the part of one of the con-sorts alone, it shall produce civil effects only as to this one andthe children.

Good faith is presumed, if the contrary is not shown.When bad faith has existed on the part of both consorts, themarriage shall only produce civil effects in respect to the chil-dren.

70. Wen the nullity of the marriage has been finallydecreed, the sons over three years of age shall remain under thecare of the father, and the daughters under the care of the moth-er, if there should have been good faith on the part of both con-sorts.

When good faith may have existed on the part of only oneof the consorts, the children of both sexes shall remain underthis one's power and care.When both are guilty of bad faith, the court shall decide asto the disposition of the children in the form provided for inparagraph second of no. 2 of art. 73.The sons and daughters, under three years of age, shallremain under the care of the mother, in every case, until they com-plete this age, unless on account of special reasons the sentencehas disposed otherwise.

71. The provisions of the first and second paragraphs ofthe preceding article shall not be effective, if the parents, bycommon agreement, shall provide otherwise for the care of thechildren.

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72. The final decree of nullity shall produce, in respect tothe property of the marriage, the same effects as the dissolu-tion by death; but the consort who has acted in bad faith shallhave no rights to the profits of the conjugal society (ganan-ciales).When both have acted in bad faith, that shown by one shallbe a set off agsinst the other.

73. A decree of divorce shall produce the followingeffects:

1. The separation of the consorts.2. The children to remain or be put under the power andprotection of the innocent consort.When both are guilty, a guardian shall be provided for the

children in conformity with the provisions of this Code.Nevertheless, when the decree has not provided otherwise,

the mother, in every case, shall have in her care the childrenunder three years of age.

Upon the death of the innocent consort, the guilty one shallrecover the parental power and his or her rights, when the causewhich gave origin for the divorce should have been adultery,violence to the person, or grave acts of contumely (injuriasgraves).When the causes are different, a guardian shall be appoin-ted for the children.

The deprivation ofthe parental power and of its rights shallnot exempt the guilty consort from the fulfillment of the obli-gations which this Code imposes upon him or her in respect tothe children.

3. The guilty consort shall lose all that may have beengiven or promised him or her by the innocent one or by anyother person in consideration for such one; and the innocentconsort shall keep all that he has received from the guilty one,being able, besides, to claim forthwith all that may have beenpromised by the guilty one.

4. The separation of the property of the conjugal society,and the loss of the administration of that of the wife, if the hus-band should possess it, and is the one who gave cause for thedivorce.

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The retention by the innocent husband of the adminis-tration, if he should have it, of the property of the wife whoshall only have the right to be supported.

74. Reconciliation determines the suit for divorce andleaves, without subsequent effects, the decree dictated in respectthereto; but the consorts must give notice of it to the tribunalwho has or may have cognizance of the suit.The effects of the decree shall subsist in respect to thechildren, without prejudice to the provision of the precedingarticle, when it is founded on the attempt or connivance of thehusban or of the wife to corrupt the sons or to prostitute theirdaughters, in which case, if the sons and daughters still continueunder the parental power, the tribunals shall adopt convenientmeasures in order to protect them from corruption or prostitu-tion.

CHAPTER SECOND.CANONICAL MARRIAGE.

Article 75. The requisites, form, and solemnities for thecelebration of canonical marriage shall be governed by theprovisions of the Catholic Church and of the Holy Council ofTrent, accepted as laws of the Kingdom.

76. Canonical marriage shall produce all the civil effectsin respect to the persons and property of the consorts and theirdescendants.

77. A municipal judge or other state official shall be pres-ent at the act of celebration of the canonical marriage with thesole object of verifying the immediate inscription of it in theCivil Registry.

For this object, the contracting parties are obliged togive notice in writing to the respective Municipal Judge, twentyfour hours, at least, before the day, hour, and place where themarriage is to be celebrated, incurring, if they do not do so, afine of from five to eighty pesetas.The Municipal Judge shall give a receipt for the noticefrom the contracting parties. Should he decline to give it, heshall incur a fine, which shall not be less than twenty nor ex-ceed one hundred

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The celebration of the canonical marriage shall not beproceeded with without the presentation of said receipt to theparochial priest.

If the marriage is celebrated without the presence of theMunicipal Judge or his representative , notwithstanding thatthe contracting parties may have advised him of it, the tran-scription of the certificate of the canonical marriage to the CivilRegistry shall be done at his expense, besides he shall pay afine which shall not be less than twenty nor exceed onehundred pesetas. In this case, the marriage shall produce all itscivil effects from the moment of its celebration.If the contracting parties should be to blame for not havinggiven notice to the Municipal Judge, they can remedy the defect,asking for the inscription of the marriage in the Civil Registry.

In this case, the marriage shall produce no civil effects,except from its inscription.

78. Those who contract canonical marriage in articulomortis shall give notice to the official in charge of the CivilRegistry, at any time whatever prior to its celebration, and prove,in any manner whatever, that they have fulfilled this duty.The penalties imposed upon contracting parties who omitthis requisite shall not be applicable to the case of marriage inarticulo mortis when it is shown that it was impossible to givetimely notice.

In every case, in order that the marriage may producecivil effects from the date of its celebration, the sacramental cer-tificate shall be inscribed in the Registry within ten days nextfollowing.

79. The secret marriage of conscience, celebrated beforethe church, is not subject to any formality of the civil order,neither shall it produce civil effects, except from the moment ofits publication by virtue of its inscription in the Registry. Thismarriage, shall, nevertheless, produce civil effects from its cele-bration, if both contracting parties, of common accord, shallask the bishop who may have authorized it for a copy of theentry made in the secret Registry of the bishopric, and shalldirectly send it, with the proper secrecy to the Direction

f the Civil Registry asking fcr its inscription.

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For this purpose the Direction General shall keep a specialand secret Registry with the necessary precautions that thecontents of such inscriptions may not be known, until the inter-ested parties ask that they may be given publicity by trans-ferring the same to the Municipal Registry of their domicil.

80. The cognizance of suits for nullity and divorce, incase of canonical marriages, belong to the ecclesiastical tribunals.

81. When a suit for divorce or nullity of marriage is com-menced before the ecclesiastical tribunal, it belongs to the civiltribunal to dictate, upon the petition of the party interested,the dispositions referred to in art. 68.82. A final decree for nullity or divorce of canonicalmarriage shall be inscribed in the Civil Registry, and shall bepresented to the ordinary tribunal in order to ask for itsexecution as to the part relating to civil effects.

CHAPTER THIRD.CIVIL MARRIAGE.

SECTION FIRST.CAPACITY OF CONTRACTING PARTIES.

Article 83. The following cannot contract marriage:1. Males, until they have attained the full age of fourteen,and females until they have attained the full age of twelve.Marriage contracted by person under puberty, shall, never-theless, be ipso facto validated, without the necessity of an

express declaration, if a day after having arrived at the legalage of puberty, they should have lived together without havingbrought suit against its validity, or if the woman should haveconceived before the legal age of puberty or before havingestablished such suit.

2. Those who were not in the full exercise of their reasonat the time of contracting marriage.

3. Those who suffered from physical, absolute or relativeimpotency for the purposes of generation, prior to the cele-bration of the marriage, in a patent, perpetual or incurablemanner.

4. Those ordained in sacris and those in an

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approved religious canonical order, bound by a solemn pledgeof chastity, except those who may have obtained the corres-ponding canonical dispensation.

5. Those that are already lawfully married.84. Neither can the following contract marriage betweenthemselves:

1. The ascendants or descendants by legitimate or natu-ral consanguinity or affinity.

2. Collaterals by legitimate consanguinity up to andincluding the fourth degree.

3. Collaterals by legitimate affinity up to and includingthe fourth degree.4. Collaterals by natural consanguinity or affinity up to

and including the second degree.5. The adopting father and mother and the adopted; the

latter and the surviving consort of the adopters, and the adop-ters and the surviving consort of the adopted.

6. The legitimate descendants of the adopter with theadopted, while the relation of adoption lasts.7. Adulterers who have been condemned by a final sen-

tence.Those who have been condemned as authors or author and

accomplice of the death of the consort of any of the parties.85. The govennent, with just cause, can, on petition of a

party, dispense the inpediment included in no. 2 of art. 45; thethird and fourth degrees of collateral relationship by legitimateconsanguinity; the impediments growing out of legitimate ornatural affinity between collaterals, and those referring to thedescendants of the adopter.

SECTION SECOND.CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE.

Article 86. Those who, in conformity with art. 42, de-sire to contract marriage in the manner detemined in this Code,shall present to the Municipal Judge of their domicil a declara-tion signed by both contracting parties, in which appears:

i. The names, surnames, ages, professions, domicils orresidences of the

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2. The names, surnames, professions, domicils or residen-ces of the parents.

Certificates of birth and of the status of the contractingparties, the consent or advice, if required, and dispensations,when necessary, shall accompany this declaration.

87. Marriages shall be celebrated personally or by aproxy to whom a special power has been granted; but thepresence of the contracting party who is domiciled or resides inthe district of the Judge who is to authorize the marriage shallalways be necessary.

The name of the person with whom the marriage is to becelebrated shall be expressed in the special power, and suchpower shall be valid if, before its celebration, the person soauthorized should not have been notified in an authentic formof the revocation of the power.

88. When the Municipal Judge, selected for the celebra-tion of the marriage, should not be at the time (of the district) ofboth contracting parties, two declarations shall be presented, onebefore the Municipal Judge of each contracting party, express-ing which of the two Judges they have chosen for the celebra-tions of the marriage, and, in both courts, the proceedings whichare established in the following articles shall be observed.

89. After the petition has been ratified by both parties,the Municipal Judge shall order that edicts or proclamationsshall be posted for fifteen days announcing the pretention withall the details, indicated in art. 86 and requiring those who haveinformation of any impediment thereto to denounce it.

Similar edicts shall be sent to the Municipal Judges of thetowns in which the interested parties may have lived or beendomiciled, during the last two years, requiring that they be pos-ted in the place of the holding of their public court for the periodof fifteen days, and that, after the lapse of this time, they shouldbe returned with a certification of said requisite have beenfulfilled and whether or not any impediment has beendenounced.

90. Soldiers in active service who may intend to con-tract marriage shall be dispensed from publishing such edicts out-side of

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that they are unmarried, issued by the commandig officer of themilitary body to which they belong.

91- When the interested parties are foreigners, and havenot resided two years in Spain, they shall prove, by a certificatein due form given by competent authority, that in the territorywhere they have had their domicil or residence, during the lasttwo years, publication has been made of the marriage whichthey intend to contract with all the solemnities which are requir-ed in said place.

92. In all other cases, the government can dispense withthe publication of the banns on account of serious causes,properly approved.

93- Notwithstanding what is provided in the precedingarticles, the Municipal Judge shall authorize the marriage of aperson who is in imminent danger of death, whether he isdomiciled in the place or is a transient.

This marriage shall be considered as conditional, until theprevious single status of the contracting parties be legallyestablished.

94. Paymasters of war vessels and captains of merchant-men shall authorize marriages which are celebrated on board(ship) in imminent danger of death.

These marriages shall also be considered as conditional.95. The provision of the preceding article is applicable to

the commanders of military bodies in the field in default of amunicipal judge, respecting members of the same who intend tocelebrated marriage, in articulo mortis.

96. When the fifteen days, which are referred to inart. 89, have elapsed without any impediment having beendenounced, and the Municipal Judge. has no knowledge of anysuch, he shall proceed with the celebration of the marriage inthe manner and form prescribed in the Code.When a year elapses from the publication of the bannswithout the marriage taking place, the marriage shall not becelebrated without a new publication.

97- When, before the celebration of the marriage, anyperson should appear opposing it and alleging a lawful imped-iment, or the Municipal Judge should have knownedge of any

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such, he shall suspend the celebration of the marriage, until thetruth or falseness of the impediment is established in a finalsentence.

98- All those who have knowledge of a pretention of amarriage are obliged to denounce any impediment known tothem.

Such denouncement having been made, it shall be trans-'mitted to the Public Attorney, who, if he finds any legalfoundation therefor, shall establish opposition to the marriage.

Only private parties who may have an interest in prevent-ing the marriage shall by themselves formalize the oppositionand in both cases such opposition shall be followed in conform-ity with the Law of Civil Procedure, giving it the form of anincidental question ( tramitacion de los incidences).

99- When, by a final sentence, the alleged impedimentsare declared false, he, who taking them as a basis formalized inhis name the opposition to the marriage, remains obliged tomake indemnity for damages and injuries.100 The marriage shall be celebrated by the contractingparties appearing before the Municipal Judge, or one of themand the person to whom the absentee may have granted aspecial power to represent him, accompanied by two witnessesof lawful age and without legal impediments.

Forthwith, the Municipal Judge, after reading arts. 56 and57 of this Code, shall ask each one of the contracting parties ifthey persist in the resolution to celebrate the marriage, and ifhe must actually perform it; and, if both reply affirmatively, heshall drawn up the act of marriage with all the circumstancesnecessary to make it appear that the requirements, provided inthis section, have been complied with.The act shall be signed by the Judge, the contracting part-ies, the witnesses and the Secretary (clerk) of the Court.Consuls and vice-consuls shall exercise the functions ofmunicipal judges in marriages of Spaniards, celebrated in for-eign countries.

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SECTION THIRD.NULLITY OF MARRIAGE.

Article 101. The following marriages are null:1. Those celebrated between persons to whom arts. 83

and 84 refer, except in cases of dispensation.2. Those contracted by error as to the person, or by

compulsion or serious fear which avoids the consent.3. Those contracted by the abductor with the abducted,

while the latter is in the former's power.4. Those which are celebrated without the intervention ofa competent municipal judge or of the person who must au-

thorize it in his place, and without the presence of the witnesses,required by art. 100.

102. The action to ask for the nullity of the marriagebelongs to the consorts, to the Public Attorney, and to anypersons whatever who may have interest in it.The cases of abduction, error, force or fear are excepted, inwhich cases only the consort, who may have suffered from it,can exercise it; and that of impotency, in which the action be-longs to one or the other consort and to the persons who mayhave an interest in the nullity.The action lapses, and the marriage shall be confirmed, intheir respective cases, when the consorts having lived togetherduring six month after the error has disappeared or after theforce or the cause of the fear has ceased, or if, after the abductedparty having recovered liberty, he or she should not haveinterposed a demand for nullity during said term.

103. The civil tribunals shall take cognizance of the suitsfor nullity of marriages, celebrated in conformity with the pro-visions of this chapter, shall adopt the measures, indicated in art.68, and shall give sentence definitely.

SECTION FOURTH.DIVORCE.

Article 104. Divorce only produces the suspension of thelife in common of the consorts.

105. The causes for divorce are:

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1. Adultery on the part of the wife, in every case, and onthe part of the husband, when public scandal or disgrace of thewife results from it.

2. Personal violence actually inflicted or grave acts ofcontumely (injurias graves).3. Violence exercised by the husband over the wife in

order to oblige her to change her religion.4. The proposal of the husband to prostitute his wife.5. The atempts of the husband or wife to corrupt their

sons or to prostitute their daughters, and the connivance in theircorruption or prostitution.6. The condemnation of a consort to cadcna perpetua (i)or to reclusion perpetua (2).

106. Only the innocent consort can petition for divorce.107. The provision of art. 103 shall be applicable to suits

for divorce and their incidents.TITLE V.

PATERNITY AND FILIATION.CHAPTER FIRST.

LEGITIMATE CHILDREN-Article 108. Children, born after one hundred and eighty

days next following the celebration of marriage and before threehundred days next following its dissolution or the separation ofthe consorts, shall be presumed legitimate children.

Against this presumption no other proof shall be admittedthan that of the physical impossibility of the husband to havehad access to his wife, during the first one hundred and twentydays of these three hundred next preceding the birth of the child.

109. A child shall be presumed to be legitimate, eventhough the mother should have declared against its legitimacy,or should have been condemned as an adulteress.

110, The child, born within one hundred and eighty days(1) To perpetually wear chains and be confined outside of the Islands of Cubaand Porto Rico (P. C. 104).(2) To be perpetually imprisoned at forced labor within or without the Islands

of Cuba and Porto Rico C.

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next following the celebration of a marriage, shall be presumedto be legitimate, if any of the following circumstances exist:

1. If the husband knew, previously to the marriage, thathis wife was pregnant.

2. If he, being present, has consented that in the recordof the birth his name should be given to the child, delivered byhis wife.

3. If he has expressly or tacitly recognized the child ashis own.

111. The husband or his heirs can disavow the legitimacyof the child, born after the expiration of three hundred daysnext following the dissolution of the marriage or the actual legalseparation of the consorts; but both the son and the mothershall also have a right to verify, in such cases, the paternity ofthe husband.

112. The heirs can contest the legitimacy of the child onlyin the following cases:

1. If the husband has died before the expiration of theterm fixed for instituting his action in court.2. If he dies after presenting the complaint and without

having withdrawn it.3. If the child was born after the death of the husband.113- The action to contest the legitimacy of the child

shall be instituted within two months next following the in-scription of the birth in the Registry, should the husband be inthe same place, or, in certain cases, (if) any one of his heirs(should be present).When they are absent, the term shall be three months ifthey reside in Spain, and six (months) if without Spain. Whenthe birth of the child has been concealed, the term shall com-mence to be counted from the date of the discovery of the fraud.

114. Legitimate children have the right:1. To bear the family names of the father and the mother.2. To receive support from the same, from their ascen-

dants, and, in certain cases, from his brothers in accordancewith art. 143.

3. To legitime the and other suecessional rights recog-nized in them by this Code.

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CHAPTER SECOND.PROOFS OF THE FILIATION OF LEGITIMATE CHILDREN.

Article 115. The filiation of legitimate children is provenby the record of the birth, inscribed in the Civil Registry, or byan authentic instrument, or a final sentence in the cases towhich arts. 1 10 to 113 of the preceding chapter refer.

116. In default of the documents, stated in the precedingarticle, filiation shall be proven by the constant posession of thestatus of a legitimate child.

117. In default of the records of birth, authentic docu-ments, a final sentence, or posession of status, legitimate filiationmay be proven by any other means, provided there is a com-mencement of proof in writing coming from both parents, eitherconjointly pr severally.

118. The action to claim its legitimacy belongs to the childduring all his life and shall be transmitted to its heirs, should hedie during minority or be a lunatic. In such cases, the heirs shallhave a term of five years for instituting the action.The action already instituted by the child is transmitted byits death to the heirs, if it has not before then become void.

CHAPTER THIRD.LEGITIMATED CHILDREN.

Article 119. Only natural children can be legitimated.Natural children are those born out of marriage of parents

who, at the date of the conception of the child, could have marriedwith or without dispensation.

120- Legitimation may be obtained:1. By the subsequent marriage of the parents.2. By Royal Concession.121. Children can only be considered as legitimated by a

subsequent marriage, when they have been recognized by theparents before or after the celebration of such marriage.

122. Those legitimated by subsequent marriage shallenjoy the same rights as legitimate children.

123. Legitimation shall produce its effects in any case

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124. The legitimation of the children who have died beforethe celebration of the marriage shall benefit their descendants.

125. For the legitimation by Royal Concession the fol-lowing requirements are necessary:

1. That legitimation! by subsequent marriage may not bepossible.

2. That it may be asked by the parents or by one of them.3. That the father or mother asking for it has no legiti-

mate children, nor children legitimated by subsequent marriage,nor descendants of the same.

4. That if the party asking for it is married, he has toobtain the consent of the other consort.126. Legitimation, by Royal Concession may also be

obtained by the child whose deceased father or mother has shownin his or her will or in a public instrument a desire to legitimateit, provided the condition stated in no. 3 of the preceding articleis complied with.

127. Legitimation by Royal Concession entitles thelegitimated child.1. To bear the name of the father or mother who has

asked for it.2. To receive support from the same in the form expressed

in art. 143.3. To the hereditary share prescribed in this Code.128. The legitimation may be contested by those believ-ing that their rights may be injured when it may be granted to

persons not having the legal status of natural children, or whenthe requirements set forth in this chapter do not exist.

CHAPTER TOURTH.ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN.

SECTION FIRST.RECOGNITION OF NATURAL CHILDREN.Article 129. A natural child may be recognized by the

father and mother conjointly or by only one of them.130. In case the recognition is made by only one of the

it shall be that the child is a natural if

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the party recognizing it had, at the time of the conception,legal capacity to contract marriage.

131. The recognition of a natural child shall be made inthe record of birth, by will, or by any other public instrument.132. When the father or mother alone shall make therecognition, he or she shall not reveal the name of the person, theother parent of the child, nor express any circumstance bywhich it may be discovered. Public officials shall not authorizeany document infringing such a prescription. If notwithstand-ing this prohibition, they should make it, they will incur a fine of125 to 500 pesetas, and besides the words containing such reve-lation shall be stricken out.

133. A child of age cannot be recognized without hisconsent. When the recognition of the minor is not made in therecord of birth or in a will, the judicial approval, after a hear-ing of the Public Attorney, shall be required.The minor may, in any case, contest the recognition withinfour years next following is majority.134. The recognized natural child has rights:

1. To bear the name of the person recognizing him.2. To receive support from the same in accordance with

art. 143.3. To receive, in the proper case, the hereditary share

provided for in this Code.135. The father is obliged to recognize the natural childin the following cases:1. When an incontrovertible paper written by him,

expressly recognizing his paternity, is in existence.2. When the chid is in continuous possession of the status

of a natural child of the defendant father, justified by direct actof the same father or his family.

In cases of violation, ravishing or rape, the provisionsprescribed in the Penal Code shall be followed in what refers tothe recognition of the issue.

136. The mother shall be obliged to recognize the naturalchild:

i. When the child is, in relation to the mother, includedin of the cases set forth in the article.

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2. When the fact of the delivery and the identity of thechild are fully proven.

137- The actions for the recognitsion of natural childrencan be instituted only during the life of the presumed parents,except in the following cases:

1. If the father or mother have died during the minorityof the child, in which case, it may commence the action beforethe expiration of the first four years after its majority.

2. If, after the death of the father or mother, some docu-ment, before unknown, should be discovered in which the childis expressly recognized.In this case the action should be commenced within sixmonths next following the discovery of such document.

138- The recognition made in favor of a child which doesnot reunite the condition of the second paragraph of art. 119,cr in which the prescriptions of this section have not beencomplied with may be contested by those to whom it may causeinjury. SECTION SECOND.

OTHER ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN.Article 139. Illegitimate children not having the legal

status of natural children shall only have the right to claimsupport from their parents in accordance with art. 143.

140. The right to support, referred to in the preceedingarticle, can only be claimed:1. If the paternity or maternity is inferred from the final

sentence rendered in a criminal or civil proceeding.2. If the paternity or maternity is shown in an incontro-

vertible document, from the father or mother, in which thefiliation is expressly recognized.

3. In reference to the mother, whenever the fact of thedelivery and the identity of the child are fully proven.

141. With exception of the cases expressed in nos. i and2 of the preceding article, no complaint shall be admitted incourt the purpose of which may be to investigate either directlyor indirectly the paternity of illegitimate children who have notthe legal status of natural children.

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TITLE VI.THE SUPPORT OF RELATIONS.

Article 142. It is understood by support all that isindispensable for maintenance, residence, clothing and medicalassistance, according to the social standing of the family.

Support includes also the education and instruction of theparty receiving it when he is a minor.

143. The following are obliged to support each otherreciprocally to the whole extent specified in the precedingarticle:

1. The consorts.2. Legitimate ascendants and descendants.3. Parents and children legitimated by Royal Concessionand the legitimate descendants of the same.4. Parents and the recognized natural children, and the

legitimate descendants of such children.Parents and illegitimate children not having the legalcondition of natural children, owe each other, as support, all

the help required for their subsistence. Parents, besides, arebound to bear the expenses of the elementary instruction ofthe children and of teaching them a profession, art, or office.

Brothers also owe to legitimate brothers, even when onlyon the mother's or fahter's side, the necessary help for living,when by a physical or moral defect or for any other cause notchargeable to the recipient, he may not be able te procure hismaintenance. In this help is comprised, in proper cases, theindispensable expenses for paying the elementary instruction andfor the learning of a profession, art, or office.

144. The claim for support, when proper, and two or moreare obliged to give it, shall be made in the following order:

1. To the consort.2. To the descendants in the nearest degree.3. Tho the ascendants in the nearest degree also.4. To the brothers.Between descendants and ascendants, the graduation shall

be regulated by the order in which they are called to thesuccession of the entitled to

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145. Whenever the obligation of giving support falls ontwo or more persons, the payment of the pension shall bedivided among them at a rate in proportion to their respectivecapitals.

However, in case of urgent necessity and in special circum-stances, the Judge may oblige only one of them to pay itprovisionally, without prejudice to his right to claim from theother obligated parties the shares that correspond to them.When two or more persons entitled to it claim suppot, atthe same time, from the same person legally bound to give itand such person has not sufficient means to bear the expense ofall, the order established in the preceding article shall beobserved, unless the persons claiming the support are the consortand a child subject to the parental power, in which case, thelatter shall be preferred to the former.

146. The amount of support, in the cases included in thefour classes of art. 143, is to be proportioned to the capital ormeans of the person giving it and to the necessities of therecipient.

147. Support, in the cases to which the preceding articlerefers, shall be increased or reduced according to the increaseor decrease suffered by the necessities of the recipient and thefortune of the person obliged to give it.

148. The obligation to give support shall be binding fromthe moment that the person having right to claim it may requireit for his maintenance, but it shall be paid only from the date ofthe claim.

Payment shall be made monthly, in advance, and, when therecipient dies, his heirs shall not be obligad to refund whateverf-hall have been received in advance.

149. The person obliged to give support may, at hisoption, satisfy it, either by paying the pension that may be fixedor by receiving and maintaining in his own home the personhaving the right to the same.

150- The obligation to support ceases with the death ofthe person obliged to give it, even if he pays it in compliancewith a final sentence.

151. The to can not be renounced or trans-

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ferred to a third party. Neither can it be set off against what therecipient owes to the party obliged to give it.

But pensions in arrears for support may be set off andrenounced and the right to claim them may be transferred by atitle with or without consideration.

152. The obligation to give support shall cease:1. By the death of the recipient.2. When the fortune of the person obliged to pay it is

reduced to the state where he cannot pay it without disregardinghis own necessities and those of his family.

3. When the recipient is able to exercise an office, profes-sion or industry or has obtained employment or improved hisfortune in such a manner that the pension for support may notbe necessary for his maintenance.

4. When the recipient, be he a forced heir or not, commitsany offence which may cause disinheritance.

5. When the recipient is a descendant of the person obligedto give support, and such necessity is caused by bad conduct orby want of attention to work, while such cause exists.

153- The preceding dispositions are applicable to allother cases in which, by this Code, by testament or by stipulation,a right to support may arise, with the exception of what isstipulated, ordered bi the testator, or prescribed by law for thespecial case under consideration.

TITLE VII.THE PARENTAL POWER (Patria Potestad).

CHAPTER FIRST.GENERAL PROVISION.

Article 154. The father, and, in his default, the motherhas power over their legitimate children, not emancipated, andthe children are bound to obey the parents while they remainunder such power and always pay them respect and reverence.

Recognized natural children and adopted minors are underthe power of the father or the mother who recognizes or adoptsthem, and are under the same obligations that are referred to

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CHAPTER SECOND.EFFECTS OF PARENTAL POWER IN RESPECT TO THE PERSONS OF THE

CHILDREN.Article 155. The father, and, in his default, the mother

has, in respect to their children, not emancipated:1. The duty of maintaining them, to keep them in their

company, educate and instruct them in proportion to theirmeans, and represent them in the exercise of all actions that maycontribute to their benefit.

2. The right to correct and punish them moderately.156. The father, and, in his default, the mother may askfor the help of the gubernative authorities which must be givento them in support of their own authority over children, notemancipated, either in the interior of the home or for thedetention and even for the retention of the same in establish-ments for instruction or in institutions legally authorized toreceive them.

They can also claim the interference of the Municipal Judgefor imposing on their children, up to one month of detentionin an institution for correctional purposes; the order of the fatheror mother with the vise of the judge shall be sufficient forcarrying into effect such detention.The provisions of the two preceding paragraphs includechildren, either legitimate, legitimated, natural recognized oradopted.

157. When the father or mother have contracted a secondmarriage, and the child has been begotten in a former marriage,they shall be bound to state to the Judge the causes on whichthey base their decision to punish him and the Judge shall hearthe child in a personal appearance and decree or deny thedetention without any further remedy. The same thing shallbe observed when the child, not emancipated, exercises anycharge or office, even when the parents have not contracted asecond marriage.

158- The father, and, in his default, the mother shall payfor the maintenance of the detained child but they shall haveno intervention in the conduct of the institution where he is

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detained; they can only have him released when they deem itproper. CHAPTER THIRD.

EFFECT CF PARENTAL POWER IN RESPECT TO THEPROPERTY OF THE CHILDREN.

Article 159. The father, or, in his default, the mother isthe legal administrator of the property of the children who areunder their power.

160- The property which the child, not emancipated,has acquired, or may acquired by his work or industry or byany lucrative title belongs to the child in ownership, and inusufruct to the father or mother who has him in his or her powerand company, but if the child with the consent of the parentslives independently of them , he shall be considered asemancipated for all effects in respect to said property andshall hold the domain, usufruct, and administration of it.

161- The ownership and usufruct ofwhat the child acquireswith the captial of his parents belong to the latter. Butshould the parents expressly assign to him the whole or a partof the benefits which he may obtain, such benefits shall not bechargeable to him as (a part of) the inheritance.

162. The property or rents donated or left by will to thechild, not emancipated, for the expense of his education andinstruction belong to him in ownership and usufruct, but thefather or the mother shall have the administration thereof, if noother proviso has been made in the donation or bequest inwhich case the will of the donors shall be strictly complied with.

163. The parents have, in respect to the property of thechildren, the usufruct or administration of which belongs tothem, the obligations of every usufructuary or administrator,and the

special obligations established by section third, titlethird of the Law of Mortgage.An inventory shall be made with the intervention of thePublic Attorney of all property of the children in which theparents have the administration only, and on petition of thesame attorney, the Judge may decree the deposit of the stocks,

etc., to the child.

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164. The father or the mother, in proper cases, shallnot alienate the real property belonging to the child, theusufruct or administration of which belongs to the parents, norincumber the same, unless for justified causes of utility ornecessity and with previous authorization of the Judge of thedomicil, upon consultation writh the Public Attorney, withoutprejudice to the provisions which, in reference to the effects oftransmission, are established by the Law of Mortgage.

165- Whenever, in any matter, the father or mother mayhave an interest in opposition to that of the children, notemancipated, a next friend (defensor) shall be appointed for thechildren who is to represent them in or out of court.The Judge, on petition of the father or the mother or theminor himself, or the Public Attorney, or of any other personcapable of appearing in court, shall appoint, as the next friend,the relative of the minor to whom the legitimate guardianshipshould belong in such cases, and, in default of the above, toanother relative or any other person.166- The parents who recognize or adopt do not acquirethe usufruct of the property of the children, recognized oradopted, neither shall they have the administration of suchproperty, unless they give bond for security of it to thesatisfaction of the Judge of the domicile of the minor or of suchpersons who must concur in the adoption.

CHAPTER FOURTH.MEANS OF DETERMINING THE PARENTAL POWER.

Article 167- Parental Power is determined:1. By the death of the parents or of the child.2. By emancipation.3. By the adoption of the child.168- The mother who contracts a second marriage, loses

her parental power over her children, unless her deceasedhusband, father of them, should have in his will expresslyanticipated that his widow could remarry and had ordered that,in such a case, she was to keep and exercise the parental powerover his children.

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169- The father, and, in similar cases, the' mother losesthe power over the children:

1. When, by a final sentence in criminal cases, thedeprivement of said right is imposed on him as a penalty.

2. When, by a final sentence in a suit for divorce, such adeclaration is made, and during the time that the effects of thesame are in force.

170- The parental power is suspended by incapacity orabsence of the father or, in similar cases, of the mother, whensuch causes are judicially declared, and also by civil interdiction.

171. The court can deprive the parent of the parentalpower or suspend the exercise of the same, when they treat theirchildren with excessive cruelty, or if they give them corruptingorders, advice, or examples. In these cases they can also deprivethe parents, either totally or partially of the usufruct of theproperty of the child, or adopt such measures as they may deemconvenient for the interests of the same.

172. If the widowed mo ther, who has remarried becomesonce more a widow, she will recover from that moment herpower over all the children, not emancipated.

CHAPTER TIFTH.ADOPTION.

Article 173. Persons who are in the full exercise of theircivil rights and over forty five years of age can adopt. Theadopter must be at least fifteen years older than the adopted.

174. Adoption is forbidden:1. To clergmen.2. To those having legitimate or legitimated descendants.3. To the guardain respecting his ward, until his accounts

have been finally approved.4. To the consort without the consent of the other consort.

Consorts may adopt conjointly, and, with the exception of thiscase, nobody can be adopted by more than one person.

175. The adopted may bear together with the name ofhis family that of the adopter by so stating it in the deed of

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176. The adopter and the adopted owe support to eachother. Thi obligation is understood without injury to thepreference right of the recognized natural children and of theascendants of the adopter to be supported by the same.

177. The adopter acquires no right to inherit from theadopted. Neither does the adopted acquire any right to inheritfrom the adopter, unless by will, excepting when the adopter inthe deed of adoption has obliged himself to institute him as anheir. This obligation shall produce no effect when the adopteddies before the adopter. The adopted retains all the rightsbelonging to him in his original (natural) familly exceptingthose referring to the parental power.

178. The adoption shall be made with judicial authoriza-tion and it must necessarily state the conset of the adopted,when of age; when a minor, that of the persons who must giveconsent to the minor's marriage, and, when incapable, that of theguardian. The Public Attorney is to be heard about this matterand the Judge, after taking the steps he may consider necessary,shall approve the adoption, if according to law, and he believesit beneficial for the adopted.

179. After the adoption is finally approved by the Judge,a deed is to be executed, and in it shall be stated the conditionunder which it has been done, and it shall be inscribed in thecorresponding Civil Registry.

180. The minor or the incapable, who has be en adoptedmay contest the adoption within four years next following hismajority or the date from which his incapacity has disappeared.

TITLEABSENCE.

CHAPTER FIRST.PROVISIONAL MEASURES IN CASE OF ABSENCE.

Article 181. When a person has disappeared from hisdomicil and his whereabouts is unknown and he has not left anyattorney to manage his property, the Judge, on petition of alawful party or the Public Attorney, may appoint some person

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The same thing shall be done, when under similar circum-stances, the power conferred by the absentee becomes void.

182. After the appointment referred to in the precedingchapter has been made, the Judge shall take the necessarymeasures to secure the rights and interests of the absenteeand shall determine the powers, duties, and remuneration of theappointee, regulating them, according to circumstances, by theprovisions established about guardians.

183. The consort who absents himself shall be representedby the one present, whenever they are not legally separated.

If the consort is a minor, a guardian shall be appointed inthe usual form.In default of the consort, the absentee shall be represented

by the parents, children or grandparents, in the order estab-lished in art. 220. CHAPTER SECOND.

DECLARATION OF ABSENCE.Article 184. When two years have elapsed without any

news having been received about the absentee, or from thereceipt of the last news, and five years, in case the absenteehas left a person in charge of the administration of his property,then the absence may be declared.

185. The declaration of absence may be demanded by:1. The consort who is present.2. The heirs instituted in his testament and who present a

trustworthy copy of the same.3. The relations who are to inherit in case of intestacy.4. Those having in the property of the absentee some

right subordinate to the condition of his death.186. The judicial declaration of absence shall produce no

effect until six months after its publication in the official papers.CHAPTER THIRD.

ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY OF THE ABSENTEE.Article 187. The administration of the property of the

absentee is to be granted, according to the order established in

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188. The wife of the absentee, if of age, can freely disposeof any property belonging to her; but she cannot alienate, barteror mortgage the husband's own property, neither that of theconjugal society, unless under judicial authorization.189. When the administration belongs to the children ofthe absentee and they are minors, a guardian shall be providedfor them who shall take charge of the property with legalformalities.

190. The administration shall cease in any of the fol-lowing cases:

1. When the absentee may appear, either personally orthrough an attorney.2. When the death of the absentee is. proved and his

testamentary heirs or the heirs of the intestate appear.3. When a third party appears provingby proper instru-

ments that he has acquired by purchase or by any other title theproperty of the absentee.

In these cases the administrator shall cease in the dischargeof his duties and the property shall be placed at the disposal ofthose having a right to it.

CHAPTER TOURTH.PRESUMPTION OF THE DEATH OF THE ABSENTEE.

Article 191. After thirty years have elapsed from thedisappearance of the absentee or since the last news was re-ceived about him, or ninety years from his birth, the Judge, onpetition of an interested party, shall declare the presumption ofhis death.

192. The sentence declaring the presumption of death ofan absentee shall not go into effect until after six month, to becounted from its publication in the official papers.

193. After the sentence of the presumption of death hasbeen declared final, succession to the estate of the absentee shallbe opened and its distribution shall be made with the formal-ities of testamentary or intestate proceedings, according to thecase.

194. Should the absentee appear, or, if without appear-

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ance, his existance be proven, then he shall recover his propertyin the condition in which it is found and the value of that sold,or that acquired with such value; but he can claim neither thefruits nor the rents. CHAPTER FIFTH.EFFECTS OF ABSENCE UPON THE EVENTUAL RIGHTS OF THE ABSENTEE.

Article 195. The person claiming a right belonging toanother person, whose existence is not recognized, is bound toprove that such other person existed at the time in which hisexistence was necessary to acquire such right.196. Notwithstanding what is prescribed in the precedingarticle, when a succession has been opened, and an absentee iscalled to it, the share of the absentee shall accrue to his co-heirs, unless there is some person having rights of his own toclaim it. - Both the former and the latter in such cases mustmake an inventory of said property with the intervention of thePublic Attorney.197. The prescription of the preceding article is to beunderstood as not impairing the actions of petition of inheritanceor other rights belonging to the absentee, his representatives,and persons holding rights under him. Such rights shall not beextinguished, except by the lapse of time fixed for prescription.In the inscription to be made in the Registry of real property,which may accrue to the co-heirs, it shall be expressly statedthat they are to remain subject to the provisions of this article.

198. Those who have taken possession of the estate shallbecome owners of the fruits received by them in good faith,while the absentee does not appear and his rights are notclaimed by his representatives or holders of rights under him.

TITLE IX.GUARDIANSHIP.

CHAPTER FIRST.GENERAL PROVISIONS.

Article 199. The object of guardianship is the custody of

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being under parental power , are incapable of governingthemselves.

200. The following are suject to guardianship:1. Minors not legally emancipated.2. Insane and demented persons, though they may have

lucid intervals, and the deaf and dumb who do not know how toread and write.

3. Those who have been declared prodigal by a finalsentence.

4. Those who are suffering the penalty of civil interdiction.201- Guardianship shall be exercised by a single

guardian under the vigilance of a protutor (vigilant guardian)and the family council.

202. The charges of guardian and protutor can not to berenounced unless for a lawful cause duly shown.

203- Municipal Judges of the places in which personssubject to guardianship reside shall provide for their custody andfor their personal property until a guardian shall be appointed,when there is no other person charged with these duties underthe law.

Should they not comply herewith they shall be liable forthe damages, accruing on this account, to minors or to incapablepersons.

204. Guardianship is conferred:1. By testament.2. By law.3. By the family council.205. The guardian shall not enter upon the discharge of

his duties until his appointment has been inscribed in theRegistry of guardianships.

CHAPTER SECOND.TESTAMENTARY GUARDIANSHIP.

Article 206. The father may appoint a guardian and aprotutor for his minor children or for those of age who areincapable, be they legitimate or recognized as natural or forsome of his illegitimate children whom he is obliged to support,as

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The mother has similar rights, but if she has contracted asecond marriage, the appointment made by her for the childrenof her first marriage shall not be effective without the approvalof the family council.

In any case it shall be necessary that the person appointedguardian m protutor shall not be subject to the authority of anyother person.

207. A guardian may also be appointed for minors orincapables by the person leaving them an inheritance or animportant legacy. The appointment, however, shall produceno effect until the family council has decided to accept theinheritance or legacy.

208. The father as well as the mother may appoint aguardian for each of their children, and make different appoint-ments in order that the appointees may be substituted one foranother.

In case of doubt, it shall be understood that a singleguardian has been appointed for all the children, and the chargeshall be conferred upon the first of these named in theappointment.209. If different persons shoul have appointed a guardianfor the same minor, the charge shall devolve upon:

1. The one chosen by the father or mother.2. The one appointed by the stranger who has instituted

the minor or an incapable as his heir, if the amount of theinheritance is important.3. The one who has been chosen by the person leavingand important legacy.If there is more than one guardian in nos. 2 and 3, specified

in this article, the familly council shall declare which one is tobe preferred.

210. When the guardian is in the discharge of his dutiesand the one appointed by the father appears, the guardianshipis to be inmediately transferred to the latter. If the guardianwho appears is the one appointed by a stranger, specified in nos.2 and 3 of the preceding article, he will limit himself to the ad-ministration of the property, which belonged to the person who

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CHAPTER THIRD.LEGITIMATE GUARDIANSHIP.

SECTION FIRST.GUARDIANSHIP OF MINORS.

Article 211. Legitimate guardianship of minors, not eman-cipated, belongs solely:

1. To the paternal grandfather.2. To the maternal and grandfather.3. To the paternal and maternal grandmothers, in thesame order, while they remain in widowhood.4. To the eldest of the male brothers of full blood, and, in

default of them, to the eldest of the brothers on the paternal ormaternal side.

The guardianship, to which this article refers, does notapply to illegitimate children.

212. Heads of foundling institutions are the guardians ofthose kept and educated therein. The representation in courtof such officials as guardians shall be assumed by the PublicAttorney. SECTION SECOND.

GUARDIANSHIP OF THE INSANE AND THE DEAF AND DUMB.Article 213. No guardians (curators) shall be appointed

for insane, demented, and deaf and dumb persons, when of age,without a previous declaration having been made that they areincapable of managing their property.

214. This declaration may be asked for by the consortand the relatives of the person presumed to be incapable whomay have rights to succeed him, in case of intestacy.

215- The Public Attorney must demand it:1. When the person is a raving maniac.2. When none of the persons mentioned in the preceding

article are in existence, or when they do not make any use ofthe rights granted to them by it.

3. When the consort and the heirs of the person presumedto be incapable are minors or have not the personality required

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In all these cases, the court shall appoint a next friend(curator) for the person presumed to be incapable who does notwish or is not able to defend himself. In all other cases, thePublic Attorney shall be their defender.216- The courts before declaring the incapacity shallhear the family council and shall personally examine thepersons denounced as incapable.

217. The relatives who have solicited the declaration ofincapacity shall not be able to give information to the court asmembers of the family council, but they have the right to beheard by the council when they demand it.218. The declaration of incapacity shall be madesummarily. That which refers to the deaf and dumb shall fix theextent and limits of the guardianship, according to their degreeof incapacity.

219. Against the decrees, determining the proceedings forincapacity, the interested parties may interpose a suit in theordinary form. The next friend of the incapable shall, however,require for it special authorization from the family council.

220. Guardianship of the insane and the deaf and dumbbelongs:

1. To the consort not legally separated.2. To the father, and, in his default, to the mother.3. To the children.4. To the grandparents.5. To the brothers and to the unmarried sisters with due

preference to the double relationships stated in no. 4 of art. 211.If there are children, brothers and sisters, the male shall be

preferred to the female, aud the oldest to the youngest.When there are paternal and maternal grandparents, themale shall also be preferred, and in case they are of the samesex, those of the paternal line.

SECTION THIRD.GUARDIANSHIP OF PRODIGALS (SPENDTHRIFTS).

Article 221. The declaration of prodigality must be madein a contradictory suit.The sentence shall determine the acts which are forbidden

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to the incapable, the faculties which the guardian (curator) is toexercise in the name of the same, and the cases in which one orthe other are bound to consult the family council.

222. The declaration, to which the preceding articlerefers, can be demanded only by the consort, and the forcedheirs of the prodigal, and exceptionally by the Public Attorney,either by himself or on petition of some relative of the former,when they are minors or incapables.

223. When the defendant does not appear at the trial, heshall be represented by the Public Attorney, and, if the latterbe a party thereto, b