Article 40. Birth determines personality; but the conceived child shall be considered born for all purposes that are favorable to it, provided it be born later with the conditions specified in the following article.
Notes:
1) Definition.
a. Natural persons – refer to individuals or human beings.
2) Birth is what determines legal personality. For natural persons, juridical capacity is inherent because it is a function of being born alive. Simplified, that moment when newly born babies are born alive, they have juridical capacity.
3) Notwithstanding the immediately preceding paragraph, a conceived child is already considered born “for all purposes that are favorable to it” subject to it being born and to the law on fetus under Article 41. This gains relevance in succession cases where a fetus or a newly-born baby receives inheritance even if it were to die a few hours later. This will produce a different set of legal effects as to who will then inherit after the death.
Article 41. For civil purposes, the foetus is considered born if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother’s womb. However, if the foetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb.
Notes:
1) Law on fetus; For civil purposes. General rule: The fetus is considered born “if it is alive at the time it is completely delivered from the mother’s womb.”
2) Same;Exception: “[I]f the fetus had an intra-uterine life of less than seven months, it is not deemed born if it dies within twenty-four hours after its complete delivery from the maternal womb.”
3) Phrase. The phrase “[f]or civil purposes” is important as this legal provision is not applicable to, and cannot serve as the basis for, criminal cases – e.g. infanticide, abortion, etc.
4) 1987 Constitution; Protection for unborn. Section 12, Article II, 1987 Constitution provides:“[The State] shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception.”
(a) Same; Same; Case Law. Even a child inside the womb already has life. No less than the Constitution recognizes the life of the unborn from conception, that the State must protect equally with the life of the mother. (Continental Steel Manufacturing Corporation v. Montaño, G.R. No. 182836, October 13, 2009)
5) Being alive and being born are two different concepts. That a fetus is alive in the womb does not necessarily mean that it has legal personality because only its birth will grant him such. Per Article 40, birth determines personality.
Article 42. Civil personality is extinguished by death.
The effect of death upon the rights and obligations of the deceased is determined by law, by contract and by will.
Notes:
1) Only natural persons die or meet their death. Juridical persons do not die; rather, they are abolished (for public corporations, institutions, or entities) or closed/dissolved (for private corporations, partnerships, or associations).
2) Definition. “[D]eath has been defined as the cessation of life.” (Continental Steel Manufacturing Corporation v. Montaño, G.R. No. 182836, October 13, 2009, citing Black’s Law Dictionary)
(a) Same; Case Law. “Life is not synonymous with civil personality. One need not acquire civil personality first before he/she could die. Even a child inside the womb already has life… If the unborn already has life, then the cessation thereof even prior to the child being delivered, qualifies as death.…” (Ibid.)
Article 43. If there is a doubt, as between two or more persons who are called to succeed each other, as to which of them died first, whoever alleges the death of one prior to the other, shall prove the same; in the absence of proof, it is presumed that they died at the same time and there shall be no transmission of rights from one to the other.
Notes:
1) This article provides for a rule and a presumption.
2) Rule on succession.
a. Between two or more persons called to succeed each other. “If there is a doubt, as between two or more persons who are called to succeed each other, as to which of them died first, whoever alleges the death of one prior to the other, shall prove the same.” (Article 43, Civil Code)
3) Presumption on succession.
a. For those who are called to succeed each other and who died first is uncertain, “in the absence of proof, it is presumed that they died at the same time and there shall be no transmission of rights from one to the other.” (Ibid.)
