Short answer. Generally, yes. The Civil Code makes a debtor liable with all of his property, present and future, for his obligations, so a creditor is not limited to what the debtor owned when the debt arose. The law does carve out certain property that stays beyond a creditor's reach, so the rule is broad but not absolute.
What the law says
The debtor is liable with all his property, present and future, for the fulfillment of his obligations, subject to the exemptions provided by law.
Civil Code, Article 2236 — The Debtor's Whole Patrimony Answers. Read the full provision →
The debtor's whole patrimony stands behind the debt
Article 2236 states the principle plainly: a debtor answers with all his property, present and future, for what he owes. This is what makes an unsecured obligation collectible at all — a creditor does not need a mortgage or a pledge on a specific asset to eventually reach it, because the law itself puts the debtor's entire patrimony behind every valid obligation. Property acquired after the debt was incurred is not shielded simply because it did not exist, or was not owned by the debtor, at the time the obligation was created.
"Subject to the exemptions provided by law"
The rule is not unlimited. The article's closing clause carves out whatever property other laws place beyond a creditor's reach, which is why the principle is described as broad rather than total. What exactly falls within that carve-out depends on the particular law creating the exemption and on the facts of the debtor's situation, so it is not something a general answer can list exhaustively. What matters practically is that not every asset a debtor holds is automatically fair game once you have a valid claim.
Having a valid claim is only the first step
Article 2236 describes the debtor's exposure in principle; it does not by itself hand a creditor a way to seize anything. Reaching a debtor's property in practice still requires a valid, enforceable obligation and, where the debtor does not pay voluntarily, a judgment or other legal process directed at identified assets. Property the debtor no longer owns, or has transferred to someone else, raises separate questions about whether that transfer can be challenged, which this provision does not answer on its own.
Why this matters when you are owed money
For a creditor, the practical value of Article 2236 is that a debtor's later acquisitions — a new job's income, a property bought years after the debt, an inheritance — do not fall outside your reach merely because they postdate the obligation. For a debtor, it is a reminder that walking away from a debt does not become safer over time simply because your finances change. Either way, what any specific asset can actually be used for depends on whether it falls within a recognized exemption and on the process needed to reach it.