Short answer. Yes. Under Article 442 of the Civil Code, civil fruits include the rents of buildings and the amount of perpetual or life annuities or other similar income. Both the monthly rent from your house and the annual annuity payment fall squarely within that definition.
What the law says
Civil fruits are the rents of buildings, the price of leases of lands and other property and the amount of perpetual or life annuities or other similar income.
Civil Code, Article 442 — Kinds of Fruits Defined. Read the full provision →
What the Civil Code says about civil fruits
Article 442 draws a three-part line around the kinds of fruits property can produce. Natural fruits are what the soil or animals yield on their own — grass, calves, timber. Industrial fruits are what land produces through cultivation or labor — rice from a farmed lot, for example. Civil fruits are the financial returns that flow from allowing others to use property: rents on buildings, lease prices on land, and the amounts paid under perpetual or life annuities. The distinction matters because the rules on who owns fruits, and when they are considered acquired, can differ depending on which category applies.
How your house rental fits the definition
The monthly rent your tenant pays is the clearest example the Civil Code had in mind. The statute expressly includes the rents of buildings as civil fruits. It does not matter whether the building is residential or commercial, or whether the lease is month-to-month or long-term. The rent is earned income flowing from your ownership of the property, and it is classified as a civil fruit the moment it becomes due — not when it is actually collected. This timing point can matter in inheritance and co-ownership situations, where the question is whose benefit period the fruit belongs to.
How your annuity payments fit the definition
The Civil Code is equally explicit about annuities. Article 442 includes the amount of perpetual or life annuities or other similar income within the category of civil fruits. A life annuity — where a financial institution pays you a periodic sum for as long as you live in exchange for an earlier contribution or investment — produces civil fruits each time a payment falls due. A perpetual annuity, which has no end date, works the same way. The phrase other similar income gives the definition some flexibility, so regular income streams that resemble annuities in structure are likely to be treated the same way.
Why the classification matters practically
Knowing that these payments are civil fruits is not just a labeling exercise. In co-ownership, each co-owner is entitled to the fruits of the property in proportion to their share. In usufruct arrangements, the usufructuary receives the fruits while the bare owner holds the title. In estate administration, fruits that accrued before the owner's death belong to the estate, while those that accrue afterward belong to whoever holds the right going forward. Getting the classification right determines who keeps the money — and when. If you are in any of these situations and there is a dispute over your rent or annuity income, the classification under Article 442 is the starting point of the legal analysis.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Republic of the Philippines vs. Holy Trinity Realty and Development Corp, G.R. No. 172410, April 14, 2008 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Spouses Ramon and Rosita Tan vs. Gorgonia Bantegui, et al, G.R. No. 154027, October 24, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →