Short answer. Four years. Article 763 says the action to revoke or reduce a donation on the grounds in Article 760 prescribes after four years, running from the birth of the first child, or from his legitimation, recognition or adoption, or from a judicial declaration of filiation, or from when you learned a child believed dead is alive.
What the law says
shall prescribe after four years from the birth of the first child, or from his legitimation, recognition or adoption, or from the judicial declaration of filiation, or from the time information was received regarding the existence of the child believed dead
Civil Code, Article 763 — Four Years to Bring the Action. Read the full provision →
What the law says
This action cannot be renounced, and is transmitted, upon the death of the donor, to his legitimate and illegitimate children and descendants
Civil Code, Article 763 — Four Years to Bring the Action. Read the full provision →
What the law says
even though they be posthumous
Civil Code, Article 760 — Donation Revoked by the Birth of a Child. Read the full provision →
What the law says
subsequently adopt a minor child
Civil Code, Article 760 — Donation Revoked by the Birth of a Child. Read the full provision →
The deadline is four years
Article 763 sets the clock: the action shall prescribe after four years. What makes it slightly more complex than a simple four years from the birth is that the article gives several possible starting points, depending on how the child came into the picture. It runs from the birth of the first child, or from his legitimation, recognition or adoption, or from the judicial declaration of filiation, or from the time information was received regarding the existence of the child believed dead. Whichever of these events is the one that grounds your right to revoke, that is the date from which your four years are measured.
The grounds this deadline covers
The four-year period attaches to the specific grounds in Article 760. That article lets a donor who had no children or descendants when he gave the gift revoke or reduce it if, afterwards, one of three things happens: he has a legitimate, legitimated or illegitimate child, even though they be posthumous; a child he believed dead when he donated should turn out to be living; or he should subsequently adopt a minor child. In short, the law lets a later-arriving child reopen a donation the donor made while childless. Article 763 simply tells you how long you have to act once such an event occurs.
The right cannot be waived, and passes to the children
Two further features of Article 763 matter. First, This action cannot be renounced, so you cannot validly sign away this remedy, and neither can it be extracted from you in advance. Second, it does not simply die with the donor. The article provides that it is transmitted, upon the death of the donor, to his legitimate and illegitimate children and descendants. So if the donor passes away while the right still lives, his children and descendants may carry the action forward within the remaining period. The remedy is treated as a family protection for the child whose arrival the donation failed to anticipate, not merely a personal option of the donor.
Getting the start date and the remedy right
Two practical cautions. First, identify the correct starting event, because the four years can begin at different moments, a birth, an adoption, a judicial declaration of filiation, or the day you learned a supposedly dead child is alive, and choosing the wrong one can make your action look late or premature. Second, the remedy is not only outright revocation: the article speaks of revocation or reduction, so in a proper case the donation may be scaled back rather than cancelled entirely, to protect the child's rightful share. Whatever the ground, the four-year limit is firm; once it lapses, the donation stands as made.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 763 — Four Years to Bring the Action
- Civil Code, Article 760 — Donation Revoked by the Birth of a Child