Short answer. They belong to your neighbor. Article 681 of the Civil Code states that fruits naturally falling upon adjacent land belong to the owner of that land — not to the owner of the tree. The moment the fruit lands on your neighbor's property by natural means, it becomes theirs.
What the law says
Fruits naturally falling upon adjacent land belong to the owner of said land.
Civil Code, Article 681 — Fruits Falling On Adjacent Land. Read the full provision →
The rule and what it means
Article 681 of the Civil Code lays out a clean, bright-line rule: fruits that fall naturally onto neighboring land belong to the owner of that land. It does not matter that the tree is yours, that you planted it, or that you have been tending it for years. Once a mango, guava, or coconut falls on its own — by gravity, wind, or the fruit simply ripening and dropping — it belongs to whoever owns the land it landed on. The rule applies only to natural falling, not to fruit you deliberately shake or knock off the branches.
Natural falling only — deliberate acts are different
The word "naturally" in Article 681 is doing important work. It limits the rule to fruit that falls on its own without any deliberate act by the tree owner. If you go to your tree, shake the branches, and fruit falls onto your neighbor's yard, that is not "naturally falling" in the legal sense — it is a deliberate act that could implicate your neighbor's rights in a different way. Similarly, if you hire someone to climb the tree and pick fruit, that is harvesting, not natural falling. The Article 681 rule applies only when nature, not human effort, delivers the fruit to the neighboring lot.
What this means practically
If your mango tree overhangs the boundary and drops fruit onto your neighbor's side, those mangoes are legally your neighbor's. You have no right to go onto their land to collect them without permission. If your neighbor picks them up, they are within their rights. The situation can create friction in close communities, and it is one reason why overhanging trees and shared boundaries benefit from clear agreements. Some neighbors simply agree to split the harvest, which is perfectly fine — the law sets the default rule, but you and your neighbor are free to arrange things differently by agreement.
When the tree itself causes damage
The fruit rule is separate from the question of who is responsible if a falling branch or an entire tree damages your neighbor's property, or if the tree's roots or branches actually intrude onto the neighboring lot rather than merely dropping fruit. Those situations are governed by different rules on nuisance and liability for things on one's own land, not by Article 681. Article 681 answers only one narrow question: who owns fruit that falls naturally across the boundary. It says nothing about who pays for a broken fence, who may trim overhanging branches, or who bears the cost of a fallen tree. Those are separate legal questions with their own answers.