Short answer. By default, a deposit is gratuitous — free, unless you and your friend agreed otherwise, or unless you are engaged in the business of storing goods for others. Simply holding an item as a favor does not, by itself, entitle you to payment.
What the law says
A deposit is a gratuitous contract, except when there is an agreement to the contrary, or unless the depositary is engaged in the business of storing goods.
Civil Code, Article 1965 — Deposit Generally Gratuitous. Read the full provision →
The default rule: deposit is free
Article 1965 sets the baseline plainly: "a deposit is a gratuitous contract." Where a friend leaves something with you for safekeeping and nothing has been said about payment, the law's starting assumption is that you are not entitled to compensation for holding it. This default matters because it means silence on the question of payment does not, on its own, create a right to be paid — the article treats gratuitousness as the norm, not the exception.
The first exception: an actual agreement to be paid
The article carves out its own exception for a deposit made "except when there is an agreement to the contrary." If you and your friend actually agreed, whether in writing or otherwise, that you would be compensated for storing the item, that agreement controls and the deposit is not gratuitous. The default only applies in the absence of such an agreement — where the parties have actually settled the question, their agreement governs instead.
The second exception: being in the business of storage
The article's second exception applies "unless the depositary is engaged in the business of storing goods." Someone who operates as a storage business is not treated the same way as a private individual doing a friend a favor, even without an explicit pay agreement, because their ordinary business is precisely this kind of custody. This exception exists separately from the first — it does not require an agreement to be shown, only that the depositary's business is storing goods for others.
What this means for an ordinary favor between friends
For most everyday arrangements — a friend asking you to hold an item, with nothing agreed about payment and no storage business involved — Article 1965's default applies, and the deposit is gratuitous. You are not automatically entitled to be paid simply because you undertook the trouble of storing something. Either of the two exceptions has to actually be present before payment becomes something you can claim under this article.
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.
- Delfina Vda. De Rigonan, et al. vs. Zoroaster Derecho, et al, G.R. No. 159571, July 15, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →