Short answer. It can count, but only through moral damages. Article 2218 provides that in the adjudication of moral damages, the sentimental value of property, real or personal, may be considered. It does not raise the compensation for the thing itself, which is still measured by its value.

What the law says

In the adjudication of moral damages, the sentimental value of property, real or personal, may be considered.

Civil Code, Article 2218 — Sentimental Value Considered. Read the full provision →

Where sentimental value enters the calculation

The article is placed where it is for a reason. It operates in the adjudication of moral damages, which makes sentimental value a factor in sizing that award rather than a separate head of claim. So the sequence matters. If you have no entitlement to moral damages in the case, the article has nothing to attach itself to, and the attachment you felt to the object will not lift the sum you recover. Claimants often present it the other way round, arguing that a cheap thing was precious and should therefore be paid for as though it had been expensive.

You need a route to moral damages first

That route comes from elsewhere. Article 2220 is the usual one where property is concerned: willful injury to property may be a legal ground for awarding moral damages if the court finds that, under the circumstances, such damages are justly due, and the same rule applies to breaches of contract where the defendant acted fraudulently or in bad faith. Note the word willful. Property destroyed through ordinary carelessness sits differently from property destroyed on purpose, which is why that distinction is worth establishing early rather than late.

Sentiment is proved, not asserted

What the object was, where it came from, who owned it before you, how long you kept it and what it was used or displayed for are the facts that make an attachment intelligible to someone who never saw the thing. Photographs, letters and the testimony of people who knew what it meant in the household carry further than adjectives do. And because Article 2216 excuses proof of pecuniary loss for moral damages, the work here is entirely about establishing the significance rather than about pricing it.

The compensatory side runs on its own track

Under Article 2199 you recover adequate compensation for the pecuniary loss you have duly proved, and for a destroyed item that means its value, established with receipts, comparable prices or a valuation. Sentiment does not lift that figure. Where the thing genuinely had a value but one that cannot be fixed with certainty from the nature of the case — an old handmade piece, say — Article 2224 allows temperate or moderate damages, more than nominal and less than compensatory, and Article 2225 requires them to be reasonable.

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.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.