Short answer. Generally, no. Article 1401 of the Civil Code extinguishes the action for annulment when the object of the contract is lost through the fraud or fault of the person entitled to bring the action. Even where the case rests on a party's incapacity, that same rule applies: your own fault in losing the thing bars the action.

What the law says

The action for annulment of contracts shall be extinguished when the thing which is the object thereof is lost through the fraud or fault of the person who has a right to institute the proceedings.

Civil Code, Article 1401 — Loss Extinguishing the Annulment Action. Read the full provision →

The general rule that bars your own fault

Article 1401 addresses what happens to an annulment action when the very thing the contract is about no longer exists by the time the case is pursued. Its general rule is direct: the action for annulment shall be extinguished when the thing which is the object thereof is lost through the fraud or fault of the person who has a right to institute the proceedings. If you are the one entitled to seek annulment, and the loss of the thing was your own fault, this article extinguishes your action entirely.

The special rule for incapacity, and why it does not save you here

Article 1401 also addresses annulment actions based on the incapacity of one of the contracting parties, and in that specific situation it is more forgiving: the loss of the thing is not an obstacle to the success of the action, unless the loss took place through the fraud or fault of the plaintiff. This carve-out exists to protect parties who lacked capacity to contract in the first place. But the article expressly preserves the bar where the loss was the plaintiff's own fraud or fault, which is exactly the situation described here.

Why the reason for the loss matters so much

Both branches of Article 1401 turn on the same key fact: whose fraud or fault caused the thing to be lost. If the loss happened through no fault of the person seeking annulment, for instance through a fortuitous event, the analysis is different from a case where that same person's own fault caused it. Because your own fault is what caused the loss here, the article's protective exception for incapacity-based actions does not help, since that exception is itself conditioned on the loss not being your fault.

What this means for pursuing the case

Given that Article 1401 extinguishes the annulment action where the object is lost through the fault of the person seeking to bring it, and given that the incapacity exception does not apply where the plaintiff's own fault caused the loss, this article points toward the action being barred in the situation described. Whether some other remedy might still be available depends on facts and legal grounds outside what Article 1401 itself addresses, since this article speaks specifically to the survival of the annulment action itself.

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.