When does prescription start running to acquire an easement of light and view if the window is in a wall on the dominant estate rather than a party wall?

Two starting points depending on where the window is

Article 668 draws a sharp line between two types of windows. Where the window is cut into a party wall — a wall jointly owned by both neighbors — prescription begins to run from the moment the window is opened. But where the window is in a wall that belongs entirely to the dominant estate's owner, prescription does not begin on the day the window is opened. It begins only when the dominant owner serves a formal prohibition on the adjoining proprietor. Until that formal act, no prescriptive period runs, regardless of how long the window has existed.

Why the formal prohibition is required

Cutting a window in your own wall is not an adverse act against your neighbor. Your neighbor has no reason to object to what you do on your own property. Because there is no interference with the neighbor's rights at that moment, there is nothing to trigger a prescriptive period. The formal prohibition changes this: by serving it, the dominant owner asserts a right over the neighbor's property — the right that light and air will not be obstructed. From that moment the neighbor is on notice that a servitude is being claimed, and the prescriptive period can begin to run.

What counts as a formal prohibition

The Civil Code does not define the exact form the prohibition must take, but the requirement is one of substance: the neighboring owner must receive a clear, formal notice that the window's owner is asserting an easement of light and view over the neighbor's land. A notarial document served on the neighbor, or a judicial demand that acknowledges the window and claims the right, is the safest approach. An informal oral remark or a simple letter without clear legal language may not be sufficient to start the prescriptive clock. Because the formal prohibition is the event that starts the period, documenting it properly is essential.

Practical impact for property owners

A person who has a window in their own wall — no matter how many decades ago it was built — cannot claim a prescriptive easement of light unless and until they served a formal prohibition on the neighbor. The neighbor who has never been formally prohibited can still lawfully raise a wall or put up a structure that blocks the window, even if the window has existed for generations. Conversely, a window opened in a party wall starts the prescriptive clock immediately, so the adjoining owner who wants to block that window must act before the period expires or the easement becomes acquired by prescription.

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.

• Sps. Tedy Garcia and Pilar Garcia vs. Loreta T. Santos, Winston Santos and Conchita, G.R. No. 228334, June 17, 2019 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 668 — When Light-And-View Prescription Starts