Text of the provision
Art. 1095. If a credit should be assigned as collectible, the co-heirs shall not be liable for the subsequent insolvency of the debtor of the estate, but only for his insolvency at the time the partition is made. The warranty of the solvency of the debtor can only be enforced during the five years following the partition. Co-heirs do not warrant bad debts, if so known to, and accepted by, the distributee. But if such debts are not assigned to a co-heir, and should be collected, in whole or in part, the amount collected shall be distributed proportionately among the heirs.
(1072a)
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.
What this article means
If a credit is assigned as collectible, the co-heirs are not liable for the debtor's subsequent insolvency — only for his insolvency at the time of partition. For credits assigned as doubtful, there is no warranty at all.
The article treats an assigned credit differently depending on how it was classified when the partition was made. If it was assigned as a normally collectible debt, the co-heirs guarantee only that the debtor was solvent at the time of partition — not that the debtor will remain solvent afterward — and that guarantee itself expires five years after partition. If, instead, a debt was known to be doubtful and the distributee accepted it as such, the co-heirs owe no warranty on it at all. Debts left unassigned to any particular heir are collected for the common benefit and shared proportionately among all the heirs, whatever amount is eventually recovered.
Questions about this provision
- A debt was assigned to me in the partition and the debtor turned out insolvent — can I recover from my co-heirs?
- A debt assigned to me in the partition later proved uncollectable — can I hold my co-heirs liable for that loss?
- We already divided our parents' estate, but one heir's share turned out to have a hidden problem — what can the other heirs do?
- The debtor on a credit assigned to me in the partition later went insolvent — is there a time limit to make co-heirs share the loss?
Related provisions
- Article 1094 — Ten Years to Enforce Warranty.
- Article 1096 — When Warranty Ceases.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.