Text of the provision
Art. 1304. A creditor, to whom partial payment has been made, may exercise his right for the remainder, and he shall be preferred to the person who has been subrogated in his place in virtue of the partial payment of the same credit.
(1213)
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 renderings and the Official Gazette, all three of which agree word for word.
What this article means
Closes the Novation/Subrogation chapter, immediately before the Code turns to Contracts in general. When a creditor has been paid only in part and a third party is subrogated (steps into the creditor's shoes) as to that partial payment, the original creditor does not lose his claim to the remainder still owed. He may still go after the debtor for the unpaid balance — and, if the debtor cannot pay everyone, the original creditor is given preference over the person subrogated for that same partial payment. A partial payer-subrogee does not leapfrog the very creditor whose claim he only partly satisfied.
Related provisions
- Article 1303 — Effect of Subrogation.
- Article 1305 — Definition of a Contract.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.