Text of the provision
Art. 1387. All contracts by virtue of which the debtor alienates property by gratuitous title are presumed to have been entered into in fraud of creditors, when the donor did not reserve sufficient property to pay all debts contracted before the donation. Alienations by onerous title are also presumed fraudulent when made by persons against whom some judgment has been rendered in any instance or some writ of attachment has been issued. The decision or attachment need not refer to the property alienated, and need not have been obtained by the party seeking the rescission. In addition to these presumptions, the design to defraud creditors may be proved in any other manner recognized by the law of evidence.
(1297a)
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full. The three sources consulted do not read identically here; the text above is the reading carried by two of the three, including the Official Gazette.
What this article means
Supplies the presumptions that make an accion pauliana workable. Transfers by gratuitous title are presumed fraudulent when the donor did not reserve enough property to pay debts already contracted. Transfers by onerous title are presumed fraudulent when made by a person against whom a judgment has been rendered or a writ of attachment issued — and the judgment or writ need not concern the property alienated, nor have been obtained by the creditor now suing. These are presumptions, not the only route: fraud may still be proved in any other manner the law of evidence allows.
Related provisions
- Article 1219 — Remission After the Debt Has Already Been Paid.
- Article 1479 — Mutual Promises to Buy and Sell, and Option Money.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.