Civil Code, Article 1392 — Ratification Bars Annulment

What this article means

Ratification extinguishes the action to annul a voidable contract — the party cures the defect and is bound.

Ratification refers to a voluntary act by the party entitled to seek annulment, done with knowledge of the defect, that signals an intention to be bound despite it. Once that happens, the law treats the original defect as cured, and the contract stands on the same footing as one that was valid from the start. A common illustration is a person who signed under mistake but, upon discovering the true facts, continues to accept the benefits of the agreement instead of repudiating it — that conduct forecloses a later suit to annul.

Questions about this provision

• How many years do I have to go to court to annul a voidable contract?
• If I ratify a voidable contract, can I still ask a court to annul it afterward?
• I ratified a contract that could have been annulled — does that ratification destroy my right to bring an action to annul it?

Related provisions

• Article 1391 — Four Years to Annul.
• Article 1393 — Express or Tacit Ratification.

Cases citing this article

• Estate of Valeriano C. Bueno and Genoveva I. Bueno, represented by Valeriano I. Bueno, G.R. No. 205810, September 9, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• ECE Realty and Development, Inc. vs. Rachel G. Mandap, G.R. No. 196182, September 1, 2014 — read the decision on LawPhil →
• Sps. Fernando and Lourdes Viloria vs. Continental Airlines, Inc, G.R. No. 188288, January 16, 2012 — read the decision on LawPhil →

Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.