Text of the provision
Art. 2089. A pledge or mortgage is indivisible, even though the debt may be divided among the successors in interest of the debtor or of the creditor. Therefore, the debtor's heir who has paid a part of the debt cannot ask for the proportionate extinguishment of the pledge or mortgage as long as the debt is not completely satisfied. Neither can the creditor's heir who received his share of the debt return the pledge or cancel the mortgage, to the prejudice of the other heirs who have not been paid. From these provisions is excepted the case in which, there being several things given in mortgage or pledge, each one of them guarantees only a determinate portion of the credit. The debtor, in this case, shall have a right to the extinguishment of the pledge or mortgage as the portion of the debt for which each thing is specially answerable is satisfied.
(1860)
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
A pledge or mortgage is indivisible even when the debt is divided among the heirs of debtor or creditor. So the debtor's heir who pays his share cannot demand a proportionate release of the security while any part of the debt is unpaid, and the creditor's heir who has been paid his share cannot return the pledge or cancel the mortgage to the prejudice of heirs still unpaid. The one exception: where several things were given as security and each answers only for a determinate portion of the credit, that thing is released as its portion is satisfied.
Questions about this provision
- As one of several heirs of the creditor, can I return the pledge after receiving my share of the debt?
- I inherited part of a debt secured by a pledge or mortgage and paid my share - can I free my portion of the property?
- I put up several different properties as collateral, each covering a specific part of my loan - can I get one released once I finish paying that part?
- Our mortgage names several borrowers who are only jointly, not solidarily, liable - does that make the mortgage divisible?
- The borrower died and his three heirs each paid their share of the debt - can each heir demand that his proportionate share of the pledged item be released?
Related provisions
- Article 2079 — An Extension Given Without the Guarantor's Consent.
- Article 2213 — No Interest on Unliquidated Claims.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.