Legal Classification of Property and Asset Heritage

The Nature of Existence and Tangible Property

Things that have an actual existence are those that are mandatory for the senses and the mind. This includes tangible things such as solids, liquids, and vapors.

Understanding Personal Wealth and Heritage

From the concept of personal wealth, we postulate that people have only heritage. Wealth is considered an attribute of personality and is composed of all heritage assets, which include:

• Assets and rights (positive value)
• Liabilities (loads or obligations)

When Livestock Becomes Real Estate

Herds, flocks, and other livestock (both tame and wild) are classified as real estate when they are not separated from their pastures and farms.

Classification of Assets: Divisible and Indivisible

The difference between main things lies in their susceptibility to division:

Divisible Assets

These are susceptible to being divided, with each resulting part retaining the same function as the whole. Examples include:

• Real estate
• Money

Indivisible Assets

These cannot be divided because their resulting parts would not perform the same function. Examples include:

• A table
• A piano
• A live animal

Utility and Function of Separate Assets

The practical importance and utility of creating separate assets (or separate wealth) serve two main functions:

1. Specific Destination: The ability to assign or reserve certain goods to a unique destination so that they remain unconnected to any other purpose.
2. Creditor Protection: Reserving a particular group of assets for a specific group of creditors, against which they can meet their claims, to the exclusion of other creditors.

Examples of Separate Assets:

• Goods owned by an emancipated child not living with parents.
• Total assets owned by a woman that do not affect the domestic burden during the marriage.

Mortgages and Creditor Rights

A mortgage is a right that falls only on property because it is based on the just title of the creditor, while the debtor remains in possession (power) of the asset.

Property Rights and Heritage Transmission

Types of goods, such as property, usufruct, and servitude, are defined as property of the object referred to in Article CCV 530.

Heritage is not confined to the holder's death; rather, it is transmitted to the heir through succession.

Fungible vs. Consumable Assets

The major difference between these classifications relates to replacement and use:

Fungible (Expendable) Assets

These are assets that can be replaced by others of the same kind. Examples:

• Money
• Wheat

Consumable Assets

These are assets that are destroyed or immediately used up by their first use (consumption). Examples:

• Food
• Gasoline

Defining and Classifying the Fruits of Property

Fruits are the benefits or regular income derived from property that do not decrease or diminish the main asset from which they flow.

Fruits are classified into two main categories:

1. Natural Fruits: Products derived directly from nature (e.g., apples, crops).
2. Civil Fruits: Earnings derived from a service, sale, or rental fee (e.g., rent payments, interest).