Understanding Subjective Rights and Heritage in Civil Law

Understanding Subjective Rights

The subjective right is a power that allows a person to demand something from another, establishing a legal status regarding their possessions. These rights are classified into real rights (concerning things) or credit rights (property obligations). Subjective property rights are absolute and erga omnes (enforceable against all).

Distinctions in Legal Concepts

The doctrine of subjective rights relies on economic concepts, whereas family law operates under different principles. In family law, we speak of potestades (powers) rather than subjective rights. Marriage is not a property-based content but is intimately linked to family formation. Personality rights are non-property assets, recognized as innate to the human person to fulfill essential purposes.

Elements of Subjective Rights

• Subjects: Natural persons and legal entities. Capacity is acquired through legal standing, management, fiduciary duties, or joint ownership.
• Objects: Real, external things that satisfy human needs, categorized as movables and real estate. The Civil Code prioritizes real estate as more valuable and imposes specific capacity requirements for its management.
• Content: The faculties and actions contained within the unitary idea of a subjective right, including the right to claim what is part of it.

Heritage and Its Components

Heritage is the set of subjective rights and obligations belonging to a person.

Classes of Heritage

• Active Heritage: Includes all assets of the owner, encompassing both real and credit rights. Assessment is limited to pecuniary elements.
• Passive Heritage: Comprises obligations, debts, and charges. These do not cease upon death; the heir appears as the universal successor, inheriting the estate as a unit.
• Interim Heritage: Rights recognized for the conceived and unborn, as per Articles 29 and 30 of the Civil Code.

Classification of Fruits

Regulated under property law, fruits are yields produced by things without altering their substance.

• Art. 354: Fruits belong to the owner, including industrial, natural, and civil fruits.
• Art. 355: Natural fruits are spontaneous earth productions and animal offspring. Industrial fruits are produced by land through cultivation or labor. Civil fruits include rental prices, income, and annuities.
• Art. 356: The recipient of fruits is obligated to pay expenses incurred by third parties for their production, harvesting, or conservation.
• Art. 357: Only manifest or born fruits are considered natural or industrial. For animals, they are considered fruits once they are in the mother's womb.