Rules on co-ownership

Did your late grandparents bequeathed an agricultural land to you and your siblings and you want to claim and sell your part, despite the objections posed by your siblings?

Then your situation falls under the provision of co-ownership pursuant to Article 484 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines, which provides:

"Article 484. There is co-ownership whenever the ownership of an undivided thing or right belongs to different persons.

"In default of contracts, or of special provisions, co-ownership shall be governed by the provisions of this Title."

Relatedly, Article 494 of the said Code provides:

"Article 494. No co-owner shall be obliged to remain in the co-ownership. Each co-owner may demand at any time the partition of the thing owned in common, insofar as his share is concerned.

"Nevertheless, an agreement to keep the thing undivided for a certain period of time, not exceeding ten years, shall be valid. This term may be extended by a new agreement.

"A donor or testator may prohibit partition for a period which shall not exceed twenty years.

"Neither shall there be any partition when it is prohibited by law.

"No prescription shall run in favor of a co-owner or co-heir against his co-owners or co-heirs so long as he expressly or impliedly recognizes the co-ownership."

Based on the foregoing, while a co-ownership may exist between two or more persons who own an undivided property, the co-owners are not required to maintain the co-ownership.

Any of the co-owners may demand the division or partition of the property at any time, except when there is an express agreement that prohibits partition for a specified period.

Thus, you may now demand and claim your share of the said parcel of land despite the objections of the other co-owners of the land, which in your case, are your siblings. You may opt to seek the intervention of the court to divide the property and claim your share thereof if your siblings continue to refuse the partition.

Source: Manila Times

Consent of co-owner needed in sale of land owned in common

Can you buy land that is co-owned and what consent is needed?

In general, each co-owner may sell his proportionate share in accordance with Article 493 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines which states that:

"Each co-owner shall have the full ownership of his part and of the fruits and benefits pertaining thereto, and he may therefore alienate, assign or mortgage it, and even substitute another person in its enjoyment, except when personal rights are involved.

But the effect of the alienation or the mortgage, with respect to the co-owners, shall be limited to the portion which may be allotted to him in the division upon the termination of the co-ownership."

Correlative thereto, Article 491 thereof also provides that "[n]one of the co-owners shall, without the consent of the others, make alterations in the thing owned in common, even though benefits for all would result therefrom. "

The consent of the co-owners is necessary in the sale of a definite portion of an undivided land. This finds support in the pronouncement of the Court in the case of Cabrera v Ysaac (GR 166790, Nov. 19, 2014), where the Supreme Court speaking through Associate Justice Marvic M. V. F. Leonen stated that:

"If the alienation precedes the partition, the co-owner cannot sell a definite portion of the land without consent from his or her co-owners. He or she could only sell the undivided interest of the co-owned property. As summarized in Lopez v. Ilustre, "[i]f he is the owner of an undivided half of a tract of land, he has a right to sell and convey an undivided half, but he has no right to divide the lot into two parts, and convey the whole of one part by metes and bounds.

"The undivided interest of a co-owner is also referred to as the 'ideal or abstract quota' or 'proportionate share.' On the other hand, the definite portion of the land refers to specific metes and bounds of a co-owned property.

"Hence, prior to partition, a sale of a definite portion of common property requires the consent of all co-owners because it operates to partition the land with respect to the co-owner selling his or her share. The co-owner or seller is already marking which portion should redound to his or her autonomous ownership upon future partition."

Source: Manila Times