Civil Code of Honduras

Law is a declaration of sovereign will, which when manifested in the form prescribed by the Constitution, commands, prohibits, or permits.

Custom does not constitute law except in cases in which the law refers to it.

It is the sole prerogative of the legislator to explain or interpret the law in a manner that is generally binding.

The provisions contained in the Commercial Codes, Mining Code, and other special codes shall be applied with preference to those of this Code. PROMULGATION OF LAW

The law is binding by virtue of its promulgation and after twenty (20) days have elapsed from the completion of its publication in the official newspaper. The period referred to in this Article may, however, be restricted or extended in the law itself, and in special cases, another form of promulgation may be ordered.

No person may claim ignorance of the law after the common or special period has elapsed, except when by some accident ordinary communications have been interrupted during such period between the place of residence of the Government and the department in which it is to apply. In this case the period shall cease to run for the entire duration of the interruption in communications. EFFECTS OF LAW

Laws cannot have retroactive effect, except in criminal matters, when the new law is favorable to the offender.

Conflicts arising from the application of laws enacted in different periods shall be decided in accordance with the provisions of the final title of this Code.

Acts prohibited by law are null and void, except insofar as the law expressly designates an effect other than nullity for the case of contravention.

When the law declares an act null with the express or implied purpose of preventing fraud, or of providing for some object of public or private convenience, the law shall not fail to be applied, even if it is proved that the act which it nullifies has not been fraudulent or contrary to the purpose of the law.

Laws that concern public order and good morals cannot be evaded or modified by agreements between private parties; however, the rights conferred by laws may be waived, provided they only affect the individual interest of the person waiving them and their waiver is not prohibited.

The law is binding for all inhabitants of the Republic, including foreigners.

Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition, and legal capacity of persons, are binding on Hondurans, even if they reside in a foreign country.

Property situated in Honduras is subject to Honduran laws even though its owners are foreigners and do not reside in Honduras. This provision shall be understood without prejudice to the stipulations contained in contracts validly executed in a foreign country. However, the effects of contracts executed in a foreign country for performance in Honduras shall be governed by Honduran laws.

The form of public instruments is determined by the law of the country in which they were executed. Their authenticity shall be proved according to the rules established in the Code of Civil Procedure. Form refers to external solemnities, and authenticity to the fact of having been truly executed and authorized by the persons and in the manner expressed in such instruments.

In cases in which Honduran laws require public instruments for evidence that is to be rendered and produce effect in Honduras, private writings shall not be valid, whatever their force may be in the country in which they were executed. INTERPRETATION OF LAW

No other meaning may be attributed to the law than that which results explicitly from its own terms, given the relationship that should exist among them and the intent of the legislator.

When the legislator expressly defines words for certain matters, they shall be given in these their legal meaning.

The context of the law shall serve to illustrate the meaning of each of its parts, so that there is proper correspondence and harmony among all of them. The obscure passages of a law may be clarified by means of other laws, particularly if they deal with the same subject matter.

In cases in which the foregoing rules cannot be applied, obscure or contradictory passages shall be interpreted in the manner that appears most in accordance with the general spirit of the legislation and natural equity. OF KINSHIP Articles 21 to 36. Repealed.

In cases in which the Law provides that the relatives of a person be heard, this denomination shall be understood to include their spouse or common-law partner in a duly recognized de facto union, their blood relatives of either sex of legal age. In the absence of blood relatives in sufficient number, their relatives by affinity shall be heard. The descendants and ascendants shall be preferred to collateral relatives, and among these, those of closer kinship. The relatives shall be cited and shall appear to be heard verbally, in the form prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure.

All periods of days, months or years mentioned in the laws or in the decrees of the Executive Branch, or in the Courts or Tribunals shall be understood to be complete, and shall run, furthermore, until midnight of the last day of the period. The first and the last day of a period of months or years shall have the same number in the respective months. The period of one month may therefore be of 28, 29, 30 or 31 days, and the period of one year, 365 or 366 days, as the case may be. If the month in which a period of months or years is to begin has more days than the month in which the period is to end, and if the period runs from one of the days in which the first of said months exceeds the second, the last day of the period shall be the last day of this second month. These rules shall apply to prescriptions, to age qualifications, and in general, to any periods or terms prescribed in the laws or in the acts of Honduran authorities; except where the same laws or acts expressly provide otherwise.

When it is said that an act must be executed in or within a certain period, it shall be understood to be valid if executed before midnight of the last day of the period; and when it is required that a space of time has elapsed in order for certain rights to arise or expire, it shall be understood that these rights do not arise or expire until after midnight on the last day of said space of time.

In the periods set forth in the laws or in the decrees of the Executive Branch, or of the Courts or Tribunals, even holidays shall be included; unless the period set forth is of working days, being expressly stated as such, for in that case holidays shall not be counted. OF MEASUREMENTS

The measures of length, weight, duration and any others mentioned in the laws or in the decrees of the Executive Branch, or of the Courts or Tribunals, shall always be understood according to legal definitions; and in the absence of these, in the general and popular sense, unless otherwise expressed. REPEAL OF LAWS

The law may be repealed totally or partially by another law.

The repeal of the law may be express or tacit. It is express when the new law expressly states that it repeals the prior law. It is tacit when the new law contains provisions that cannot be reconciled with those of the prior law.

Express repeal shall be total or partial, according to what the repealing law provides. Tacit repeal leaves in effect in the prior law everything that does not conflict with the provisions of the new law, even though both deal with the same subject matter. LEGAL LANGUAGE

The legal language is Spanish. Public offices may not use any other language in their acts; and the account books of merchants, bankers, business people, entrepreneurs and other industrialists must be kept in the same language. Notaries shall likewise use the Spanish language in the instruments and documents that they draft and authenticate.

Those declared to be Hondurans by the Constitution of the State are Hondurans. All others are foreigners.

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Foreigners enjoy in Honduras the rights that civil laws grant to Hondurans.

Corporations, foundations and associations, recognized by law and domiciled in Honduras, shall enjoy Honduran nationality, provided that they have the status of legal persons, in accordance with the provisions of this Code. Associations domiciled abroad shall have in Honduras the status and rights determined by treaties or special laws. TITLE II ON THE EXISTENCE OF PERSONS CHAPTER I ON NATURAL PERSONS

The legal existence of every person begins at birth. The creature that dies in the maternal womb, or that perishes before being completely separated from its mother, or that has not survived the separation for even a moment, shall be deemed never to have existed.

The law protects the life of one about to be born. The Judge shall, consequently, take, at the petition of any person or ex officio, all measures that seem appropriate to protect the existence of the unborn, provided that the Judge believes it is endangered in any way.

From the time of birth, the time of conception may be inferred, according to the following rule: It is presumed by law that conception occurred no less than one hundred eighty (180) full days, or no more than three hundred (300) days, before birth, counted backward from the midnight beginning the day of birth.

The rights that would be deferred to the creature in the maternal womb, had it been born and lived, shall be suspended until birth takes place. And if birth constitutes a beginning of existence, the newborn shall enter into the enjoyment of such rights, as if it had existed at the time such rights were deferred. In the case of Article 51, second paragraph, such rights shall pass to the persons called by law.

When two (2) persons are born from one birth, and it cannot be determined which of them was born first, the proceedings shall be as if both had been born at the same time. CHAPTER II LEGAL PERSONS

Legal persons are: 1. The State and corporations, associations and foundations of public interest, recognized by law. Their personality begins at the very moment in which, in accordance with law, they have been validly constituted. 2. Associations of particular interest, whether civil, commercial or industrial, to which the law grants independent personality, separate from that of each of the members.

The associations referred to in item 2 of the preceding article shall be governed by the provisions relating to the partnership contract, according to the nature of the same.

The civil capacity of corporations shall be regulated by the laws that have created or recognized them: that of associations by their bylaws, and that of foundations by the rules of their institution, with the approval of the Executive Power, when the association or foundation are not created by the State.

Establishments, corporations and other legal persons enjoy in general the same rights as individuals to acquire property, take and maintain possession of it, establish servitudes, receive usufructs, inheritances, legacies or donations, and to bring civil or criminal actions that are incumbent upon them, except as provided by constitutional provisions. TITLE III ON DOMICILE

The domicile of a person is the place where the person has habitual residence. Diplomats, residing by reason of their office abroad and enjoying the right of extraterritoriality, retain the last domicile they had in Honduran territory.

When circumstances constitutive of domicile concur in various territorial sections, with respect to the same individual, it shall be understood that the individual has domicile in all of them; but if the matter relates to things that relate exclusively to one of such sections, that section alone shall be the domicile of the individual for such matters.

Mere residence shall serve as civil domicile with respect to persons who do not have one elsewhere.

A special domicile may be stipulated for the performance of determined acts.

Public employees have their domicile in the place where they serve in their position.

Military personnel on active duty have their domicile in the place where they are stationed.

Those who serve a person and reside in their house, whether of age or minors, have the domicile of the person they serve; but if they are minors and possess property that is in the charge of a guardian, with respect to such property, the domicile shall be that of the guardian.

The domicile of those serving a sentence is the place where they serve it, insofar as it concerns juridical relationships subsequent to the sentence; as regards those prior to it, they shall retain the last one they had. Convicted defendants, so long as they have not been transferred to the place where they must serve their sentence, shall have as their domicile the place where they are detained.

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The domicile of corporations, associations, banking establishments, and others recognized by law is the place where their direction or administration is located, except as provided in their bylaws or special laws, provided that the domicile determined therein is within the territorial jurisdiction subject to this Code. The domicile of agencies or branches of foreign companies or institutions, with respect to transactions conducted in Honduras, shall be Honduran; and those appointed as power of attorney holders or agents constituted in the Republic shall be reputed as their legal representatives.

Individuals serving in the naval force of the Republic have their domicile in the Honduran place where they are located.

Those serving in the merchant marine of the Republic shall be considered domiciled in the place of registry of the vessel, but if they are married and not separated, and their wife has a residence in another place, such place shall be reputed as their domicile.

When, not being married, they have some establishment in a place different from the registry of the vessel, they shall be considered domiciled in such place; but if they are married, the place of the establishment shall be the domicile with respect to acts relating to the business; and with respect to others, that of the wife's residence.

Honduran citizens who, without permission from the Government, serve in a foreign naval force or in an armed vessel held by a foreign Government, lose Honduran citizenship and domicile, and may only recover them according to the rules established for those serving foreign powers.

Those serving in the foreign merchant marine, if they have not renounced Honduran citizenship, retain the domicile they had upon entering the service of said merchant marine.

The domicile of corporations, establishments, and associations authorized by law is the place where their direction or administration is located, in the terms of Article 69; but companies, associations, and other institutions that have establishments or branches have their special domicile in the place of said establishments or branches, for only the execution of obligations contracted there by the local agents of the company.

Those who have an established domicile in the Republic, whether nationals or foreigners, whether present or absent, may be sued before the territorial Courts for the performance of contracts entered into in another country. Foreigners who are in the country may also be sued, even if not domiciled, if such contracts were entered into with nationals or with other foreigners domiciled in the Republic. Foreigners, even if absent, may be sued before the Courts of the Nation: 1. So that they comply with obligations entered into or that should be executed in the Republic. 2. When an action in rem is attempted against them concerning property they have in the Republic. 3. If it was stipulated in the obligation entered into by the foreigner that the Courts of the Republic shall decide the controversies relating to it. 4. When any civil action is attempted as a consequence of a crime or wrongdoing that the foreigner may have committed in the Republic.

The domicile of the deceased determines the place where his succession is opened.

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The domicile of a person determines the jurisdiction of the authorities that must hear claims brought against him, except for legal exceptions. TITLE IV ON THE TERMINATION OF THE EXISTENCE OF PERSONS CHAPTER I ON NATURAL DEATH 4 Article 78 Repealed by Decree No. 35-2013 dated February 27, 2013 and published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta dated September 6, 2013 No. 33,222; Effective as of its publication. 5 Repealed by Decree No. 35-2013 dated February 27, 2013 and published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta dated September 6, 2013 No. 33,222; Effective as of its publication.

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A person's existence terminates by natural death.

If two (2) or more persons have perished in the same event, such as a shipwreck, fire, collapse or battle, or for any other cause, it cannot be determined the order in which their deaths occurred, in such cases the proceedings shall be as if said persons had perished in the same moment and none of them had survived the others. CHAPTER II ON DEATH BY PRESUMPTION

When a person disappears from the place of his domicile, his whereabouts being unknown, the disappearance shall be regarded as mere absence, and he shall be represented and his interests cared for by his attorneys or legal representatives.

A declaration of presumption of death is proper: I. After five (5) years have elapsed since the last news received of the absent person or, in the absence thereof, from his disappearance, if upon the expiration of said period the absent person had reached sixty (60) years of age. II. Of those belonging to an armed contingent or united to it in the capacity of auxiliary volunteer officials; or in informative functions, whether or not they have participated in campaign operations and disappeared during them, after two (2) years have elapsed counted from the date on which the events occurred. III. After one (1) year has elapsed, counted from date to date of an imminent risk of death due to a casualty event or violence against life, in which a person found himself without having had news of him after the casualty event or the violence. IV. Of the crew members and passengers of a shipwrecked vessel if one (1) year has elapsed counted from the verification of the casualty event, without having had news of them. V. Of the passengers, crew members and auxiliaries of a destroyed aircraft, if one (1) year has elapsed from the verification of the casualty event, through public knowledge, without having had news of them or, in the case that human remains had been found, they could not have been identified. The casualty event is presumed if in voyages over seas, mountainous zones, desert or uninhabited areas one (1) year elapses, counted from the last news of the persons or aircraft and, in its absence, from the date of departure of the voyage.6

The presumption of death shall be declared with the hearing of the Public Prosecutor, by the Judge of the last domicile that the disappeared person had in the territory of the Republic, if it appears: 1. Proof that the whereabouts of the disappeared person are unknown, despite the proceedings undertaken to ascertain it, and that, from the date of the last news, the periods set forth in the previous article have elapsed. 2. That the disappeared person has been cited by means of edicts, published in the official newspaper of the Republic, three (3) times at least, with more than four (4) months having elapsed between each two (2) citations.

The judge, at the request of the prosecutor or of any person having an interest in it, or ex officio, may require, in addition to the evidence presented to him of the disappearance, if he does not consider them satisfactory, others that according to the circumstances are appropriate.

The final judgment declaring the presumption of death shall be published in the official newspaper, and six (6) months after the date of publication, the succession of the property of the disappeared person shall be opened, proceeding in accordance with the provisions of Book III of this Code. 6 Article 84. Amended by Decree No. 180-89, published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta No. 25,997, dated November 29, 1990.

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Whoever claims a right for whose existence it is presumed that the disappeared person has died on the date of presumed death shall not be obligated to prove that the disappeared person has truly died on that date. And, on the contrary, everyone who claims a right for whose existence it is required that the disappeared person has died, before or after that date, shall be obligated to prove it; and without that proof, he shall not be able to prevent the claimed right from passing to others, nor require any liability from them.

If the absent person appears, or without appearing his existence is proven, he shall recover his property in the state in which it is found, the alienations, mortgages and other real rights constituted legally thereon subsisting. For all restitution, the defendants shall be considered as possessors in good faith, except proof to the contrary. Having known and concealed the true death of the disappeared person, or his existence, constitutes bad faith. CHAPTER III EXTINCTION OF JURIDICAL PERSONS

The existence of associations and corporations terminates by the destruction of the property dedicated to their maintenance.

Corporations may not dissolve themselves without the approval of the authority that legitimized their existence. But they may be dissolved by virtue of law, notwithstanding the will of their members, if they come to compromise the security or the interests of the State, or do not correspond to the purpose of their institution.

If through death or other accidents the members of a corporation are reduced to such a small number that the objects for which it was instituted cannot be fulfilled, or if all of them are lacking, and the statutes have not foreseen the manner of reconstituting or renewing it in these cases, it shall be the responsibility of the authority that legitimized its existence to dictate the form in which its reconstitution or renewal shall be effected, or to declare it dissolved.

Once an association or corporation is dissolved or terminated, the property and assets belonging to it shall have the destination provided in its statutes; and if nothing has been provided for therein, the property and assets shall be considered as property belonging to the State and shall be applied by the Executive Branch, preferentially, to objects analogous to those of its institution. TITLE V OF MATRIMONY CHAPTER I OF BETROTHALS

Repealed CHAPTER II OF THE FORM OF MATRIMONY

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Repealed CHAPTER III OF APTITUDE FOR MARRIAGE

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Repealed CHAPTER IV OF DISPENSATIONS Titles V through X and their respective Articles were Repealed and Article 234 reformed respectively by Decree No. 35-2013 dated February 27, 2013 and published in the Official Gazette, La Gaceta, dated September 6, 2013 No. 33, 222; Effective as of its publication.

Repealed CHAPTER V OF PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF MATRIMONY

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Repealed CHAPTER VIII ON THE CELEBRATION OF MARRIAGE

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Repealed CHAPTER IX ON MARRIAGE CONTRACTED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND ON MARRIAGE OF FOREIGNERS IN HONDURAS

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Repealed CHAPTER X ON THE DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

Repealed CHAPTER XI ON THE NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

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Repealed CHAPTER XII ON DIVORCE

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Repealed CHAPTER XIII ON THE EFFECTS OF THE NULLITY OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCES

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Repealed. TITLE VI ON SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT MARRIAGES

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Repealed TITLE VII ON THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES ARISING FROM MARRIAGE CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

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Repealed CHAPTER II SEPARATION OF BODIES

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Repealed TITLE VIII OF LEGITIMATE CHILDREN CONCEIVED IN MARRIAGE CHAPTER I GENERAL RULES

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Repealed CHAPTER II SPECIAL RULES FOR CASES OF DIVORCE AND NULLITY OF MARRIAGE

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Repealed CHAPTER III RULES RELATING TO POSTHUMOUS CHILDREN

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Repealed CHAPTER IV RULES RELATING TO THE CASE OF A WOMAN ENTERING INTO ANOTHER MARRIAGE

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Repealed TITLE IX OF LEGITIMATED CHILDREN

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Repealed TITLE X OF THE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS BETWEEN PARENTS AND LEGITIMATE CHILDREN

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The rights granted to parents in the preceding articles may not be claimed against the child who has been taken by them to a protective home or abandoned in another manner.

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Repealed TITLE XI OF PARENTAL AUTHORITY

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A son of the family shall be regarded as emancipated and authorized to manage and enjoy his professional or industrial peculium.

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The condition of the father not administering, imposed by the donor or testator, shall not be understood to deprive him of the usufruct, nor shall the condition that deprives him of the usufruct be understood to take away administration from him, unless both one and the other are expressly stated by the donor or testator.

The father of the family who, as such, administers goods of the son, is not obliged to make a solemn inventory of them, so long as he does not enter into other nuptials; but if he does not make a solemn inventory, he must keep a detailed description of such goods from the time he begins to administer them.

The father of the family is responsible, in the administration of the goods of the son, even for slight negligence. The responsibility of the father toward the son extends to the ownership and fruits of those goods of the son in which he has administration, but not the usufruct; and is limited to ownership of goods of which he is administrator and usufructuary.

There shall be grounds to remove from the father of the family the administration of the goods of the son, when he has been guilty of fraud or grave habitual negligence. The father shall not have administration of the goods of the son, when paternal authority is suspended by judicial decree.

Not having the father the administration of all or part of the ordinary or extraordinary adventitious peculium, a guardian shall be appointed to the son for its administration. But once removed from the father the administration of those goods of the son in which the law grants him the usufruct, he shall not cease to have the right to the net fruits, deducting administration expenses.

The acts and contracts of the son of the family not authorized by the father or by the guardian appointed in the case of the preceding article, shall obligate him exclusively in his professional or industrial peculium. But he may not borrow money at interest, nor purchase on credit, except in the ordinary course of such peculium, without authorization from the father, in a public instrument or with the father expressly and directly intervening in the act. And if he does so, he shall not be bound by these contracts, except to the extent of the benefit he may have obtained from them.

The acts and contracts that the son of the family enters into outside his professional or industrial peculium, and that the father authorizes or ratifies in writing, bind the father directly and the son subsidiarily, to the extent of the benefit that he may have obtained from such acts or contracts.

Real property of the son shall not be alienated or mortgaged in any case, even if they belong to his professional or industrial peculium, without authorization from the Judge, with knowledge of the matter.

The father shall not be able to make a donation of any part of the son's property, nor let them out for a long period of time, nor accept or reject an inheritance left to the son, except in the form and with the limitations imposed on tutors and curators.

Paternal intervention shall not be necessary to proceed criminally against the son; but the father shall be obligated to provide him with the assistance necessary for his defense.

A son in paternal authority does not need paternal authorization to dispose of his property by means of a testamentary act that is to take effect after his death.

Patria potestad is suspended by the prolonged dementia of the father, by the father being interdicted from administering his own property, and by prolonged absence of the father, from which grave damage to the interests of the son ensues, which the absent father does not remedy.

Repealed. Article 262 was repealed by Decree No. 35-2013 dated February 27, 2013 and published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta dated September 6, 2013 No. 33,222; Effective as of its publication. TITLE XII ON EMANCIPATION

Emancipation is an act that terminates patria potestad. It may be voluntary, legal, or judicial.

Voluntary emancipation is effected by public instrument, in which the father declares the son emancipated and the son consents to it. For voluntary emancipation to take place, it is required that the son has reached eighteen years of age. This emancipation shall produce the effects of age habilitation from the date of its registration in the Civil Registry.

Legal emancipation is effected: 1. By the real death or judicially declared presumptive death of the father. 2. By the marriage of the son. 3. By the son having reached the age of twenty-one (21) years.

Judicial emancipation is effected by decree of the Judge: 1. When the father habitually mistreats the son, in a manner that places his life in danger, or causes him grave harm. 2. When the father has abandoned the son. 3. When the depravity of the father renders him incapable of exercising patria potestad. 4. In the three preceding cases, the Judge may proceed at the petition of any blood relative of the son, and even on his own motion. 5. Judicial emancipation is likewise effected by any sentence that has become final as a matter of res judicata, which declares the father guilty of a crime to which the penalty of imprisonment or major detention applies.

When a donation is made to the son, or a legacy is left to him, on the condition of obtaining emancipation, the father shall have neither usufruct nor administration of these properties, and the condition shall be understood to be fulfilled in this manner.

Every emancipation, once effected, is irrevocable. TITLE XIII ON AGE HABILITATION

Age habilitation is a privilege granted to a minor so that he may execute all judicial and extrajudicial acts, and enter into all obligations of which persons over twenty-one (21) years of age are capable, except those acts or obligations which the law declares him incapable of performing.

Those married who have reached eighteen (18) years of age obtain age habilitation by operation of law. In other cases, age habilitation is granted by the Judge, at the petition of the minor, except as provided in the third paragraph of Article 264.

Those minor children under eighteen (18) years of age cannot obtain age habilitation from the Judge, even if they have been emancipated.

The Judge shall not grant the age habilitation without having heard thereon the relatives of the minor who requests it, his tutor, and the representative of the Public Ministry.

Age habilitation terminates the guardianship of the minor.

This habilitation does not extend to political rights.

The minor habilitated of age shall not be able to alienate or mortgage his real property, nor approve the accounts of his tutor or curator, without prior judicial authorization; nor shall this authorization be granted without examination of the merits. The alienation of said real property, authorized by the Judge, shall be made in public auction.

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Repealed. Titles XIV through XVII and their respective Articles were repealed by Decree No. 35-2013 dated February 27, 2013 and published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta dated September 6, 2013 No. 33,222; effective as of its publication, except for Articles 331 and 343.

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Repealed. TITLE XV OF DISPUTED MATERNITY

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Repealed. TITLE XVI OF THE CIVIL REGISTRY CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS

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Repealed CHAPTER II OF THE BIRTH REGISTRY

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Repealed CHAPTER III OF THE MARRIAGE REGISTRY

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Repealed CHAPTER IV ON THE REGISTRATION OF LEGITIMATIONS

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Repealed CHAPTER V ON THE REGISTRATION OF RECOGNITION OF NATURAL CHILDREN

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Repealed CHAPTER VI ON THE REGISTRATION OF EMANCIPATIONS

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The emancipation that occurs by reason of the death of the parents, or by marriage of the emancipated persons, shall only be subject to annotation in the margin of the respective birth certificates.

Repealed CHAPTER VII OF THE REGISTRY OF THE DISCERNMENT OF GUARDIANS

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Repealed CHAPTER VIII OF THE REGISTRY OF DEATHS

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The judicial or police officer shall immediately transmit to the Officer in Charge of the Civil Registry of the place where the person died, the information contained in the file in accordance with which the death certificate shall be issued.

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Repealed CHAPTER IX ON REGISTRATION OF JUDGMENTS OF LEGAL SEPARATION, DIVORCE, ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE, AND DECLARATION OF ABSENCE

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Repealed CHAPTER X GENERAL PROVISIONS

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Repealed CHAPTER XI OF THE EFFECTS OF CIVIL REGISTRATION

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Repealed TITLE XVII OF ALIMONY

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Repealed. Titles XIV through XVII and their respective Articles were Repealed; except for Articles 331 and 343 by Decree No. 35-2013 dated February 27, 2013 and published in the Official Gazette La Gaceta dated September 6, 2013 No. 33,222; Effective as of its publication.

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Repealed TITLE XVIII OF GUARDIANSHIPS AND CURATORSHIP IN GENERAL CHAPTER I DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL RULES

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The provisions of this Chapter and those of Chapters V and VI are subject to the modifications and exceptions that shall be expressed in the special chapters of guardianship and of each kind of curatorship.

Guardianship and general curatorships extend not only to the property, but also to the person of the individuals subject to them.

Minors of age who are not emancipated are subject to guardianship.

Those who have been interdicted due to dementia from administering their property; deaf-mutes who cannot communicate in writing; and those condemned to interdiction are subject to general curatorship.

Those appointed to administer the property of an absent person, a vacant estate, and the eventual rights of a person yet to be born are called property curators.

Those appointed in certain cases to persons under parental authority, or under guardianship or general curatorship, to exercise a separate administration are called co-curators or assistant curators.

A special curator is one who is appointed for a particular matter.

Individuals subject to guardianship or curatorship are called wards.

Two or more individuals may be placed under the same guardianship or curatorship, provided there is no division of their estates among them. Once the estates are divided, there shall be as many guardianships or curatorships as there are distinct estates, even if exercised by the same person.

A guardian or general curator cannot be appointed to one who is under parental authority, except that this be suspended by judicial decree, in any of the cases enumerated in Article 261. A co-curator shall be appointed to a child when the father or mother is deprived of the administration of the child's property, or a part thereof, according to Article 253.

A guardian shall be appointed to a married woman in the same cases in which, if the marriage were dissolved, she would need a guardian for the administration of her own property, when in the marriage capitulations the husband was not granted the representation of his wife under eighteen (18) years of age.

A guardian or curator cannot be appointed to one who already has one; only a co-curator may be appointed in the cases designated by law.

If the guardian or curator, alleging the excessive complexity of the ward's business affairs and his insufficiency to administer them properly, should request that another curator be assigned to him, the Judge may accede to this, having heard on the matter the relatives of the ward and a special curator. The Judge shall then divide the administration in the manner that seems most convenient to him.

If a donation is made to one who is under guardianship or curatorship, or if he is left an inheritance or legacy, with the precise condition that the assets comprised in the donation, inheritance or legacy be administered by a person designated by the donor or testator, the wishes of these shall be honored; unless, having heard the relatives and a special curator, it appears that it is more convenient for the ward to repudiate the donation, inheritance or legacy than to accept it on those terms. If the donation, inheritance or legacy is accepted, and the donor or testator has not designated the person, or the one designated is not suitable, the Judge shall make the designation.

Guardianship shall be exercised under the supervision of the Judge who conferred the office and of the representative of the Public Ministry.

The judges and the police authorities of the territory in which persons subject to guardianship reside shall provide for the care of these persons and their assets until the appointment of a guardian, when by law there are no other persons charged with this obligation. If they do not do so, they shall be responsible for the damages that as a result may befall minors or incapacitated persons.

Guardianships or curatorships may be testamentary, legitimate, or dative. They are testamentary when constituted by testamentary act. Legitimate, when conferred by law. Dative, when conferred by the Judge. The rules of testamentary guardianship are followed in that conferred by act between living persons according to Article 434. CHAPTER II OF TESTAMENTARY GUARDIANSHIP AND CURATORSHIP

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He may likewise appoint by testament a curator for adult children who are in a state of dementia or are deaf-mutes who neither understand nor can make themselves understood in writing.

He may also appoint by testament a curator for the defense of the eventual rights of a child yet to be born.

The father who has been deprived of parental authority by judicial decree, according to Article 266, or who has been judicially removed from the guardianship of the child due to mismanagement, shall lack the rights conferred upon him by the preceding articles.

In the absence of a father, the mother shall exercise the same rights, provided that she has not been deprived of parental authority or personal care of the child by judicial decree.

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Parents, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 430 and 431, and any other person may appoint a guardian by testament or by act between living persons, provided that they donate or bequeath to the ward some part of their assets. This guardianship shall be limited to the assets that are donated or bequeathed to the ward.

If there are several wards and the testator divides them among the named guardians or curators, all of these shall exercise guardianship or curatorship jointly while the estate remains undivided, and once the estate is divided, guardianship shall be divided among them by that very fact, and they shall be independent of one another. But the care of the person of each ward shall fall exclusively to his respective guardian or curator even during the indivisibility of the estate.

Likewise, several guardians or curators may be appointed by testament who may substitute or succeed one another; and once substitution is established for a particular case, it shall apply to the other cases in which the guardian or curator is lacking, unless it clearly appears that the testator has wished to limit the substitution or succession to the designated case or cases.

Testamentary guardianships and curatorships admit suspensive and resolutory conditions, and the designation of a certain day on which they may begin or expire.

The appointment of a guardian or curator must be certain and unequivocal; if it is doubtful, it shall not be valid. CHAPTER III OF LEGITIMATE GUARDIANSHIP OR CURATORSHIP

Legitimate guardianship takes place when testamentary guardianship is lacking or expires. It takes place especially when, with the father or mother living, the minor is emancipated, and when parental authority is suspended by decree of the Judge.

Legitimate guardianship or curatorship belongs to the relatives of the ward, in the following order: 1. To the father. 2. To the mother. 3. To the grandparents of either sex. 4. To the male siblings of the ward and to the male siblings of the parents and grandparents of the same. If there is no place for the guardianship of the father or mother, the Judge, having heard the relatives of the ward, shall choose from among the grandparents, and in the absence of grandparents, from among the collateral relatives designated herein, the person who shall appear to be most suitable and who shall present better guarantees. These relationships include both legitimate and natural kinship, in their respective cases.

If while the wardship continues the legitimate guardian ceases in his office, the other relatives of the ward shall be called to exercise the guardianship in the order and in the manner established in the preceding article.

When the person preferentially called by law to the guardianship cannot exercise it due to being a minor or being incapacitated, retains his right for when his incapacity disappears. In the meantime, the other relatives shall exercise the guardianship in the order expressed in the

Article 443. In the case of Article 420, the husband who is of age shall be called to exercise the guardianship of the female minor under eighteen (18) years of age, concurrently with the other relatives of the woman.

Any person who has the legal conditions to be a guardian and who has taken in an abandoned orphan may undertake the guardianship of the latter, with the sole formality of addressing the Judge of first instance, declaring that he has taken the minor into his care and offering to fulfill toward the minor the duties corresponding to guardianship. In the written statement, all circumstances that motivate the guardianship shall be expressed, as well as those that serve to identify the minor at all times. The Judge shall declare the voluntary guardianship constituted, if he finds no legal cause to prevent it; shall order a copy of the declaration to be issued and shall order the corresponding registration and publication in the official newspaper and by notices. CHAPTER IV OF APPOINTIVE GUARDIANSHIP OR CURATORSHIP

In the absence of other guardianship or curatorship, appointive guardianship or curatorship takes place.

When the discernment of a guardianship or curatorship is delayed for any reason, or during it there arises an impediment that for some time prevents the guardian or curator from continuing to exercise it, the Judge shall appoint an interim guardian or curator to serve while the delay or impediment lasts. However, if there is an assistant curator who can supply the absence, or if it is a matter of appointing a guardian or curator to succeed the one currently serving as guardian or curator, and the latter can continue in the position for some time, the appointment of an interim guardian or curator shall not take place.

The Judge, in selecting the appointive guardian or curator, shall hear the relatives of the ward. If there is an assistant curator, the Judge may prefer him for the appointive guardianship or curatorship. CHAPTER V OF THE PROCEEDINGS THAT MUST PRECEDE THE EXERCISE OF GUARDIANSHIP OR CURATORSHIP

Every guardianship or curatorship must be discerned. Discernment is called the judicial decree that authorizes the guardian or curator to exercise his office.

The acts of the guardian or curator that have not yet been authorized by the decree of discernment are null; but the decree, once obtained, shall validate the prior acts, from whose delay harm to the ward could have resulted.

The guardian or curator, before the office is discerned to him, shall post a bond to secure the successful result of his management.

The bond must be mortgage or pledge. Personal bond shall only be admitted when it is impossible to constitute one of the foregoing. The guarantee provided by the sureties shall not prevent the adoption of any useful measures for the preservation of the property of the minor or incapacitated person.

The bond shall secure: 1. The amount of the movable property that enters into the possession of the guardian. 2. The rents or products that during one (1) year were yielded by the property of the minor or incapacitated person. 3. The profits that during one (1) year the minor may receive from any commercial or industrial enterprise.

Against the resolutions of the Judge setting the amount or making the qualification of the bond, the guardian may make use of legal remedies; but shall not enter into possession of his office without having provided the bond that is required of him.

The bond may be increased or decreased during the exercise of guardianship, according to the vicissitudes experienced by the property of the minor or incapacitated person and the values in which it is constituted. The bond may not be totally cancelled until, after the accounts of the guardianship have been approved, the guardian has discharged all the responsibilities of his administration.

All tutors or curators are obligated to provide a bond, excepted only: 1. The spouse and the legitimate or natural ascendants and descendants. 2. Those called for a short time to serve in the office. 3. Those appointed for a particular transaction, without administration of property. He may also be relieved of the bond, when the ward has little property, the tutor or curator who is a person of recognized probity and of sufficient means to answer for such property. Podrá también ser relevado de la fianza, cuando el pupilo tuviere pocos bienes, el tutor o curador que fuere persona de reconocida probidad y de bastantes facultades para responder de ellos.

The tutor or curator is obligated to make a formal inventory of the property of the ward within (90) days following the adjudication of guardianship, and before taking any part in the administration, except insofar as absolutely necessary. The Judge, according to the circumstances, may restrict or extend this period. For the negligence of the guardian in proceeding to make the inventory and for any serious fault that may be imputed to him in it, he may be removed from the tutorship or curatorship as suspect and shall be condemned to compensation for all loss or damage that may have resulted to the ward from it in the manner provided in Article 493.

The testator cannot exempt the tutor or curator from the obligation to make an inventory.

If the tutor or curator proves that the property is so minimal that it will not exceed one thousand (1,000.00), the Judge may, after hearing the relatives of the ward and a special curator, remit the obligation of making a formal inventory of such property and require only a private inventory, under the signatures of the tutor or curator and of three (3) of the nearest relatives of age, or of three (3) respectable persons in the absence of these.

If after the inventory has been made, property is discovered of which notice was not taken when it was made, or if the ward acquires new property by any title, an inventory of it shall be made and shall be added to the preceding one.

The inventory must include even things that are not the property of the person in guardianship if they are found among those that are, and the responsibility of the guardian shall extend to all of them.

The simple mention made in the inventory that the objects enumerated belong to determined persons does not constitute proof as to the true ownership of them.

If the guardian alleges that things that did not exist have been listed in the inventory by error, or that the number, weight, or measure of those existing has been exaggerated; or that a matter or quality of which they lack has been attributed to them, this exception shall not avail him, except that he proves that the error could not have been avoided with the due care on his part, or without scientific knowledge or experiments.

The guardian who alleges that he knowingly included in the inventory things that were not actually delivered to him shall not be heard, although he offers to prove that he had some beneficial purpose for the ward in doing so. The obscure or doubtful passages of the inventory shall be interpreted in favor of the person in guardianship, unless there is proof to the contrary.

The guardian who succeeds another shall receive the property by the previous inventory and shall note in it the differences. This operation shall be done with the same solemnities as the previous inventory, which shall thus become the inventory of the successor. CHAPTER VI OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF TUTORS AND CURATORS WITH RESPECT TO PROPERTY

It is the duty of the tutor or curator to represent or authorize the ward in all judicial or extrajudicial acts that concern him and may diminish his rights or impose obligations upon him.

The tutor or curator administers the property of the ward and is obligated to the preservation of such property and to its repair and cultivation. His responsibility extends to slight negligence.

If a person is named in the will to whom the guardian must consult in the exercise of his office, this shall not oblige him to submit to the opinion of the consultant, nor shall his responsibility cease by doing so. If the will expressly orders that the guardian proceed in agreement with the consultant, the responsibility of the former shall not cease by acceding to the opinion of the second; but if there is disagreement between them, the guardian shall not proceed except with authorization from the Judge, who must grant it with knowledge of the facts.

It shall not be lawful for the tutor or curator, without prior judicial decree, to transfer the real property of the ward, nor to burden it with mortgage or servitude, nor to transfer or pledge precious movable property or property of sentimental value; and the Judge may not authorize such acts except for cause of manifest utility or necessity.

The sale of any part of the ward's property, enumerated in the preceding articles, shall be made at public auction.

Notwithstanding the provision of Article 468, if there has been a prior decree of execution and attachment on the real property of the ward, a new decree shall not be necessary for its transfer. Likewise, no judicial decree shall be necessary for the constitution of a mortgage or servitude on real property that has been transferred to the ward with the burden of constituting said mortgage or servitude.

Without prior judicial decree, the guardian may not proceed to the division of real property or inherited property that the ward possesses with others in common ownership. If the Judge, at the request of a co-owner or co-heir, has decreed the division, a new decree shall not be necessary.

The guardian may not repudiate any inheritance devolved to the ward without judicial decree, with knowledge of the facts, nor may he accept it without benefit of inventory.

Donations or legacies may not likewise be repudiated without judicial decree; and if they impose obligations or burdens on the ward, they may not be accepted without prior appraisal of the donated or bequeathed property.

Once the division of an inheritance, or of real property that the ward possesses with another in common ownership, is made, a new judicial decree shall be necessary for it to take effect, which with the hearing of a special curator shall approve and confirm it.

Prior decree is likewise required to proceed to transactions or compromises regarding the rights of the ward, valued at more than L.1,000.00 (one thousand lempiras), and regarding his real property; and in each case the transaction or the award of the arbitrator shall be submitted to judicial approval, under penalty of nullity.

Money that has been left or donated to the ward for the acquisition of real property may not be applied to any other object that impedes or hinders it; except that judicial authorization intervenes with knowledge of the facts.

The donation of real property of the ward is prohibited. Only with prior judicial decree may donations be made in money or other movable property of the ward; and the Judge shall not authorize them except for grave cause, such as relief to a needy blood relative, or to contribute to an object of public charity, or another similar; and provided that they are proportionate to the ward's means, and that capital productive assets do not suffer notable diminishment from them. Expenses of little value for objects of charity, or of lawful recreation, are not subject to the preceding prohibition.

The gratuitous remission of a right is subject to the rules of donation.

The ward is incapable of being obligated as a guarantor without prior judicial decree, which shall authorize this guarantee only in favor of a spouse, a legitimate or natural ascendant or descendant and for urgent and grave cause.

The debtors of the ward who pay the tutor or curator are freed from any further payment. Likewise those who pay the ward with authorization of his tutor or curator, or by judicial decree.

The tutor or curator must lend the idle money of the ward, with the best securities, at the prevailing rate of interest obtainable with them in the market. He may, if he deems it preferable, employ it in the acquisition of real property. For omission in this matter he shall be responsible for lost profits insofar as it appears that the idle money of the ward could have been employed with manifest utility and without danger.

The guardian may not lease any part of the pupil's rural properties for more than five (5) years, nor urban properties for more than three (3) years, nor for a greater number of years than those remaining for the pupil to reach the age of twenty-one (21). If the guardian does so, the lease shall not be binding on the pupil or on whoever succeeds him in the ownership of the property, for the time that exceeds the limits established herein.

The tutor or curator shall take care to collect payment of what is owed to the pupil as soon as payment becomes due, and to pursue the debtors through legal means.

The guardian shall exercise special care to interrupt the statutes of limitations that may run against the pupil.

The guardian may cover with the pupil's funds the advances that the guardian has made for the pupil's benefit, bearing the current market interest; however, the guardian must be authorized by the Judge to do so. If the pupil is a debtor of any species, real or personal property, by title of legacy or any other, it shall be necessary that the possession thereof be given by the Judge, with the hearing of a special curator.

In all acts and contracts that the guardian executes or enters into in representation of the pupil, the guardian must express this circumstance in the deed of the same act or contract; under penalty that, if this expression is omitted, the act shall be deemed executed or the contract deemed entered into in representation of the pupil if it is beneficial to the pupil, and not otherwise.

As a general rule, no act or contract in which the guardian has a direct or indirect interest, or the guardian's spouse, or any of the guardian's legitimate ascendants or descendants, or natural parents or children, or legitimate or natural siblings, or blood relatives up to the fourth degree, or legitimate relatives by marriage up to the second degree inclusive, or any of the guardian's business partners, may be executed or entered into except with judicial authorization and with the hearing of the representative of the Public Ministry. However, in no case may the guardian purchase real estate of the pupil or lease it; and this prohibition extends to the guardian's spouse and to the guardian's legitimate or natural ascendants or descendants.

The guardian has the right to be reimbursed for expenses justly incurred in the exercise of the guardianship; this shall include indemnification for services that the guardian provides to the pupil as a lawyer, physician, artisan or laborer, or in other capacities that are not owed or inherent to the administration; in case of legitimate claim the Judge shall have them assessed.

The guardian is obliged to keep a faithful, accurate, and as far as possible documented account of all administrative acts, day by day; to exhibit it as soon as the administration ends; to return the property to whom by right it corresponds, and to pay the balance that results against the guardian. This obligation extends to every guardian, including the testamentary guardian, notwithstanding that the testator may have exempted the guardian from rendering any account or may have condoned the balance in advance; and even if the pupil has no other property than that of the testator's succession, and even if property is left to the pupil under the precise condition of not requiring the account or the balance. Such condition shall be considered as not written.

The Judge may order ex officio, when the Judge deems it appropriate, that the guardian, even during the guardianship, exhibit the accounts of the administration or manifest the assets to a special curator designated by the Judge for that purpose. Any of the pupil's nearest blood relatives, or the pupil's spouse, or the representative of the Public Ministry may request this measure for grave cause, qualified verbally by the Judge. The general tutor or curator shall have the same authority with respect to assistant curators and shall be subsidiarily responsible for the careless or improper administration of these.

Upon expiration of the guardianship, the guardian shall proceed with the delivery of the property within the term set by the Judge, considering the circumstances; without prejudice to executing in the interim those acts that would otherwise be delayed to the detriment of the pupil.

Once the account is presented by the guardian, it shall be discussed by the person to whom the administration of the property passes. If the administration is transferred to another guardian or to the pupil themselves upon reaching legal age, the account shall not be closed except with the approval of the Judge, heard the representative of the Public Ministry.

Against the tutor or curator who does not render a true account of the administration, exhibiting at the same time the inventory and the assets, or who in the administration is convicted of fraud or gross negligence, the pupil shall have the right to assess and swear to the amount of damages received, including lost profits, and the tutor or curator shall be condemned in the amount assessed and sworn to; except that the Judge may deem it appropriate to moderate it.

The guardian shall pay the current interest on the balance that results against the guardian, from the day on which the account was closed or there was delay in exhibiting it; and shall, in turn, collect the interest on the balance that results in the guardian's favor from the day on which the account is closed and claimed.

The surety has all the responsibilities imposed by law on guardians when the guardians or their heirs do not fulfill the duties of the guardianship. Sureties cannot request to be exonerated from the surety bond, even if the guardian does not perform the guardianship well, in which case they may request the guardian's removal.

In general, the actions of the pupil against the guardian or against the sureties, by reason of the guardianship, are barred by prescription in four (4) years, counted from the day on which the guardianship ended; except for the action for the balance and current interest referred to in Article 494, which shall be governed by the common rules of prescription.

A person who exercises the office of guardian or curator, not being truly one, but believing himself to be so, has all the obligations, rights and responsibilities of the true guardian or curator; and his acts shall not bind the ward, except insofar as they have resulted in positive advantage to him. But if he has proceeded in bad faith, falsely representing himself as guardian or curator, he shall be precisely removed from the administration and deprived of all emoluments of the guardianship or curatorship, without prejudice to the penalty to which he may be liable for the imposture.

A person who, in case of necessity, and to protect the ward, takes administration of the latter's property, shall immediately apply to the Judge so that he may provide for the guardianship or curatorship; and meanwhile, he shall proceed as an officious agent, and shall have only the obligations and rights of such. Any voluntary delay in applying to the Judge shall make him liable even for the slightest negligence. CHAPTER VII SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO GUARDIANSHIP

With respect to the upbringing and education of the ward, the guardian is obliged to conform to the will of the parents or of any other person who has appointed him, in accordance with Articles 427 through 434.

When the parents or the persons who have made the appointment of guardian have not provided for the upbringing and education of the ward, the guardian shall provide and supply what is necessary for these purposes according to what befits the social rank of the family, drawing from the ward's property and, insofar as possible, from its fruits. The guardian shall be responsible for any excessive expenditure in the upbringing and education of the ward, even if it is drawn from the fruits. To cover his responsibility, he may ask the Judge to fix, in view of the ward's means, the maximum amount to be spent on his upbringing and education.

If the fruits of the ward's property are insufficient for his moderate sustenance and necessary education, the guardian may alienate or encumber some part of the property, without contracting loans or touching real property or productive capital, except in case of extreme necessity and with judicial authorization.

In case of indigence of the ward, the guardian shall resort to the persons who by their relationship with the ward are obliged to provide him with support, taking legal action against them, if necessary, so that they do so.

The continued negligence of the guardian in providing for the adequate sustenance and education of the ward is sufficient grounds for removing him from the guardianship.

A minor without a guardian shall be appointed one by the Judge, upon petition of relatives, at the instance of the Public Prosecutor's representative, or upon complaint from any member of the public, or ex officio.

The adult minor who lacks a guardian must request one from the Judge, designating the person to serve as such. If the minor does not request it, the relatives or the Public Prosecutor's representative may do so; but the designation of the person shall always correspond to the minor or to the Judge as a substitute. The Judge, hearing the minor's relatives, shall accept the person whom the minor designates, if he is suitable. If neither the minor, nor the relatives, nor the Public Prosecutor's representative requests a guardian, the Judge shall appoint one ex officio or upon petition or complaint from any member of the public.

A minor under guardianship shall have the same administrative powers as a son of the family, with respect to property acquired by him in the exercise of a profession or industry. The provisions of Article 255 relating to the son of the family and the father shall apply to the minor and the guardian.

The guardian may, if he deems it advisable, entrust the ward with the administration of some part of the ward's property; but he shall authorize under his responsibility the acts of the ward in this administration. Authorization shall be presumed for all ordinary acts incident to it.

The ward shall have the right to request judicial intervention when from any act of the guardian manifest prejudice results to him; and the Judge, finding the complaint well-founded, shall provide what seems most convenient and beneficial to the interests of the ward. CHAPTER VIII SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO THE CURATORSHIP OF THE INSANE

No person shall be deemed insane for the purposes determined in this Code, unless the insanity is previously declared by the Judge with full knowledge of the facts. What is said of the insane is understood of the mad and the imbecile.

A person of age who is in a habitual state of insanity shall be deprived of the administration of his property, even if he has lucid intervals. The curatorship of the insane may be testamentary, legitimate, or dative.

The parents, or the guardian, upon the insane person reaching the age of majority, shall bring an action for interdiction.

Likewise, the following may initiate the interdiction of the mentally incompetent person: 1. The spouse. 2. The relatives of the mentally incompetent person within the fourth degree of consanguinity or second degree of affinity. 3. The representative of the Public Ministry. 4. The respective Consul, if the mentally incompetent person were foreign. 5. Any person of the people, when the mentally incompetent person is in a state of fury. The Public Ministry shall be heard even in cases in which the interdiction suit has not been initiated by it.

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The following shall be appointed guardians of the mentally incompetent or mentally ill person:

• 1)

  Their spouse or partner in common-law union duly recognized;

• 2)

  Their descendants;

• 3)

  Their ascendants;

• 4)

  Their siblings; and 5. Their collateral relatives up to the third degree. The Judge shall choose from among the persons included in each of numerals 2, 3, 4, 5, the person who appears most suitable. In the absence of the aforementioned persons, persons who have no kinship relationship shall be appointed. A person cannot be appointed guardian if, due to their criminal or merely reprehensible acts committed to the detriment of the person under interdiction, they shall have caused the mental incompetency of such person.

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The acts and contracts of the mentally incompetent person, subsequent to the decree of interdiction, shall be null; even if it is alleged that they were executed or entered into during a lucid interval. And, conversely, acts and contracts executed or entered into without prior interdiction shall be valid; unless it is proven that the person who executed or entered into them was then mentally incompetent.

The incapacitated person cannot be deprived of their personal liberty, nor detained in a private residence nor in any public establishment regardless of its nature, nor be transferred outside their respective locality or the Republic, without judicial authorization being issued with the hearing of the Public Ministry. The provisions of the foregoing paragraph shall be understood in a manner that does not prevent the use of force when necessary to restrain the furious mentally incompetent person; but this recourse shall be restricted to the absolutely indispensable time to request aid from the competent authority.

The fruits of the property of the mentally incompetent person, and in case of necessity, and with judicial authorization, the capital, shall be employed principally in alleviating their condition and in procuring their recovery.

The cessation of incapacity by the complete recovery of mentally incompetent persons shall only take place by means of a judicial declaration, following a health examination conducted by physicians and with the hearing of the Public Ministry.

The cessation of interdiction may be requested by the same persons called to initiate it.

The judgment in which it is declared that the interdiction ceases shall also be registered and published. CHAPTER IX SPECIAL RULES REGARDING THE GUARDIANSHIP OF THE DEAF-MUTE

The guardianship of the deaf-mute may be testamentary, legitimate, or dative.

Articles 511, 516, and 517 shall apply to the deaf-mute.

The fruits of the property of the deaf-mute, and in case of necessity, and with judicial authorization, the capital, shall be employed especially in alleviating their condition and in procuring for them suitable education.

The guardianship shall cease when the deaf-mute has become capable of understanding and being understood in writing, if he requests it himself, and has sufficient intelligence for the administration of his assets, regarding which the Judge shall obtain competent reports. CHAPTER X SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO THE GUARDIANSHIP OF THOSE CONDEMNED TO CIVIL INTERDICTION

The incapacitated person deprived of civil rights by virtue of a sentence pronounced in a criminal case shall be appointed a guardian.

The competent judge to appoint a guardian for the convicted person is the criminal judge who has known the case.

If the penalty is extinguished by effect of pardon or prescription, the acts that the sentenced person may have performed at the time when the interdiction produced effects shall be valid, provided that such validity does not result in prejudice to acquired rights.

Once the sentence imposing the penalty of interdiction has been finalized, the representative of the Public Ministry shall immediately request the appointment of a guardian. If he fails to do so, he shall be responsible for the damages and losses that ensue.

This guardianship shall last as long as the interdiction lasts, and shall be limited to the administration of assets and representation in judicial proceedings of the convicted person. The guardian of the convicted person is also obligated to care for the person and assets of the minors or incapacitated persons who are under the authority of the interdicted person, until a guardian is provided for them. The wife of the convicted person exercises parental authority over the children, in accordance with the law.

The guardianship of those suffering interdiction shall be conferred in the order established in Article 516.

The respective Judge shall ensure that the sentence of discernment is registered in the competent National Registry of Persons. CHAPTER XI OF GUARDIANSHIPS OF ASSETS

In general, there shall be grounds for the appointment of a guardian of the assets of an absent person when the following circumstances are met: 1. That his whereabouts are not known, or that at least he has ceased to be in communication with his family, and from such lack of communication serious prejudice arises to the absent person himself or to third parties. 2. That he has not appointed an attorney, or has appointed one only for certain matters or specific transactions.

The same persons who are admitted to request the interdiction of a mentally incapacitated person may request this appointment. Furthermore, the creditors of the absent person shall have the right to request that a guardian be appointed for the assets to respond to their claims. The absent debtor who goes into hiding is included among the absent.

The same persons who may be appointed as guardians of a mentally incapacitated person may be appointed for the guardianship of the absent person's assets, in accordance with Article 516, and the same order of preference among them shall be observed. The representative of the Public Ministry shall intervene in the appointment.

The Judge may, however, deviate from the order established in the preceding article, at the request of the legitimate heirs or creditors, if he deems it convenient.

The husband may be guardian of his absent wife when the marriage has been contracted under the separate property regime; but he may not be so in the case of separation of persons.

The attorney appointed for certain acts or transactions of the absent person shall be subordinate to the guardian, who, however, may not deviate from the instructions given by the absent person to the attorney except with authorization from the Judge.

If the whereabouts of the absent person are not known, it shall be the first duty of the guardian to ascertain them. Once the whereabouts of the absent person are known, the guardian shall do everything within his power to establish communication with him.

A curator shall be appointed for a vacant estate, that is, to the property of a deceased person whose succession has not been accepted. The curatorship of a vacant estate shall be dative.

If the deceased person whose succession requires the appointment of a curator has foreign heirs, the Consul of the nation of such heirs shall have the right to propose the curator who shall be responsible for safeguarding and administering the property.

The property that shall correspond to the child yet to be born, if born alive and in due time, shall be in the charge of the guardian who shall have been designated for this purpose by the testamentary disposition of the father, or of a curator appointed by the Judge, at the request of the mother or at the request of any of the persons who are to succeed to such property, if the posthumous child does not succeed thereto.

The person designated by the father in his testament for the guardianship of the child shall be understood to be designated likewise for the safeguarding of the eventual rights of this child, if the father dies while the child is in the maternal womb.

Curators of property are subject to all the restrictions of guardians, and may only exercise administrative acts of mere custody and preservation, and those necessary for the collection of credits and payment of debts.

They are especially prohibited from altering the form of the property, contracting loans, and alienating even movable property that is not perishable, unless such alienation pertains to the ordinary course of business or the payment of debts requires it.

Notwithstanding what is provided in the preceding articles, the acts prohibited to curators of property shall be valid if, having justified their necessity or utility, the Judge authorizes them in advance. The owner of the property shall have the right to have the nullity declared of any such acts not authorized by the Judge; and once nullity is declared, the curator shall be responsible for all damage that may have resulted therefrom to such person or to third parties.

It falls to the curators of property to exercise the judicial actions and defenses of their respective represented parties; and the persons who have credits against the property may enforce them against the respective curators.

The curatorship of the rights of the absent person expires upon his return, or by the fact of a duly constituted general attorney taking charge of his business, or as a result of his death, or by declaration of presumed death. The curatorship of a vacant estate ceases upon acceptance of the succession. The curatorship of the eventual rights of the person yet to be born ceases as a result of birth. All curatorship of property ceases upon the extinction or complete exhaustion of such property. CHAPTER XII ON ADJUNCT CURATORS

Adjunct curators have over the property placed in their charge the same administrative powers as tutors, unless they are added to curators of property. In this case they shall have no more powers than those of curators of property.

Adjunct curators are independent of the respective parents or guardians. The subsidiary responsibility that by Article 490 is imposed on tutors or general curators extends to the respective parents or husbands, with respect to adjunct curators. CHAPTER XIII ON SPECIAL CURATORS

Special curatorship appointments are dative. (Paragraph Repealed)

The special curator is not obliged to prepare an inventory, but only to give receipt of the documents, quantities or property that are placed at his disposal for the performance of his office, and of which he shall give faithful and exact account. CHAPTER XIV ON INCAPACITIES AND EXCUSES FOR GUARDIANSHIP AND CURATORSHIP

There are persons whom the law prohibits from being tutors or curators, and persons whom it permits to excuse themselves from serving guardianship or curatorship. FIRST SECTION ON INCAPACITIES I. RULES RELATING TO PHYSICAL AND MORAL DEFECTS

The following are incapable of any guardianship: 1. The blind and the mute. 2. The mad, imbecile, and demented, even if they are not under judicial interdiction. 3. The bankrupts and those in concurrence proceedings who have not been rehabilitated. 4. Those who lack domicile in the Republic. 5. Those who cannot read and write, with the exception of the father or mother called to exercise guardianship of their legitimate or natural children. 6. Those of notorious bad conduct or who have no known means of livelihood. 7. Those sentenced judicially to a penalty that carries with it the loss of patria potestas, even if they have been pardoned thereof. 8. One who has been deprived of exercising patria potestas. 9. Those who through corrupt or negligent administration have been removed from a previous guardianship, or in the ensuing trial thereof have been condemned for fraud or gross negligence to indemnify the ward. II. RULE RELATING TO PROFESSIONS, EMPLOYMENTS AND PUBLIC OFFICES

The following are likewise incapable of any guardianship or curatorship: 1. Individuals in the military who are in active service, including military surgeons and other persons assimilated to the military. 2. Those who must exercise for a long time, or for an indefinite time, a public office or commission outside the territory of Honduras. III. RULES RELATING TO AGE

Those who have not reached twenty-one (21) years of age cannot be guardians or curators, even if they have obtained age habilitation, except in the case of legitimate guardianship of a woman conferred to her husband.

If a guardianship or curatorship is conferred upon a legitimate or natural ascendant or descendant who has not reached twenty-one (21) years of age, the conferral shall be deferred until such age is reached, and an interim guardian or curator shall be appointed for the intervening time. Likewise, the testamentary guardian or curator who has not reached twenty-one (21) years of age shall have the conferral deferred. Notwithstanding, the appointment of a minor guardian or curator shall be invalid when, upon reaching twenty-one (21) years of age, such person would only have to exercise the guardianship or curatorship for less than one (1) year.

The stepfather or stepmother cannot be guardians or curators of their stepchild. V. RULES RELATING TO THE OPPOSITION OF INTERESTS BETWEEN THE GUARDIAN AND THE WARD

A person cannot be the guardian or curator of another person whose civil status is disputed by them.

The creditor or debtor of a person cannot be the guardian or curator of such person, nor can the person who is in litigation with them over their own interests or those of others. The spouse and the ascendants and descendants of the ward shall not be subject to the provision of this article.

The provisions of the preceding article do not apply to the testamentary guardian or curator if it is proven that the testator had knowledge of the credit, debt, or litigation at the time of appointing such guardian or curator. Nor do they extend to credits, debts, or litigation that are of little importance, in the judgment of the Judge. VI. RULES RELATING TO SUPERVENING INCAPACITY

The aforementioned causes of incapacity that arise during the exercise of guardianship or curatorship shall terminate it. Article 565. The dementia of the guardian or curator shall render void all acts executed during such dementia, even if such person has not been placed under interdiction.

If the legitimate ascendant female or natural mother, guardian or curator, wishes to marry, she shall previously report this to the Judge so that the person who is to succeed her in the office may be appointed; and if she fails to do so, she and her husband shall be jointly liable for the administration, and the liability of the husband shall extend even to the acts of the guardian or curator prior to the marriage. VI. GENERAL RULES ON INCAPACITIES

Guardians or curators who have concealed the causes of incapacity that existed at the time the charge was conferred upon them, or that subsequently arose, in addition to being subject to all responsibilities of their administration, shall lose the emoluments corresponding to the time during which, knowing of the incapacity, they exercised the charge. Causes of incapacity that are unknown shall not void the acts of the guardian or curator; but once known, they shall terminate the guardianship or curatorship.

The guardian who believes themselves incapable of exercising the guardianship or curatorship conferred upon them shall have, for the purpose of bringing an action concerning incapacity, the same time periods as those prescribed in Article 574 for the action concerning excuses. If incapacity arises during the exercise of guardianship or curatorship, the guardian shall report it to the Judge within three (3) days following the day on which such incapacity began to exist or came to their knowledge; and this period shall be extended in the same manner as the thirty (30) day period prescribed in Article 574.

The incapacity of the guardian or curator may also be reported to the Judge by any of the blood relatives of the ward, by their spouse, by the representative of the Public Ministry, and even by any person from the community. SECTION TWO ON EXCUSES

The following may be excused from guardianship or curatorship: 1. The President of the Republic, the Ministers of State, the Magistrates of the Supreme Court and of the Courts of Appeals, the prosecutors and other persons who exercise the Public Ministry, the departmental Governors, and the Judges. 2. The administrators and collectors of fiscal revenues. 3. Those who are obliged to serve in a public office for a long time outside the department where the guardianship is to be exercised. 4. Those whose domicile is outside said department. 5. Women. 6. Those who suffer from any habitual illness or have reached sixty years of age. 7. The poor who are forced to live from their daily personal labor. 8. Those who already exercise two guardianships and those who, being married or having children, already exercise one guardianship; but special curatorships shall not be taken into account. The Judge may count as two (2) a guardianship or curatorship that is excessively complicated or burdensome. 9. Those who have under their parental authority five (5) or more living children, also counting males who have died in action of war under the flags of the Republic.

In the case of the preceding article, number 8, the person who exercises two (2) or more guardianships of persons who are not their children shall have the right to request to be relieved of one of them in order to take charge of the guardianship of a child of their own; but they cannot be excused from this latter guardianship.

The excuse in number 9 of Article 569 cannot be invoked to serve the guardianship or curatorship of the child.

He who for ten or more continuous years has served as guardian or curator of the same ward may excuse himself from continuing in the exercise of his office; but this excuse cannot be alleged by the spouse, nor by a legitimate ascendant or descendant, nor by a natural father or son.

The excuses set forth in the preceding articles must be alleged by the one who wishes to avail himself of them at the time the guardianship is conferred; and they shall be admissible if they arise during it.

The excuses for not accepting the guardianship that is conferred must be alleged within the following periods: If the appointed tutor or curator is found in the department where the Judge who is to hear them resides, he shall allege them within thirty (30) days following the day on which notice of his appointment was given to him; and if he is not in said department, but is in the territory of the Republic, this period shall be extended at the rate of one (1) day for every twenty (20) kilometers of distance between the place of residence of the Judge and the current place of residence of the appointed tutor or curator.

Any delay that exceeds the legal period and that with ordinary diligence could have been avoided shall impose upon the tutor or curator responsibility for the damages resulting from his delay in taking charge of the guardianship or curatorship; and it shall also render his voluntary excuses inadmissible, unless for the interest of the ward it is advisable to accept them.

The grounds for excuse that arise during the guardianship or curatorship do not prescribe by any delay in alleging them.

If the appointed tutor or curator is in a foreign country and it is unknown when he will return, or if his whereabouts are unknown, the Judge shall call upon him through the official newspaper or that of the department, if one exists, by notices posted in three (3) of the most public places in the locality, setting him a period within which to present himself to take charge of the guardianship or curatorship, or to excuse himself; and after the period expires, the Judge may, according to the circumstances, extend it or declare the appointment invalid, which shall not be validated even if the tutor or curator presents himself later.

The proceeding on the grounds of incapacity or excuses alleged by the guardian shall be conducted with a special curator.

If the Judge in the first instance does not acknowledge the grounds of incapacity alleged by the guardian, or does not accept his excuses, and if the guardian does not appeal, or if by the appellate court the judgment of the trial Judge is confirmed, the guardian shall be responsible for any damage that has resulted to the ward from his delay in taking charge of the guardianship. This responsibility shall not apply if the tutor or curator, to exonerate himself from it, offers to assume temporarily the guardianship or curatorship.

Tutors and curators have the right to remuneration on the property they administer. The remuneration shall be fixed by the Judge, taking into account the importance of the estate and the work that its administration shall entail. This remuneration shall not be less than four (4) nor exceed ten (10) percent of the net income or products of the property. Against the resolution in which the guardian's remuneration is fixed, the guardian may file the legal remedies available.

Any assignment expressly made by the testator to the guardian appointed by him, as compensation for his work, shall be credited against the remuneration to which he is entitled under the preceding article; and if it is worth less, he may request that it be supplemented; but if it is worth more, he shall not be obliged to return the excess.

Accepted excuses deprive the testamentary tutor or curator of the assignment made to him as remuneration for his work. But excuses that arise subsequently shall deprive him only of a proportional part.

Pre-existing grounds of incapacity deprive the guardian of all right to the aforementioned assignment. If the incapacity arises without the fault or culpability of the guardian, or if the guardian dies during the guardianship, there shall be no restitution of the assigned property, in whole or in part.

If an interim tutor or curator relieves the principal of all his functions, the full remuneration shall correspond to the interim guardian for the entire time his office lasts; but if the principal retains some part of his functions, he shall also retain a proportionate part of his remuneration. If the remuneration consists of a share of the inheritance or a bequest and the principal has made the appointment of the interim guardian necessary by a justifiable cause, such as a public office or the need to avoid serious damage to his interests, he shall retain his inheritance or bequest in full, and the interim guardian shall receive remuneration for what he administers.

The necessary expenses incurred by tutors or curators in the performance of their office, according to Article 488, shall be reimbursed to them separately.

The tutor or curator who administers fraudulently or who marries without his administration accounts having been approved, in violation of what is provided in number 7 of Article 128, loses his right to remuneration and shall be obliged to restore everything he has received by reason of his office. If he administers negligently, he shall receive no remuneration for that part of the property that through his negligence has suffered damage or experienced a considerable diminution of income. In either case, the ward retains his right to claim indemnification for damages.

If the fruits of the ward's patrimony are so scarce that they barely suffice for his precise subsistence, the tutor or curator shall be obliged to serve his office gratuitously, and if the ward should acquire more property, either during the guardianship or afterward, the guardian may not demand from him any compensation corresponding to the remuneration for the prior time.

The guardian shall collect his remuneration as the fruits are realized. To determine the value of the compensation, not only the expenses invested in the production of the fruits shall be taken into account, but also all the pensions and charges subject to usufruct to which the patrimony is subject.

With respect to fruits pending at the time of beginning or expiration of the tutorship or curatorship, the remuneration of the tutor or curator shall be subject to the same rules to which usufruct is subject.

In general, things that when separated do not renew, nor those whose separation deteriorates the property or diminishes its value, shall not be counted among the fruits from which the remuneration must be deducted. Consequently, firewood or timber that is sold shall not be counted among the fruits when the cutting is not done with the regularity necessary to preserve the forests and wooded areas in their proper state. The remuneration shall extend, however, to the product of quarries and mines.

To curators who do not have administration of property shall be assigned by the Judge an equitable remuneration in reward for their work.

Tutors or curators shall be removed: 1. For incapacity. 2. For fraud or serious fault in the exercise of their office, and in particular, for those indicated in Articles 456 and 503. 3. For manifest unfitness. 4. For repeated acts of negligent administration. 5. For immoral conduct that may result in damage to the ward's morals. By the fourth of the foregoing causes, the tutor or curator who is an ascendant, descendant, or spouse of the ward may not be removed, but an adjunct curator shall be appointed to him.

Habitual neglect in administration shall be presumed by the fact of property deteriorating or fruits diminishing considerably; and the tutor or curator who does not dispel this presumption by giving a satisfactory explanation of the deterioration or diminution shall be removed.

He who exercises several tutorships or curators, and is removed from one of them for fraud or serious fault, shall, by that fact alone, be removed from the others, at the request of the representative of the Public Ministry or of any person of the people, or ex officio.

Removal may be sought by any of the ward's blood relatives, by his spouse, by the representative of the Public Ministry, and even by any person of the people. The surety of the tutor or curator and the ward himself, who has reached puberty, may seek removal by appointing for that purpose a special curator. The Judge may also decree it ex officio. The ward's relatives and the representative of the Public Ministry shall always be heard.

An interim tutor or curator shall be appointed while the removal trial is pending. The interim shall exclude the owner who is not an ascendant, descendant, or spouse; and to him who is, an adjunct curator shall be given. The removed tutor or curator must fully indemnify the ward. He shall likewise be prosecuted criminally for the crimes he may have committed in the exercise of his office.

Tutorship terminates: 1. By the minor reaching the age of twenty-one (21) years. 2. By the marriage of the minor who has reached eighteen (18) years of age. 3. By the habilitation of age. 4. By the death of the minor.

Curatorship terminates by the cause that motivated it having ceased.

Property consists of corporeal or incorporeal things. Corporeal are those that have a real existence and can be perceived by the senses. Incorporeal are those that consist in mere rights, such as credits and active servitudes.

Corporeal things are divided into movable and immovable.

Movable are those that can be transported from one place to another, either by moving themselves, or only by an external force. Excepted are those which, although movable by their nature, are deemed immovable by their destination, according to Article 604.

Immovable property or real estate are things that cannot be transported from one place to another, such as land and mines, and those that adhere permanently to them, such as buildings and trees. Houses and estates are called properties or estates.

Plants are immovable property while they adhere to the soil by their roots, unless they are in pots or boxes that can be transported from one place to another.

Things are deemed immovable, although by their nature they may not be, when they are permanently intended for the use, cultivation, and benefit of immovable property, notwithstanding that they may be separated without detriment. Such are, for example: The slabs of a pavement. The tubes of plumbing. Farm or mining implements and animals currently intended for the cultivation or benefit of a property, provided they have been placed there by the owner of the property. Fertilizers that are in it and intended by the owner of the property to improve it. The presses, boilers, vats, stills, barrels and machines that form part of an industrial establishment adhering to the soil, and belong to the owner thereof. Animals that are kept in hutches, aviaries, ponds, beehives and any other enclosures, provided that these adhere to the soil, or are part of the soil itself or of a building.

The products of immovable property and things accessory to it, such as grass from a field, wood and fruits of trees, animals from an enclosure, are deemed movable property even before their separation for the purpose of establishing a right over such products or things to a person other than the owner. The same applies to the earth or sand of soil, to the metals of a mine, and to the stones of a quarry.

Things of convenience or ornament that are nailed or fixed to the walls of houses and can be easily removed without detriment to the same walls, such as stoves, mirrors, paintings, tapestries, are deemed movable property. If the paintings or mirrors are embedded in the walls in such a way that they form a single body with them, they shall be considered part of them, although they may be separated without detriment.

Things that, by being accessory to real estate are deemed immovable property, do not cease to be so by their momentary separation, for example, bulbs or onions that are pulled up to be planted again, and slabs or stones that are removed from their place to carry out some construction or repair, with the intention of returning them there. But from the moment they are separated with the purpose of giving them a different destination, they cease to be immovable property.

When in laws or in individual declarations the expression "movable property" in general is used, it shall be understood to include everything that is understood as movable things according to Article 601; but when the word "movables" alone is used in relation to another thing, such as in the expressions "the furniture of such a house", "my furniture", money, documents or papers, scientific or artistic collections, books or their shelves, medals, weapons, instruments of arts and crafts, jewelry, clothing or bed linen, carriages or horses or their equipment, grains, beverages, merchandise, nor in general, other things than those that ordinarily form the furnishings of a house shall not be understood as included.

Movable things are divided into fungible and non-fungible. Fungible things. Are those things in which every individual of the species is equivalent to another of the same species, and which can be substituted for one another of the same quality and in equal quantity. Things that the contracting parties consider as equivalent are deemed fungible. Non-fungible things. Are those things that do not have nor are attributed the condition of equivalence expressed in the preceding paragraphs. CHAPTER II OF INCORPOREAL THINGS

Incorporeal things or rights are divided into real and personal rights. Real right. Is that which is held over a thing without reference to a determined person. Real rights are the right of ownership, the right of inheritance, the rights of usufruct, use or habitation, the rights of active easements, the right of pledge and the right of mortgage. Personal rights. Are those that can only be claimed from certain persons who, by their act or by the disposition of law, are subject to the correlative obligations.

Rights and actions are deemed movable or immovable property according to whether the thing in which they are to be exercised or which is owed is movable or immovable. Thus the right of usufruct over an immovable property is immovable. Thus the action of the buyer for the delivery of the purchased property is immovable, and the action of one who has lent money for it to be repaid to him is movable.

Acts that are to be performed are deemed movable property. The action for a craftsman to execute the agreed work, or to repair the damages caused by the non-performance of the agreement, thus enters into the class of movable property. TITLE II OF OWNERSHIP

Ownership or property is called the right to exclusively possess a thing and to enjoy and dispose of it, without more limitations than those established by law or by the will of the owner. Property separated from the enjoyment of the thing is called bare or naked property.

Ownership of the soil comprises that of the underlying layers and that of the space above within the vertical planes drawn at the boundaries of the property, to the extent required by the interest of the owner in relation to the use to which he intends to put it.

The author of a literary, scientific or artistic work has the right of ownership over it. Every inventor has the same right over his invention or discovery. These rights shall be governed by special laws.

Things that nature has made common to all men are not susceptible of ownership. Their use and enjoyment are determined among individuals of a nation by the laws of that nation, and among different nations, by International Law. TITLE III OF NATIONAL PROPERTY

Those things whose domain belongs to the entire nation are called national property. If moreover their use belongs to all inhabitants of the nation, such as streets, plazas, bridges and roads, the adjacent sea and its beaches, they are called national property of public use or public property. National property whose use does not generally belong to the inhabitants are called State property or fiscal property.

All lands situated within the territorial limits that lack another owner are State property.

The State is the owner of all mines of gold, silver, copper, platinum, mercury, lead, zinc, bismuth, antimony, cobalt, nickel, tin, arsenic, iron, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, rhodium, iridium, radium, uranium, plutonium, tungsten, sulfur, petroleum, apatite, nepheline, rock salt and those of saltpeter, precious stones, coal and fossil substances, and any other mines and substances that the Mining Code determines as national property, notwithstanding the domain of corporations and private individuals over the surface of the earth in whose depths such mines may be situated. However, private individuals are granted the right to prospect and dig in lands of any domain to search for such mines, the right to work them and extract their benefits, and the right to dispose of them as owners, with the requirements and under the rules prescribed by the cited Code. As for the benefit and exploitation of radium, uranium, plutonium and other radioactive metals, as well as those of petroleum, these shall be subject to a special law. The State is also the owner of all natural resources that exist or may exist in its submarine platform or continental and insular shelf, in its lower layers, and in the sea space comprised within the vertical planes established at its boundaries. Stones for construction or adornment, sands, slates, clays, limes, pozzolana, peats, marls and other substances belong to the owner of the land in which they are found, without prejudice to what the Mining Code may provide.

Bridges and roads constructed at the expense of private individuals on lands that belong to them are not national property, although the owners permit their use and enjoyment by all. The same applies to any other constructions made at the expense of private individuals and on their lands, even when their use is public, by permission of the owner.

The adjacent sea, up to a distance of twelve (12) kilometers, measured from the line of lowest tide, is territorial sea and of national domain; but the sovereignty of the State extends to the submarine platform or continental and insular shelf, and the waters that cover it, whatever the depth at which it is found and the extension it covers, saving the right of free navigation in accordance with International Law.

By beach of the sea is understood the extension of land that the waves wash and leave alternately uncovered up to where they reach at the highest tides.

Rivers and all waters that flow through natural channels are national property of public use. Excepted are springs that are born and die within the same parcel of land; their ownership, use and enjoyment belong to the owner of the riverbanks, and pass with these to the heirs and other successors of the owner.

Large lakes that can be navigated by vessels of more than one hundred (100) tons are national property of public use. The ownership, use and enjoyment of other lakes belong to the riparian proprietors.

New islands that form in territorial sea, or in rivers and lakes that can be navigated by vessels of more than one hundred (100) tons, shall belong to the State.

The use and enjoyment that corresponds to private individuals for transit, irrigation, navigation and any other lawful purposes in streets, plazas, bridges and public roads, in the sea and its beaches, in rivers and lakes, and generally in all national property of public use, shall be subject to the provisions of this Code and to the general or local ordinances that are enacted on the matter.

No one may construct, without special permission from the competent authority, any work whatsoever on streets, plazas, bridges, beaches, fiscal lands and other places of national property.

Columns, pilasters, steps, thresholds and any other constructions that serve for the convenience or ornament of buildings, or form part of them, may not occupy any space, however small, of the surface of streets, plazas, bridges, roads and other places of national property. Buildings in which the contrary practice has been tolerated shall be subject to the provision of the preceding paragraph if they are reconstructed.

In buildings that are constructed on the sides of streets or plazas, there may not be, up to a height of two (2) meters, windows, balconies, viewing towers or other works that project more than ten (10) centimeters beyond the vertical plane of the boundary line; nor may there be any above that height projecting beyond said vertical plane, except to a horizontal distance of thirty (30) centimeters. The provisions of the second paragraph of the preceding article shall apply to the reconstructions of such buildings.

With respect to works that are constructed with permission of the competent authority on sites of national property, private individuals who have obtained such permission have only the use and enjoyment of them, not the ownership of the soil. Once the works are abandoned, or upon termination of the time for which the permission was granted, the works and the soil are restored by operation of law to the exclusive use and enjoyment of the State, or to the general use and enjoyment of the inhabitants, as the sovereign authority prescribes. However, the foregoing does not apply if the ownership of the soil has been expressly granted by the State. On ejido lands, only their use and enjoyment are granted; and when a town is extinguished, they revert to the State.

Channels may not be diverted from rivers for any industrial or domestic purpose except in accordance with the respective laws or ordinances.

National or foreign vessels shall not touch or approach any part of the beach, except at the ports designated by law for this purpose; unless an imminent danger of shipwreck or capture, or other similar necessity, compels them to do so; and the Captains or masters of vessels that act otherwise shall be subject to the penalties imposed on them by the respective laws and ordinances.

www.poderjudicial.gob.hn Shipwrecked persons shall have free access to the beach, and shall be assisted by local authorities.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Title and those of the Title on accession, relative to the domain of the nation over rivers, lakes and islands, the rights acquired by individuals before the promulgation of this Code shall subsist therein. TITLE IV ON ACCESSION

The ownership of goods extends by accession to everything they produce, or is united or incorporated to them, naturally or artificially. The products of things are natural, industrial, or civil fruits. CHAPTER I ON ACCESSIONS OF FRUITS

Natural fruits are the spontaneous productions of the earth, and the offspring and other products of animals. Industrial fruits are the products of human industry.

Natural fruits are called pending while they still adhere to the thing that produces them, such as plants that are rooted in the soil, or the products of plants while they have not been separated from them. Perceived natural fruits are those that have been separated from the productive thing, such as cut timber, harvested fruits and grains; and they are said to be consumed when they have been spent or alienated.

The natural fruits of a thing belong to its owner; without prejudice to the rights constituted by the laws, or by an act of man, to the possessor in good faith, to the usufructuary, to the tenant. Thus, the plants that the earth produces spontaneously or through cultivation, and the fruits, seeds and other products of plants belong to the owner of the

www.poderjudicial.gob.hn earth. Likewise, the hides, wool, horns, milk, offspring and other products of animals belong to the owner of such animals.

Civil fruits are called the prices, pensions or rental payments, and the interest on capital that is exigible or imposed as a loss. Civil fruits are called pending while they are owed; and perceived, from the moment they are collected.

Civil fruits also belong to the owner of the thing from which they come, in the same manner and with the same limitation as natural fruits. CHAPTER II ON ACCESSIONS OF THE SOIL

Alluvion is called the increase that the bank of the sea or of a river receives from the slow and imperceptible withdrawal of the waters.

The alluvial land accedes to the riverine estates within their respective demarcation lines, extended directly to the water; but in inhabited ports it shall belong to the State. The soil that the water occupies and vacates, alternately, in its periodic rises and falls, forms part of the bank or of the bed, and shall not accede meanwhile to the contiguous estates.

Whenever the aforesaid demarcation lines, extended, intersect each other before reaching the water, the triangle formed by them and by the edge of the water shall accede to the two lateral estates; a straight line that divides it into two equal parts, drawn from the point of intersection to the water, shall be the dividing line between the two estates.

Over the part of the soil that is transported from one place to another by a flood or by another violent natural force, the owner retains ownership,

www.poderjudicial.gob.hn for the sole purpose of taking it away; but if he does not claim it within the following year, the owner of the place to which it was transported shall make it his own.

If an estate has been inundated, the soil restored by the waters within the ten (10) subsequent years shall return to its former owners.

If a river changes its course, the riverbank proprietors may, with permission from the competent authority, undertake the necessary works to restore the waters to its customary bed; and the part of it that permanently remains dry shall accede to the contiguous estates, as the alluvial land in the case of Article 641. Where the riverbank owners on one side meet with those on the other, a longitudinal line shall divide the new land into two equal parts; and each of these shall accede to the contiguous estates, as in the case of the same article.

If a river divides into two branches, which do not join again afterward, the parts of the former bed that the water leaves uncovered shall accede to the contiguous estates, as in the case of the preceding article.

Concerning new islands that are not to belong to the State according to Article 625, the following rules shall be observed: 1. The new island shall be regarded as part of the channel or riverbed, while it is occupied and vacated alternately by the waters in their periodic increases and decreases, and shall not accede in the meantime to the riparian properties. 2. The new island formed by a river that opens into two arms that later rejoin shall not alter the prior ownership of lands comprised therein; but the new land uncovered by the river shall accede to the adjoining properties, as in the case of Article 645. 3. The new island that forms in the channel of a river shall accede to the properties of whichever of the two banks the entire island is closest to; each property receiving the part comprised between its respective demarcation lines, prolonged directly to the island and over its surface. If the entire island is not closer to one of the two banks than to the other, it shall accede to the properties of both banks; each property receiving the part comprised between its respective demarcation lines, prolonged directly to the island and over its surface. The parts of the island that by virtue of these provisions correspond to two or more properties shall be divided into equal parts among the co-owning properties. 4. For the distribution of a new island, the island or islands that preexisted it shall be entirely disregarded; and the new island shall accede to the riparian properties as if it alone existed. 5. The owners of an island formed by the river acquire ownership of everything that by alluvion accrues to it, whatever bank it may be distant from, except for the new land abandoned by the waters. 6. To the new island that forms in a lake shall apply the second paragraph of rule 3 above; but the properties whose closest distance to the island exceeds half the diameter of the island shall have no part in the division of the land formed by the waters.

Adjunction is a species of accession, and occurs when two movable things belonging to different owners are joined to one another, but in such a way that they can be separated and each can subsist after separation; as when a person's diamond is set in another's gold, or a mirror of one's own is placed in another's frame.

In cases of adjunction, if neither party has knowledge of the fact nor bad faith on the other's part, the ownership of the accessory thing shall accede to the ownership of the principal thing, with the burden of paying the owner of the accessory part its value.

If of the two things united, one is of much greater value than the other, the first shall be regarded as principal and the second as accessory. A thing shall be regarded as of greater value if it possesses great sentimental value for its owner.

If there is not such a difference in value, that one of the two things which serves for the use, ornament, or completion of the other shall be considered accessory.

In cases to which none of the preceding rules can be applied, that which has greater volume shall be regarded as principal.

Another species of accession is specification, which occurs when from material belonging to one person, another person makes a work or artifact of any kind, as if wine is made from another's grapes, or a cup from another's silver, or a ship from another's wood. If there is no knowledge of the fact by one party, nor bad faith by the other, the owner of the material shall have the right to claim the new species, paying for the workmanship. Unless in the work or artifact the price of the new species is worth much more than that of the material, as when a painting is made on another's canvas, or a statue is made from another's marble; for in this case the new species shall belong to the person who created the specification, and the owner of the material shall only have the right to indemnification for damages. If the material of the artifact is partly another's and partly that of the one who made it or ordered it made, and the two parts cannot be separated without inconvenience, the species shall belong, in common, to the two owners; one to the extent of the value of his material and the other to the extent of the value of his material and the workmanship.

If a thing is formed by mixing solid or liquid materials belonging to different owners, if neither party has knowledge of the fact nor bad faith on the other's part, the ownership of the thing shall belong to said owners undivided, proportionately to the value of the material belonging to each. Unless the value of the material belonging to one of them is considerably superior, for in such case, the owner of it shall have the right to claim the thing produced by the mixture, paying the price of the remaining material.

In all cases in which it is not easy for the owner of one of the two united materials to replace it with another of the same quality, value, and suitability, and the first can be separated without deterioration of the remainder, the owner of it, without whose knowledge the union was made, may request its separation and delivery, at the cost of the one who made use of it.

In all cases in which the owner of material that has been used without his knowledge has the right to the ownership of the thing in which it has been employed, he shall likewise have the right to request that in place of said material be returned to him an equal amount of the same nature, quality, and suitability, or its value in money. The one who has had knowledge of the use that was being made of material of his by another person shall be presumed to have consented to it, and shall only have the right to its value.

The one who has made use of another's material without knowledge of the owner, and without just cause of error, shall be subject, in all cases, to losing his own property, and to paying what more than this is worth in damages caused to the owner; apart from the criminal action that may lie when he has acted knowingly. If the value of the work considerably exceeds that of the material, the provision in the preceding paragraph shall not apply; except if he has acted knowingly.

If building is done with another's materials on one's own soil, the owner of the soil shall be owner of the materials by the fact of incorporating them in the construction; but shall be obliged to pay the owner of the materials its just price, or an equal amount of the same nature, quality, and suitability. If there was no just cause of error on his part, he shall be obliged to indemnification for damages, and if he has acted knowingly, he shall also be subject to the competent criminal action; but if the owner of the materials had knowledge of the use being made of them, only the provision of the preceding paragraph shall apply. The same rule applies to one who plants or sows on his own soil vegetables or seeds belonging to another. While the materials are not incorporated in the construction or the vegetables rooted in the soil, the owner may claim them.

The owner of the land on which another person, without his knowledge, has built, planted, or sown, shall have the right to make his own the building, planting, or sown field, by means of the indemnifications prescribed in favor of possessors of good or bad faith, and shall be obliged to pay to the builder, to the planter, the value of the building, planting, or sown field; to the planter, the rent and to indemnify him for damages. If building, planting, or sowing has been done with the knowledge and consent of the owner of the land, the latter shall be obliged, to recover it, to pay the value of the building, planting, or sown field.

By occupation, ownership is acquired of things that belong to no one, and whose acquisition is not prohibited by Honduran laws or by International Law.

Hunting and fishing are species of occupation by which ownership of wild animals is acquired.

Wild or savage animals are called those that live naturally free and independent of man, such as beasts of prey and fish; domestic animals are those that belong to species that ordinarily live under the dependence of man, such as hens and bees; domesticated animals are those that, notwithstanding being wild by nature, have become accustomed to domesticity and recognize in some manner the dominion of man. These latter, while they retain the habit of returning to the protection or dependence of man, are subject to the rules governing domestic animals, and upon losing this habit they revert to the class of wild animals.

Hunting may be carried out only on one's own land, or on the land of others with the permission of the owner. However, this permission shall not be necessary if the lands are not fenced, nor planted or cultivated; unless the owner has expressly prohibited hunting therein and notified such prohibition.

If anyone hunts on land belonging to others without the permission of the owner, when by law he was obligated to obtain it, whatever is hunted shall belong to the owner, who shall moreover be indemnified for all damages.

Fishing may be carried out freely in the seas; but in territorial waters only Hondurans and foreigners domiciled therein may fish. Fishing may also be carried out freely in rivers and in public lakes.

Fishermen may make the necessary use of seashore beaches for fishing, constructing huts, drawing their boats and utensils and the product of the fishing ashore, drying their nets, etc.; provided, however, that they make no use whatsoever of the buildings or structures located therein without permission of their owners, or hinder the legitimate use by other fishermen.

They may also for the aforesaid purposes make use of the adjoining land up to a distance of ten (10) meters from the beach; but they shall not touch the buildings or structures within that distance, nor cross fences, nor enter into groves, plantings, or cultivated fields.

The owners of land adjoining the beach may not erect fences, nor make buildings, structures, or cultivations within the said ten (10) meters, except by leaving from place to place sufficient and convenient spaces for the purposes of fishing. In case of non-compliance, fishermen shall resort to local authorities so that they may provide the appropriate remedy.

Those who fish in rivers and lakes shall not be permitted to make any use of the buildings and cultivated lands on the banks, nor to cross fences.

The provisions of Articles 663 and 664 extend to one who fishes in waters belonging to others.

It is understood that the hunter or fisherman takes possession of the wild animal and makes it his own, from the moment he has mortally wounded it, in such manner that it is no longer easy for it to escape, and while he persists in pursuing it; or from the moment the animal has fallen into his traps or nets, provided he has set or placed them in a place where it is lawful for him to hunt or fish. If the wounded animal enters onto land belonging to others, where hunting is not permitted without the owner's permission, the owner may make it his own.

It is not lawful for one hunter or fisherman to pursue the wild animal that is already being pursued by another hunter or fisherman; if he does so without the latter's consent, and takes possession of the animal, the other may claim it as his own.

Wild animals belong to the owner of the cages, aviaries, rabbit warrens, beehives, ponds, or enclosures in which they are confined; but once they recover their natural liberty, any person may take possession of them and make them his own, provided that the owner is not actually in pursuit of them, keeping them in sight, and that moreover the provisions of Article 663 are not contravened.

Bees that flee from a beehive and alight on a tree not belonging to the owner thereof return to their natural liberty and anyone may take possession of them and of the combs made by them, provided that he does not do so without the permission of the owner on land belonging to others that is fenced or cultivated, or against the prohibition of the owner in other cases; but the owner of the beehive may not be prohibited from pursuing the fugitive bees on land that is neither fenced nor cultivated.

Pigeons that abandon a dovecote and establish themselves in another shall be understood to be legitimately occupied by the owner of the second, provided that the latter has not used any artifice to attract and accustom them thereto. In such case, he shall be obliged to indemnify all damages, including the restitution of the animals if the owner demands it, and if he does not demand it, to pay him their value.

In other respects, the exercise of hunting and fishing shall be subject to the special ordinances enacted on these matters. Hunting or fishing may not be practiced except in the seasons and places, and with arms and methods that are not prohibited.

Domestic animals are subject to ownership. The owner retains this ownership over domestic fugitive animals, even when they have entered onto foreign lands; except insofar as the ordinances of rural or urban police establish otherwise.

Invention or discovery is a form of occupation by which whoever finds an inanimate thing that belongs to no one acquires its ownership by taking possession of it. By this means, ownership is acquired of stones, shells, and other substances cast up by the sea that do not show signs of prior ownership. Things are acquired in the same manner whose property is abandoned by their owner, such as coins that are thrown with the intention that the first occupant make them his own. Things that navigators cast into the sea to lighten the ship are not presumed to be abandoned by their owners.

The discovery of a treasure is a form of invention or discovery. A treasure is called the coin or jewels, or other precious items that, elaborated by man, have been buried or hidden for a long time without any memory or indication of their owner.

A treasure found on another's land shall be divided equally between the owner of the land and the person who made the discovery. But this latter shall have no right to his portion unless the discovery be fortuitous, or unless he sought the treasure with the permission of the owner of the land. In other cases, or when the owner of the land and the discoverer are the same person, all the treasure shall belong to the owner of the land.

The owner of an estate or building may be requested by any person for permission to dig in the soil to extract money or jewels that he assures belong to him and are hidden therein, and if he indicates the place where they are hidden and gives sufficient security that he will compensate all damage to the owner of the estate or building, the latter cannot deny permission nor oppose the extraction of such money or jewels.

If the right over such money or jewels is not proved, they shall be considered either as lost property or as treasure found on another's soil, according to the antecedents and signs. In this second case, costs being deducted, the treasure shall be divided equally between the discoverer and the owner of the soil; but the latter cannot claim indemnification for damages unless he renounces his portion.

If any movable item apparently lost is found, it shall be placed at the disposal of its owner; and if no one appears who proves it to be his within the forty-eight (48) hours following the time it was found, it shall be delivered to the competent authority, which shall order its deposit and shall give notice of the find in the official newspaper or the department, if one exists, and in public notices that shall be posted in three (3) of the most frequented places in the locality. The notice shall designate the type and quality of the item, the day and place of the find. If the owner does not appear, this notice shall be given up to a third time, with thirty (30) days mediating between one notice and another.

If during the year following the last notice no person appears to justify his ownership, the item shall be sold at public auction; the costs of apprehension, conservation, and others incurred shall be deducted from the proceeds; and from the remainder, one-fourth shall be given by way of gratification to the person who found the item, and the rest shall be applied to the municipal treasury.

The person who has omitted the proceedings ordered here shall lose his portion in favor of the municipal treasury; shall be subject to an action for damages, and according to the circumstances, to the penalty for theft.

If the owner appears before the item is auctioned, it shall be restored to him, paying the costs and such amount as the competent authority awards by way of salvage to the person who found and reported the item. The salvage reward may not exceed half the net value of the item. If the owner has offered a reward for the find, the reporter shall choose between the salvage award and the reward offered.

Once the item is auctioned, it shall be regarded as irrevocably lost to the owner.

If the item be perishable or of a type that deteriorates, or if its custody and conservation be expensive, such as that of an animal, the auction may be advanced without prejudice to carrying out afterwards what is provided in Article 683, and the owner, appearing before the expiration of the year following the last notice, shall have the right to the price, deducted, as stated, the costs and the salvage reward.

If any vessel is wrecked on the coasts of the Republic, or if the sea casts upon them the fragments of a vessel, or effects belonging, according to appearances, to the gear or cargo of a vessel, the persons who see or know of it shall report the fact to the competent authority, assuring in the meantime such effects as possible to save for return to whom of right it corresponds. Those who appropriate them shall be subject to an action for damages and to the penalty for theft.

The wrecked items that are saved shall be returned by the authority to the interested parties, upon payment of costs and the salvage gratification.

If interested parties do not appear, the publication of three (3) notices shall proceed by newspapers and notices, with six (6) months mediating between one notice and another; and in other matters, proceedings shall be as in the case of Article 683 and following.

The competent authority shall set, according to the circumstances, the salvage reward, which shall never exceed one-fourth (¼) of the value of the goods. However, if the salvage of the goods is carried out under the orders and direction of the public authority, they shall be returned to the interested parties, by means of payment of expenses, without salvage reward.

Everything stated in Articles 689 and following shall be understood without prejudice to what may be stipulated with foreign powers on this matter, and to fiscal regulations for the storage and internment of goods.

The State becomes the owner of all properties that are taken in war between nations, not only from enemies but also from neutrals, and even from allies and nationals, according to the circumstances, and disposes of them in accordance with maritime and privateering ordinances, except for what may be stipulated with foreign powers.

Captures made by bandits, pirates, or insurgents do not transfer ownership, and recaptured goods must be returned to their owners, the latter paying the salvage reward to the captors. This reward shall be regulated according to that which in analogous cases is granted to capturers in war between nations.

If the owners do not appear, the matter shall proceed as in the case of lost goods; however, the captors shall have rights over the properties that are not claimed by their owners within the period of one year, counted from the date of the last notice, the same rights as if they had captured them in war between nations. TITLE VI OF TRANSFER CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Transfer is a means of acquiring ownership of things, and consists of the delivery that the owner makes of them to another, provided that on one part there exists the faculty and intention to transfer ownership, and on the other, the capacity and intention to acquire it. What is said regarding ownership extends to other real rights.

The person who by transfer transmits the ownership of the thing delivered by him is called the transferor, and the person who by transfer acquires the ownership of the thing received by him or in his name is called the acquirer. His attorneys or legal representatives may deliver and receive on behalf of the owner. In forced sales made by judicial decree at the request of a creditor, in public auction, the person whose ownership is transferred is the transferor, and the Judge is his legal representative. Transfer made by or to a duly authorized attorney is understood to be made by or to the respective principal.

For transfer to be valid, it must be made voluntarily by the transferor or by his representative. A transfer that was initially invalid because it was made without the will of the transferor or his representative is validated retroactively by the ratification of the person who has the faculty to dispose of the thing as owner or as representative of the owner.

For transfer to be valid, it also requires the consent of the acquirer or his representative. However, transfer that was initially invalid due to the lack of this consent is validated retroactively by ratification.

For transfer to be valid when attorneys or legal representatives intervene, it is required, moreover, that they act within the limits of their mandate or their legal representation.

For the validity of transfer, a title transferring ownership is required, such as that of sale, exchange, donation, etc. It is also required that the title be valid with respect to the person to whom it is conferred.

It is also required for the validity of transfer that there be no error as to the identity of the goods that should be delivered, or of the person to whom delivery is made, nor as to the title. If there is error in the name only, the transfer is valid.

Error in the title invalidates the transfer, whether when only one of the parties assumes a title transferring ownership, as when on one part there is the intention to deliver as a loan, and on the other there is the intention to receive as a gift, or whether when both parties assume titles transferring ownership but different, as if on one part there is a loan and on the other a donation.

If transfer is made by means of attorneys or legal representatives, error on their part invalidates the transfer.

If the law requires special formalities for the disposition of property, ownership is not transferred without them.

Tradition may transfer ownership under a suspensive or resolutory condition, provided that it is expressed. Once delivery by the seller is made, ownership of the thing sold is transferred, even if the price has not been paid, unless the seller has reserved ownership until payment or until the fulfillment of a condition.

Tradition may be demanded of everything that is owed, from the moment there is no pending term for its payment, except that a judicial decree to the contrary intervenes.

If the tradent is not the true owner of the thing delivered by him or in his name, no rights are acquired through tradition other than those transmissible rights of the same tradent over the delivered thing. But if the tradent acquires ownership later, it shall be understood that this ownership was transferred from the moment of tradition.

Tradition grants the acquirer, in the cases and manner that the laws establish, the right to gain by prescription the ownership of which the laws establish, the right to gain by prescription the ownership of which the tradent lacked, even though the tradent did not have that right CHAPTER II OF THE TRADITION OF MOVABLE CORPOREAL THINGS

The tradition of a movable corporeal thing shall be made by signifying on the part of one to the other that it transfers ownership to him and this transfer shall be represented by one of the following means: 1. By permitting the material apprehension of a present thing. 2. By showing it to him. 3. By delivering to him the keys of the granary, warehouse, chest or any place where the thing is kept. 4. By one party undertaking to place the thing at the disposal of the other in the agreed place. 5. By the sale, donation or other title of conveyance granted to whoever holds the movable thing as a usufructuary, leaseholder, borrower for use, bailee, or under any other non-ownership-transferring title; and reciprocally, by the mere contract in which the owner constitutes himself as usufructuary, borrower for use, leaseholder, etc.

When, with the permission of the owner of a parcel of land, stones, pending fruits or other things that form part of the parcel are taken from it, tradition occurs at the moment of separation of these objects. He to whom the fruits of a sown field, vineyard or planting are owed may enter to gather them, with the day and hour being set by common agreement with the owner.

The tradition of ownership of real property and of real rights constituted in them shall be effected by means of a public instrument in which the tradent expresses that he is effecting it and the acquirer expresses that he is receiving it. This instrument may be the same as that of the act or contract, and in order for it to have effect against third parties it must be registered in the Property Registry.

The tradition of the inheritance is verified by operation of law, to the heir, at the moment it is accepted; but the heir shall not be able to convey real property nor constitute any real right over it, without prior registration of ownership of said property in his favor, presenting to the Registry the title of his predecessor if registration in his favor does not appear on record, and the authentic documents that prove the declaration of his status as sole heir, or the adjudication of such property to the one who seeks its registration. Tradition shall be traced back to the moment of delation.

Whenever by an executed judgment it is recognized as acquired by prescription the ownership or any other of the rights mentioned in the preceding articles of this Chapter, this judgment shall serve as title after its registration in the respective office or offices.

The tradition of personal rights that one individual cedes to another is verified by delivery of the title made by the cedent to the cessionary with a note that contains: the date thereof, the transfer of the right to the cessionary, designating him by his name and surname, and the signature of the cedent or that of his mandatory or legal representative. The note referred to in the preceding paragraph may be replaced by a separate instrument in which the cession is recorded. If there is no title, the tradition of the right is verified by the execution of an instrument in which the cession contract is recorded.

Possession is the holding of a thing or the enjoyment of a right by ourselves with the intention of owners, or by another in our name. The possessor is reputed to be the owner, while another person does not justify being so.

A thing may be possessed by several titles.

Possession may be regular or irregular. Regular possession is that which proceeds from just title and has been acquired in good faith, even though good faith does not subsist after possession is acquired. The regular possessor may therefore be a possessor in bad faith; and conversely, the good faith possessor may be an irregular possessor. If the title is one that transfers ownership, tradition is also necessary. Possession of a thing with the knowledge and tolerance of the one who obligated himself to deliver it shall presume tradition; unless this should have been effected by public instrument.

Just title is constitutive or transferential of ownership. Occupancy and prescription are constitutive of ownership. Those that by their nature serve to transfer it are transferential of ownership, such as sale, exchange, and donation between living persons. To this class belong judgments of adjudication in divisory actions, and legal acts of partition. Judicial judgments concerning litigious rights do not form a new title to legitimize possession. Transactions insofar as they are limited to recognizing or declaring preexisting rights do not form a new title; but insofar as they transfer the property of an undisputed object, they constitute a new title.

It is not just title: 1. The falsified, that is, not really granted by the person who claims to be the grantor. 2. That granted by a person in the capacity of mandatory or legal representative of another, without being so. 3. That which is affected by a vice of nullity, such as the conveyance that, having had to be authorized by a legal representative or by judicial decree, has not been. 4. The merely putative, such as that of the apparent heir who is not actually an heir; that of the legatee whose legacy has been revoked by a subsequent testamentary act, etc. However, to the putative heir to whom by judicial decree actual possession has been given, the decree shall serve as just title; as to the putative legatee the corresponding testamentary act that has been judicially recognized.

The validation of a title that was originally null, effected by ratification or by another legal means, is retroactive to the date on which the title was conferred.

Good faith is the belief of having acquired ownership of the thing by legitimate means, free from fraud and from every other vice. Thus, in titles that transfer ownership, good faith presumes the belief of having received the thing from one who had the power to alienate it, and that there was no fraud nor other vice in the act or contract. -- A just error in matters of fact does not oppose good faith. But error in matters of law constitutes a presumption of bad faith that does not admit proof to the contrary.

Good faith is presumed, except in cases in which the law establishes the contrary presumption. In all other cases bad faith must be proven.

Irregular possession is that which lacks one or more of the requirements set forth in Article 719.

Vicious possessions are the violent and the clandestine.

Violent possession is that which is acquired by force. Force may be actual or imminent.

One who in the absence of the owner seizes the thing, and upon the owner's return repels him, is also a violent possessor.

The vice of violence exists, whether it has been employed against the true owner of the thing, or against the one who possessed it without being so, or against the one who held it in place of or in the name of another. It is the same whether the violence is executed by one person or by his agents, and whether it is executed with his consent, or whether after being executed it is ratified expressly or tacitly.

Clandestine possession is that which is exercised by concealing it from those who have the right to oppose it.

Mere possession is called that which is exercised over a thing, not as owner, but in place of or in the name of the owner.

www.poderjudicial.gob.hn The pledge creditor, the sequestrator, the usufructuary, the user, the one who has the right of habitation, are mere holders of the thing pledged, sequestered, or whose usufruct, use or habitation belongs to them. What has been said applies generally to everyone who holds something acknowledging the ownership of another.

The possession of incorporeal things is susceptible to the same qualities and vices as the possession of a corporeal thing.

The mere lapse of time does not change mere possession into possession; except in the case of extraordinary prescription.

Whether succession occurs by universal or singular title, the possession of the successor begins with him; unless he wishes to add that of his predecessor to his own; but in such case he appropriates it with its qualities and defects. The possession of an uninterrupted series of predecessors may be aggregated to one's own possession on the same terms.

Each of the participants in a thing that was possessed pro indiviso shall be understood to have exclusively possessed the part that fell to him by the division, during all the time that the indivisibility lasted. He may, therefore, add this time to that of his exclusive possession, and the alienations that he has made alone of the common thing, and the real rights with which he has burdened it, shall subsist on said part if it has been included in the alienation or encumbrance. But if what was alienated or encumbered extends further, the alienation or encumbrance shall not subsist against the will of the respective adjudicatees. The provisions in the preceding paragraph are understood without prejudice to what is provided in the

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If one has begun to possess in one's own name, it is presumed that this possession has continued until the moment it is alleged. If one has begun to hold a thing in the name of another, the continuation of the same order of things is equally presumed. If someone proves to have possessed previously, and possesses currently, possession is presumed during the intermediate time.

Possession may be acquired not only by the one seeking to acquire it for himself, but by his mandatary, or by his legal representatives. CHAPTER II OF THE MODES OF ACQUIRING AND LOSING POSSESSION

If a person takes possession of a thing in the place or in the name of another of whom he is mandatary or legal representative, the possession of the mandant or represented person begins at the same moment, even without their knowledge. If the one who takes possession in the name of another person is not their mandatary or representative, such person shall possess it only by virtue of their knowledge and acceptance; but their possession shall be retroacted to the moment when it was taken in their name.

Possession of an inheritance is acquired from the moment it is accepted.

Those who cannot freely administer their own property do not require authorization to acquire possession of a movable thing, provided that there concur therein the will and the material or legal apprehension; but they cannot exercise the rights of possessors except with the authorization that pertains. The insane and infants, that is, minors under seven (7) years of age, are incapable of acquiring by their will the possession, whether for themselves or for others.

If the thing is one whose delivery must be made by public instrument, no one shall be able to acquire possession of it except by this means.

Possession of a thing ceases from the moment another takes control of it with the intention of making it their own; except in cases that the laws expressly exempt. If lost possession is legally recovered, it shall be understood to have been held during the entire intermediate time.

In order for possession held by public instrument to cease, a new public instrument is necessary in which the possessor transfers their right to another. As long as this does not occur, the one who takes control of the thing to which the instrument refers does not acquire possession of it, nor does he put an end to the existing possession, except that by judicial decree the right is transferred to another.

If the one who holds the thing in the place and in the name of another usurps it, giving himself as owner of it, possession is not lost on one hand nor is it acquired on the other, unless the usurper alienates the thing in his own name. In this case, the person to whom it is alienated acquires possession of the thing, and puts an end to the prior possession. Nevertheless, if the one who holds the thing in the place and in the name of a possessor by public instrument gives himself as owner of it and alienates it, possession is not lost on one hand nor is it acquired on the other without the competent public instrument.

Usufruct is a real right that consists in the faculty of enjoying a thing with the obligation of preserving its form and substance and of returning it to its owner.

Usufruct necessarily presupposes two coexisting rights: that of the bare owner and that of the usufructuary. It has, consequently, a limited duration, after which it passes to the bare owner and is consolidated with the ownership.

The right of usufruct may be constituted in various ways: 1. By law, such as that of the father or mother of a family over certain property of the child. 2. By will. 3. By donation, sale, or other act among the living. 4. A usufruct may also be acquired by prescription.

Usufruct that is to fall upon immovable property by act among the living shall not be valid unless granted by public instrument.

It is prohibited to constitute two or more successive or alternative usufructs. If in fact they are constituted, the subsequent usufructuaries shall be considered as substitutes, in case the prior ones fail before the first usufruct vests. The first usufruct that takes effect shall cause the others to lapse; but it shall not last longer than the time designated for it.

Usufruct may be constituted purely, under suspensive or resolutory condition, from a certain day, for a determined time, or for the entire life of the usufructuary. When no time is fixed in the condition of the usufruct for its duration, it shall be understood to be constituted for the entire life of the usufructuary. Usufruct constituted in favor of any corporation or foundation shall not exceed ten years.

A usufruct may be constituted in favor of two or more persons who hold it simultaneously in equal shares according to the quotas determined by the grantor; and in this case, the usufructuaries may divide the usufruct among themselves in any manner that seems appropriate to them by mutual agreement.

Bare ownership may be transferred by act between living persons and transmitted by reason of death. The usufruct is non-transmissible by will or intestate succession, except when it has been constituted for a determined period of time.

The usufructuary is obliged to receive the fruit-bearing property in the state in which it is found at the time the usufruct is deferred, and shall have the right to be indemnified for any deterioration or damage that the property may have suffered since then while in the possession and through the fault of the owner.

The usufructuary may not hold the fruit-bearing property without having provided sufficient security for its preservation and restitution, and without a prior formal inventory at his cost, as required for guardians of property. However, both the grantor of the usufruct and the owner may exempt the usufructuary from the security requirement. The donor who reserves the usufruct of the donated property is not obliged to provide such security.

While the usufructuary has not provided the security to which he is obliged and the inventory has not been completed, the owner shall retain the administration, with the obligation to pay to the usufructuary the net value of the fruits.

If the usufructuary does not provide the security to which he is obliged within a reasonable period designated by the Judge at the instance of the owner, the administration shall be awarded to the owner, with the obligation to pay to the usufructuary the net value of the fruits, deducting the sum that the Judge shall fix for the work and care of the administration. In the same case, he may lease the fruit-bearing property or borrow interest-bearing money by agreement with the usufructuary. He may also, by agreement with the usufructuary, lease the fruit-bearing property and put the money at interest. He may also, by agreement with the usufructuary, buy or sell fungible things and borrow or lend at interest the money derived therefrom. Movable property included in the usufruct that is necessary for the personal use of the usufructuary and his family shall be delivered to him under oath to restore the items or their respective values, with no account being taken of deterioration arising from time and legitimate use. The usufructuary may at any time claim the administration by providing the security to which he is obliged.

The owner shall ensure that the inventory is made with proper specification, and may not afterwards impugn it as inaccurate or incomplete.

It is not lawful for the owner to do anything that would prejudice the usufructuary in the exercise of his rights, unless with the consent of the usufructuary. If he wishes to make necessary repairs, the usufructuary may require that they be made in a reasonable time and with the least possible prejudice to the usufruct. If the property is transferred or transmitted, it shall be with the burden of the usufruct constituted in it, even though this is not expressly stated.

When there are two or more usufructuaries, there shall be a right of accrual among them, and the totality of the usufruct shall continue until the expiration of the right of the last usufructuary. This shall be understood to be the case unless the grantor has provided that upon the termination of a partial usufruct it shall consolidate with the ownership.

The usufructuary of an immovable property has the right to receive all natural fruits, including those pending at the time the usufruct is deferred. Reciprocally, fruits still pending at the termination of the usufruct shall belong to the owner.

The usufructuary of an estate enjoys all active servitudes constituted in favor of it, and is subject to all passive servitudes constituted upon it.

The enjoyment of the usufructuary of an estate extends to forests and woodland, but with the obligation to preserve them in their existing state, replacing the trees that he fells, and being responsible for their deterioration, insofar as it does not result from natural causes or fortuitous accidents.

If the fruit-bearing property includes mines and quarries in actual operation, the usufructuary may avail himself of them, and shall not be responsible for the diminution of products that may result, provided he has observed the laws relating to mining property.

The usufruct of an estate extends to the increases it receives through alluvion or other natural accessions.

The usufructuary has no right over treasures discovered in the soil he usufructs to the right that the law grants to the owner of the soil.

The usufructuary of movable property has the right to use it according to its nature and purpose; and at the end of the usufruct is not obligated to return it except in the condition in which it is found, being responsible only for those losses or deteriorations that result from his willful misconduct or negligence.

The usufructuary of livestock or herds is obligated to replace the animals that die or are lost, but only with the natural increase of the same livestock or herds; except that the death or loss were attributable to his act or negligence, in which case he must indemnify the owner. If the livestock or herd perishes entirely or in large part due to an epidemic or other act of God, the usufructuary shall not be obligated to replace the lost animals, and shall fulfill his obligation by delivering any salvaged remains.

If the usufruct is constituted over things that cannot be used in a manner convenient to their nature without being destroyed, the usufructuary becomes the owner of them, and the owner becomes merely a creditor for the delivery of other species of equal quantity and quality, or of the value that these have at the time of termination of the usufruct.

Civil fruits belong to the usufructuary day by day.

What is stated in the preceding articles shall be understood without prejudice to the agreements on the matter that may intervene between the bare owner and the usufructuary or to the advantages that in the constitution of the usufruct may have been expressly granted to the bare owner or to the usufructuary.

The usufructuary is obligated to respect the leases of the productive thing contracted by the owner before the constitution of the usufruct by an act between living persons, or before the death of the persons who constituted it by testament. But he succeeds in the collection of the rent or pension from the time the usufruct begins.

The usufructuary may lease the usufruct and cede it to whomever he wishes for valuable consideration or gratuitously. Should the usufruct be ceded to a third party, the cedent always remains directly responsible to the owner. But the usufructuary may not lease or cede his usufruct if the constituting party has prohibited it, unless the owner relieves him of the prohibition. The usufructuary who violates this provision shall lose the right of usufruct.

Even though the usufructuary has the faculty to lease the usufruct or cede it on any title, all contracts made for that purpose shall be resolved at the end of the usufruct. The owner, however, shall grant to the lessee or cessionary the time needed for the next collection of fruits; and for that time he shall be substituted for the usufructuary in the contract.

All ordinary expenses of conservation and cultivation correspond to the usufructuary.

The usufructuary shall bear the burden of pensions, charges and, in general, the periodic charges with which the productive thing was burdened beforehand, and which during the usufruct are accrued. It is not unlawful for the bare owner to impose new charges on it to the detriment of the usufruct. It corresponds likewise to the usufructuary to pay the periodic fiscal and municipal taxes that burden it during the usufruct, regardless of when they were established. If the usufructuary fails to make these payments and the owner makes them, or if the productive thing is alienated or embargoed, the former shall indemnify the latter for all damages.

Works or major repairs necessary for the conservation of the productive thing shall be the charge of the owner, the usufructuary paying, while the usufruct lasts, the legal interest on the money invested in them. The usufructuary shall notify the owner of the works and major repairs required for the conservation of the productive thing. If the owner refuses or delays the fulfillment of these charges, the usufructuary may, to free the productive thing and preserve his usufruct, perform them at his cost, and the owner shall reimburse him without interest.

Works or major repairs are understood to be those that occur once or at long intervals of time, and that concern the conservation and permanent utility of the productive thing.

If a building comes down entirely due to decay or act of God, neither the owner nor the usufructuary is obligated to rebuild it.

The usufructuary may retain the productive thing until payment of the reimbursements and indemnifications to which, according to the preceding articles, the owner is obligated.

The usufructuary has no right to demand anything for improvements that he has voluntarily made to the productive thing; but it shall be lawful for him to invoke them in compensation for the value of deteriorations that may be attributed to him, or to remove the materials, if he can separate them without detriment to the productive thing, and the owner does not compensate him for what they would be worth after being separated. This is understood without prejudice to the agreements that may have been made between the usufructuary and the owner regarding improvements, or to what on this matter may have been provided in the constitution of the usufruct.

The usufructuary is responsible not only for his own acts or omissions, but also for the acts of third parties resulting from his negligence. Consequently, he is responsible for the easements that by his tolerance he has allowed to be acquired over the usufructuary property, and for the damage that usurpations committed on the usufructuary thing may have caused to the owner, if he has not denounced them to the owner in a timely manner, being able to do so.

The owner may petition the authority for such conservatory measures as may be convenient to him, if the property should appear to be in danger or to be deteriorating in the hands of the usufructuary.

The creditors of the usufructuary may request that the usufruct be attached, and that they be paid therefrom up to the amount of their credits, providing the appropriate bond of conservation and restitution to the person to whom it corresponds. They may, consequently, oppose any assignment or renunciation of the usufruct made in fraud of their rights.

The usufruct is generally extinguished by the arrival of the specified date or the occurrence of the condition set for its termination. If the usufruct has been constituted until a person other than the usufructuary reaches a certain age, and if that person dies before that time, the usufruct shall nevertheless endure until the day when that person would have reached that age, had he lived.

In the legal duration of the usufruct, the time is counted even if the usufructuary has not enjoyed it due to ignorance, or dispossession, or any other cause.

The usufruct is also extinguished: 1. By the death of the usufructuary, when the usufruct has not been constituted for a determined time. 2. By the cessation of the right of the person who constituted the usufruct, when having a revocable dominion the case of revocation arrives. 3. By consolidation of the usufruct with the property. 4. By prescription. 5. By the renunciation of the usufructuary.

The usufruct is extinguished by the complete destruction of the usufructuary thing; if only a part is destroyed, the usufruct subsists over what remains. If the entire usufruct is limited to a building, it shall cease forever by the complete destruction of that building, and the usufructuary shall not retain any right over the land. However, if the destroyed building belongs to an estate, the usufructuary of that estate shall retain his right over the whole of it.

If a usufructuary estate is flooded and the waters withdraw afterward, the usufruct shall revive for the time remaining until its termination.

The legal usufruct of a father or mother of a family over certain property of the child is subject to the special rules of the Title 'On Parental Authority.' TITLE IX ON THE RIGHTS OF USE AND HABITATION

The right of use generally consists of the faculty to enjoy a limited portion of the utilities and products of a thing. If it refers to a house, and to the utility of dwelling in it, it is called the right of habitation.

The rights of use and habitation are constituted and lost in the same manner as the usufruct.

Neither the user nor the habitator shall be obligated to provide security. However, the habitator is obliged to make an inventory; and the same obligation shall extend to the user, if the use is constituted over things that must be returned in kind.

The extent to which the right of use or habitation is granted is determined by the title that constitutes it, and in the absence of such determination in the title, it is governed by the following articles.

The use and habitation are limited to the personal needs of the user or the habitator. In the personal needs of the user or the habitator are included those of his family. The family comprises the wife and legitimate and natural children; both those who exist at the time of the constitution and those born thereafter, and this even when the user or habitator is not married, nor has recognized any child at the date of the constitution. It also comprises the number of servants necessary for the family. It furthermore comprises the persons who at that date lived with the habitator or user and at his expense; and the persons to whom the user or the habitator owes alimony.

The personal needs of the user or the habitator do not comprise those of the industry or business in which he engages. Thus, the user of animals shall not be able to employ them in the transport of objects in which he traffics, nor shall the habitator use the house for shops or warehouses; unless the thing on which the right is granted, by its nature and ordinary use and by its relation to the profession or industry of the one who is to exercise it, appears to be destined to serve him in those activities.

The user of an estate has only the right to common objects of food and fuel, not to those of superior quality; and is obliged to receive them from the owner, or to take them with his permission.

The user and the inhabitant must use the objects comprised in their respective rights with the moderation and care proper to a good head of family; and are obliged to contribute to the ordinary expenses of conservation and cultivation, in proportion to the benefit they derive. This last obligation does not extend to use or habitation that is granted charitably to persons in need.

The rights of use and habitation are not transferable to heirs, and cannot be ceded by any title, lent nor leased. -- Neither the user nor the inhabitant may lease, lend or alienate any of the objects to which the exercise of his right extends. But they may well alienate the fruits that it is lawful for them to consume in their personal needs. TITLE X OF SERVITUDES

Real servitude, or simply servitude, is a burden imposed on one estate in benefit of another estate of a different owner.

The estate that suffers the burden is called the servient estate; and the estate that derives the benefit is called the dominant estate. With respect to the dominant estate, the servitude is called active; and with respect to the servient estate, passive.