Hermosa vs. Longara

Estate of Debtor (D) vs. Creditor (P)
GR L-5267, October 27, 1953	[T]

Summary: A debtor promised to pay a loan on condition "as soon as he receive funds derived from the sale of his property in Spain." The debtor died and the estate sold and receive the funds from the sale of the said property. The creditor is demanding payment from the estate.

Rule of Law: A condition not dependent on the exclusive will of the debtor is a valid condition in an obligation.

Facts: Epifanio Longara (P) filed a claim against the estate of Fernando Hermosa, Sr. (D) for money owed to him by the deceased. He alleged that the advances were made "on condition that their payment should be made by Fernando Hermosa, Sr. as soon as he receive funds derived from the sale of his property in Spain." Upon Hermosa's (D) death, the property was sold and the money sent to the estate in the Philippines.

Hermosa (D) contended on appeal that the obligation contracted by the intestate was subject to a condition exclusively dependent upon the will of the debtor (a condicion potestativa) and therefore null and void, in accordance with Article 1115 of the old Civil Code. The Court of Appeals held that the condition was not entirely potestative. It further ruled that the payment of the advances did not become due until the administratrix received the money from the buyer of the property.

Issues: Is the condition "as soon as he receives funds from the sale of his property in Spain" valid?

Ruling: Yes. The condition upon which the payment of the debt depended on, "as soon as he (intestate) receive funds derived from the sale of his property in Spain," is a condition that does not depend exclusively upon the will of the debtor, but also upon other circumstances beyond his power or control.

Upon review by the Court of Appeals, the condition implies that the intestate had already decided to sell his house, or at least that he had made his creditors believe that he had done so, and that all that we needed to make his obligation (to pay his indebtedness) demandable is that the sale be consummated and the price thereof remitted to the islands. It is evident, therefore, that the condition of the obligation was not purely protestative—i.e., depending exclusively upon the will of the intestate—but a mixed one, depending partly upon the will of intestate and partly upon chance. The obligation is clearly governed by the second sentence of Article 1115 of the old Civil Code (8 Manresa, 126).

The condition is, besides, a suspensive condition, upon the happening of which the obligation to pay is made dependent. And upon the happening of the condition, the debt became immediately due and demandable. (Article 1114, old Civil Code; 8 Manresa, 119).
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* Keywords: suspensive condition, potestative condition