Claire :)

OBJECT OF CONTRACTS
- Its subject matter.
- It is the thing, right, or service which is
the subject matter of the obligation
arising from the contract.
- The object of the obligation created
thereby are identical.
REQUISITES OF OBJECT
1. The object must be within the
commerce of man (Art. 1347);
2. It must be licit, or not contrary to law,
morals, good customs, public policy, or
public order (Art. 1347);
3. It must be possible (Art. 1348);
4. It must be determinate as to its kind
(Art. 1349)
CANNOT BE OBJECTS OF CONTRACTS
1. Things which are outside the
commerce of men;
2. Intransmissible rights;
3. Future inheritance, except in cases
expressly authorized by law;
4. Services which are contrary to law,
morals, good customs, public order
or public policy;
5. Impossible things or services;
6. Objects which are not possible of
determination as to their kind.
Art. 1347
All things which are not outside the
commerce of men, including future things,
may be the object of a contract. All rights
which are not intransmissible may also be
the object of contracts.
No contract may be entered into upon
future inheritance except in cases
expressly authorized by law.
All services which are contrary to law,
morals, good customs, public order or
public policy may likewise be the object of
a contract.
WITHIN THE
REQUISITES

COMMERCE

OF

MEN;

1. The thing, right or service should be

susceptible of appropriation;
2. It should be transmissible from one
person to another.
Outside the Commerce of Man
- All kinds of things and interests whose
alienation or free exchange is
restricted by law or stipulation, which
parties cannot modify at will.
- Including only those things which are
not susceptible of appropriation or of
private ownership, and which are not
transmissible.
*The object of a contract should be in
existence at the moment of the
celebration of the contract, or at least, it
can exist subsequently or in the future.
*By FUTURE THINGS are understood
those which do not belong to the obligor
at the time the contract is made; they
may be maid; they may be made, raised,
or acquired by the obligor after the
perfection of the contract.
*The term FUTURE THINGS include not
only material objects but also future
rights.
WHEN THE CONTRACT INVOLVES
FUTURE THINGS, it may either be:
1. CONDITIONAL, or subject to the coming
into existence of the thing; or
2. ALEATORY, or one of the parties bears
the risk of the thing never coming into
existence.
FUTURE INHERITANCE
* By way of exception to future things as
objects of contracts, the law generally
does not allow contracts on future
inheritance. In order to be a further
inheritance, the succession must not have
been opened at the time of the contract.

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REQUISITES
IN
ORDER
THAT
A
CONTRACT MAY FALL WITHIN THE
PROHIBITION OF ART. 1347
1. That the succession has not yet been
opened;
2. That the object of the contracts forms
part of the inheritance; and
3. That the promissor has, with respect to
the object, an expectancy of a right
which is purely hereditary in nature.
*An agreement for the partition of the
estate of a living person, made between
those who, in case of death, would be in a
position to inherit from him is void. And a
contract renouncing the right to inherit
from one, who is still alive, is also void.
*After the death of a person, however, the
properties and rights left by him by way of
inheritance can be the subject-matter of a
contract among or by his heirs, even
before a partition thereof has been made,
because the rights of the heirs are
transmitted to them from the moment of
death of the predecessor.
*When the object of the contract is not a
part of the inheritance, the prohibition
does not apply, even if delivery of such
object is dependent upon the death of one
of the contracting parties.
*If the right of the party over the thing is
not by virtue of succession, but as a
creditor, the contract does not fall within
the prohibition of this article.
CONTRARY TO LAW OR MORALS
*The contract is void if at the time it is
entered into, the object is contrary to law
or morals. The law violated need not be
penal in nature; it is enough that it be
mandatory or prohibitive.
*We can determine through our sense of
decency, whether an act is in consonance

with the respect due to society or is

repugnant to it.
PRESTATION OF THIRD PARTY
*The prestation promised in a contract
must be personal to the party. A person
can obligate only himself; he cannot
obligate a third person.
*Third does not mean that a contract in
which the prestation of a third person is
promised, is void; it is valid.
*The third person, however, is not bound;
only the promissory is bound by the
contract to use all means so that the third
person may perform the prestation.
Art. 1348
Impossible things or services cannot be
the object of contracts.
IMPOSSIBLE THINGS OR SERVICES
Things are impossible when
- they are not susceptible of existing;
- or they are outside the commerce of
man.
Personal services or acts are impossible
when
- they are bound the ordinary strength or
power of man.
*The impossibility must be actual and
contemporaneous with the making of
the contract, and not subsequent thereto.
ABSOLUTE or OBJECTIVE
when nobody can perform it
nullifies the contract
RELATIVE or SUBJECTIVE
when due to the special conditions or
qualifications of the debtor it cannot be
performed.
if temporary, does not nullify the
contract; if permanent, it nullifies the
contract.

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*The impossibility, therefore, must be
absolute, not relative, and must be
determined objectively, and not in relation
to the debtor personally, with rare
exceptions.
LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES
*When the object is impossible, the
contract is VOID and INEXISTANT; hence, it
cannot give rise to any juridical relation.
*If the person knew of the impossibility, or
could have known of it, his bad faith or
negligence makes him liable for damages.
*The amount of damages, however,
will be limited in this case to the losses
the creditor may have suffered by
having relied on the contract; he
cannot recover all the damages arising
from non-performance of the contract.
*But if the debtor is also ignorant of the
impossibility, and his ignorance thereof is
justifiable, or unavoidable, the reason for
his responsibility ceases, and he cannot be
held liable for the damages suffered by
the creditor.
*There is no liability for damages if both
parties
have
knowledge
of
the
impossibility.
PARTLY IMPOSSIBLE
*If the thing is partly possible and partly
impossible, the effect will depend upon
the divisibility of the thing.
If it is INDIVISIBLE, by its nature or by
the intention of the parties, there is no
contract; the consent would be wanting,
because it was either for the whole
obligation or for none at all.
If the thing is DIVISIBLE, then the
contract is valid to the extent that it is
possible.

DIFFICULTY OF PERFORMANCE
*If a party charges himself with an
obligation difficult of performance, he
must abide by it.
*A showing of mere inconvenience,
unexpected impediments, or increased
expenses is not enough to relieve him of
the obligation. The debtor who does not
perform in such cases must be held liable
for damages.
*But if the obstacles to the performance of
the prestation are so great that they can
only be overcome with sacrifices which are
absolutely disproportionate, the prestation
must be considered impossible, taking into
account
the
rational,
ethical,
and
economic considerations in the light of the
presumed intention of the parties and of
god faith.
Art. 1349
The object of every contract must be
determinate as to its kind. The fact that
the quantity is not determinate shall not
be an obstacle to the existence of the
contract, provided it is possible to
determine the same, without the need of a
new contract between the parties.
DETERMINATION OF KIND
The object of a contract need not be
individualized;
but
it
must
be
DETERMINATE as to its kind or species.
The thing must have definite limits, not
uncertain or arbitrary.
DETERMINATION OF QUANTITY
The quantity of the object may be
indeterminate, so long as the right of
the creditor is not rendered illusory. Its
future determination must, however,
depend upon circumstances already
provided in the contract itself.
CAUSE

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- The essential reason which moves the
parties to enter into the contract.
- It is the immediate, direct and
proximate reason which justifies the
creation of an obligation through the
will of the contracting parties.

REQUISITE OF CAUSE
1. It must exist;
2. It must be true;
3. It must be licit.
Art. 1350
In onerous contracts the cause is
understood to be, for each contracting
party, the prestation or promise of a thing
or service by the other; in remuneratory
ones, the service or benefit which is
remunerated; and in contracts of pure
beneficence, the mere liberality of the
benefactor.
ONEROUS CONTRACTS
In ONEROUS CONTRACTS, the cause need
not be adequate or an exact equivalent in
point of actual value, especially in dealing
with objects which have a rapidly
fluctuating price.
Where
the
cause
is
a
NATURAL
OBLIGATION, or one of CONSCIENCE, there
is sufficient cause to sustain an onerous
contract; and the cause will not be one of
mere liberality.
But a moral obligation arising wholly from
ethical considerations not constituting a
natural obligation, is not a sufficient cause
for onerous contracts.
MUTUAL PROMISES
A promise made by one party, if made in
accordance with the forms required by
law, may be a good cause or consideration
for a promise made by the other party.

ACCESORY CONTRACTS
The cause of the accessory contract is
identical with that of the principal
contract.
A person may secure the performance of
anothers contract, either by acting as
surety on a bond or by giving his property
by way of mortgage to secure such other
persons contract.
As a mortgage is an accessory contract,
its cause or consideration of the principal
contract, from which it receives its life,
and without which it cannot exist as an
independent contract, although it may
secure an obligation incurred by another.
REMUNETORY CONTRACTS
- one where a party gives something to
another because of some service or
benefit given or rendered by the latter
to the former, where such service or
benefit was not due as a legal
obligation.
GRATUITOUS CONTRACTS
- These are essentially agreements to
give donations.
- The generosity or liberality of the
benefactor is the cause in such
contracts.
- For
this
reason,
a
voluntary
conveyance, without any valuable
consideration whatever, is good as
between the parties and cannot be set
aside, unless made n fraud of existing
creditors.
Art. 1351
The particular motives of the parties in
entering into a contract are different from
the cause thereof.
CAUSE
The
objective,
intrinsic
and
juridical reason for

MOTIVE
The psychological,
individual
or
personal
purpose

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the existence of
the contract itself.
The objective of
the
party
in
entering into the
contract.
The cause in each
kind of contract is
always the same.

of a party to the
contract.
The motive is a
persons reason for
wanting
to
get
such objective.
The motive differs
with each person.

EFFECT OF MOTIVE
General Rule: The motives of a party do
not affect the validity or existence of a
contract. The motives of a contracting
party cannot be the basis for the
annulment of the contract, unless the
realization of such motives has been made
a condition upon which the contract is to
depend. On the other hand, the mere
presence of motives cannot cure the
absence of consideration.
Exceptions:
1. When the motive of a debtor in
alienating property is to defraud his
creditors, the alienation is rescissible.
2. When the motive of a person in giving
his consent is to avoid a threatened

injury, as in case of intimidation, the

contract is voidable.
3. When the motive of a person induced
him to act on the basisof fraud or
misrepresentation by the other party,
the contract is likewise voidable.
*While the general rule is that the cause of
a contract should not be confused with the
motives of the parties, the motive may be
regarded as cause when it predetermines
the purpose of the contract.

Art. 1352
Contracts without case, or with unlawful
cause, produce no effect whatever. The
cause is unlawful if it is contrary to law,
morals, good customs, public order or
public policy.