Civil Law: Persons, Family, and Succession
What the domain tests
This domain tests the civil-law foundations that determine whether a notarial act is valid: legal personality, capacity, majority, family relationships, matrimonial property, and succession. The exam expects you to connect status and family law to the notary’s qualification of deeds, especially sales, donations, powers, and estate instruments.
Core rules
- Legal capacity is the rule; lack of capacity is the exception. Minors and persons whose capacity has been restricted cannot validly dispose of real estate without the legal representation or authorization required by law.
- Majority is 18. A notary must verify age and civil status from reliable documents; a minor’s deed of sale or donation is not curable by merely adding a parent’s signature if the legal requirements are absent.
- Marriage and matrimonial property affect disposition. The notary must identify whether property is personal or common and whether the spouse’s consent or intervention is required.
- Succession may be testate or intestate. The Civil Code reserves a forced share (legítima) for certain heirs, principally descendants; the notary checks that testamentary dispositions do not invade it.
- Intestate succession follows order of call and representation. Before adjudication, the notary establishes heirs, degrees, and any widow/widower rights.
- Estate instruments include the acta de notoriedad de herederos, inventory, adjudication, and partition. The notary does not “declare” heirs judicially; the acta records the notarial declaration based on documents and law.
Worked example
A deceased man leaves a widow and two children; one child predeceased him, leaving a daughter. The notary receives the death certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificates, and proof of the predeceased child’s death. The notary identifies the heirs by order of call and representation: the granddaughter takes her father’s place. The widow’s concurrence is analyzed under the Civil Code, and the estate is inventoried before adjudication. The notary refuses to issue an adjudication until a missing birth certificate is supplied.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing possession of a house with ownership or hereditary title.
- Ignoring the spouse’s position in a sale of allegedly personal property.
- Treating the acta de notoriedad as a judicial judgment.
- Forgetting representation when a child predeceases the deceased.
- Assuming testamentary freedom is unlimited despite the legítima.