Legal Entities and Persons: A Comprehensive Overview
Legal Entities and Persons
Entities Subject to Law
Human beings are the primary subjects of law, existing as legal entities or as a matter of law. Things and events can also be subjects of law.
Classification of Persons
Persons are classified into two types: natural persons (visible existence) and legal persons (ideal existence).
Natural Persons
Natural persons are human beings capable of rights. Our civil code defines them as entities showing signs of humanity, without distinction of qualities or accidents. This includes unborn persons.
Unborn or young children lack the ability to exercise their rights and depend on adults for assistance.
Born children, prepubertal children (under 14 years old), the insane, the deaf and dumb who cannot write, have total disability. Due to moral or physical impossibility, or dependence on representation (parents or guardians), they cannot perform acts of civil life.
Adult children (14 to 21 years old) have relative disability and can only perform acts authorized by law.
Emancipated minors, while still minors, can marry with parental approval.
Legal Persons
Legal persons are entities capable of acquiring rights or incurring obligations, but are not natural persons. Examples include the state, associations, and institutions.
Legal persons can pursue civil, but not criminal, remedies. Criminal responsibility falls on the individual members committing crimes, not the entity itself.
Legal persons can incur obligations according to their bylaws and purpose of creation.
Things and Assets
Things are tangible objects capable of having value.
Assets are intangible objects capable of having value. Both things and assets are considered goods. All of a person’s assets constitute their heritage.
For example, if a business owner promises to build something, failure to comply harms the owner. While the work remains undone, the owner retains the right to demand fulfillment. This right, though immaterial, is an asset, even though it refers to a tangible work (a thing).
Things that can be transported, either by themselves or by external force, are movable. This includes fluids, solids like stones, earth, and metal, when separated from the ground.
Things lose their movable status when they become ancillary to property, intentionally placed by the owner. Examples include pond fish, seeds sown in the earth, farm tools, crops, and animals. These become “property by accession.”
Immovable things are fixed. Things immobilized by nature, like the ground and its components, and anything organically attached to or under the surface (not by human action), are called immovables by nature.
Civil Registration
The civil registry, also known as the state registrar, is an administrative body or office that officially records the existence, civil status, and personal data of citizens. It records birth, affiliation, name, surname, emancipation, age qualifications, court changes to legal capacity, bankruptcy declarations, death, residency, nationality, guardianship, custody, legal representation, and marriage.
The registry is public and accessible to anyone interested.
Surname
Surname, or family name, is used with the given name to identify each person. In many countries, surnames are determined by paternal and maternal lineage. Upon reaching adulthood, individuals may request to change the order of their surnames. Unlike given names, surnames are subject to legal restrictions. Children of unknown parents receive surnames assigned by the registrar. Under specific circumstances, individuals can legally change their surnames.