Joglar v. Registrar of Property
Joglar v. Registrar of Property
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
By public deed executed in the city of San Juan, Porto Rico, on October 17, 1907, before Notary Damián Monserrat
‘ ‘ The admission of the foregoing document to record is denied with respect to the half interest in a house situated on Comercio Street because the contract resulting from the foregoing instrument does not come within the case excepted by article 234 of the Code of Commerce; therefore the said contract, to be valid, requires judicial authorization in respect to the minor, Francisco Joglar Cerecedo. A cautionary notice, effective for the period prescribed by law, has been entered at folio 228 of volume 98 of Río Piedras, property 1038, triplicate, entry letter A. San Juan, Porto Rico, January 14, 1911. The Registrar, José S. Belaval.”
Prom this decision Higinio Joglar Diaz took the present appeal to this Supreme Court praying for the reversal thereof, and that the court order the admission of the document to record after hearing the registrar.
The only question involved in this appeal is whether Luz Cerecedo, as mother with patria potestas over her minor child, Francisco Joglar Cerecedo, could, without judicial authorization, assign and convey the rights which her said child had in the commercial firm of Sobrinos de Joglar, as was done in favor of the other partner, for, while the appellant maintains that the assignment is valid because the question being one of the liquidation of a commercial firm, article 234 of the Code of Commerce, which does not require judicial authorization, is applicable, the registrar contends that the document, whose admission to record was denied, does
In the liquidation of commercial associations in which minors or incapacitated persons are interested, the aforesaid article 234 of the Code of Commerce authorizes the father, mother, or guardian of the latter to act with full power as. though a private transaction were involved, and all the acts performed by them are valid, without prejudice to such liability as they may incur with regard to their principals by .reason of fraud or negligence, which is tantamount to saying-that for the purpose of performing such acts of liquidation no judicial authorization is required.
The liquidation of a commercial association consists in collecting its credits, extinguishing its obligations previously contracted as they fall due, and realizing pending transactions, none of which acts appear to have been performed by the parties executing the instrument which is the object of this appeal, and we must- therefore hold that the question here is not one of the liquidation of a commercial association; nor can the fact that an inventory of the assets and liabilities was taken in order to ascertain whether the partnership had had any profit or loss be held to have been such a liquidation as that contemplated by article 228 of the Code of Commerce.
It is not a question, then, of acts performed by the mother in the liquidation of a partnership in which her minor son is interested, wherefore article 234 of the aforesaid code is not applicable to the case. The same is true as tp the decision of this court rendered June 27, 1908, in the case of Calenti v. Registrar of Property of Caguas (14 P. R., 671), which is cited by appellant in support of his appeal, because in that case, in applying the provisions of article 234 above cited, the court’s action was based on the fact that the instrument did really constitute a dissolution, liquidation, and division of the partnership assets.
Although the dissolution of the partnership of Sobrinos de Joglar was a commercial transaction, the assignment of’ rights does not partake of that character notwithstanding the-fact that it is contained in the same instrument, because it does not reveal an intention to trade and transact business for profit, and it is therefore a civil contract which must be governed by the code which treats of such matters.
Notwithstanding the fact that according to the Spanish Civil Code in force in this Island up to the year 1902, and the decision of this court in the case of González v. Méndez et al., only property rights in real estate were considered as realty (article 334, subdivision 10), and judicial authorization was not necessary to convey rights other than property rights in real estate. Now, since the Revised Civil Code went into effect, not only property rights in real estate but any right established on any immovable possesses the character of real property according to section 336, and therefore rights which were not determined until after the liquidation of the firm of Sobrinos de Joglar belong to the minor son of the deceased partner and possess the character of real property, for the alienation or encumbrance of which judicial authorization is necessary, and such authorization not having been obtained in this case the rights of Francisco Joglar Cerecedo to one-half of the house forming a part of the partnership property cannot be recorded in favor of Higinio’ Joglar .Díaz. We are
Affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
CONCURRENT OPINION OF
I concur in the opinion delivered in this case by my colleague, Mr. Justice Aldrey, except as to a part of the last paragraph, as I am of the opinion that both under the Spanish Civil Code and the Revised Civil Code now in force it was and is necessary to obtain judicial authorization in cases of this character.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.