Accession Natural
Accession Natural
Accession Natural
ACCESSION NATURAL
Art. 457. To the owners of lands adjoining the banks of rivers belong the
accretion which they gradually receive from the effects of the current of the waters.
(336)
1. Alluvium
2. Avulsion
3. Change of course of rivers
4. Formation of islands
ALLUVIUM
The soil deposited or added to the lands adjoining the banks of rivers, and
gradually received as an effect of the current of the waters
ACCRETION
REQUISITES OF ALLUVIUM
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ACCESSION NATURAL 10/08/2017, 12:25 AM
Belong to the owners of the estate to which they have been added
Public service constructionthe owner of the land is no longer the riparian owner and
the government which will own the accretion
Easement for the benefit of navigation, floatage, fishing or salvageright still
subsists because in easements, the owner of the serviant estate doesn't lose his
ownership over the portion
occupied
NOTE:
1. Loss of alluvium not affected by registration under the Land Registration Act
2. Registered land is not protected from the process of accretion
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Art. 458. The owners of estates adjoining ponds or lagoons do not acquire the land
left dry by the natural decrease of the waters, or lose that inundated by them in
extraordinary floods. (367)
POND
A body of stagnant water without an outlet, larger than a puddle and smaller than a
lake, or a like body of water with a small outlet
LAGOON
A small lake, ordinarily of fresh water, and not very deep, fed by floods, the hollow bed
of which is bounded by the elevations of the land
LAKE
A body of water formed by the depressions of the earth, ordinarily fresh water,
coming from rivers, brooks, or springs, and connected with the sea by them
Art. 459. Whenever the current of a river, creek or torrent segregates from an
estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers it to another estate, the
owner of the land to which the segregated portion belonged retains the ownership
of it, provided that he removes the same within two years. (368a)
AVULSION
The process whereby the current of a river, creek, or torrent segregates from an
estate on its bank a known portion of land and transfers it to another estate
The removal of a considerable quantity of earth upon or annexation to
the land of another, suddenly, and by the perceptible action of the water
REQUISITES OF AVULSION
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N.B: it doesn't matter if it adds or lands on top. It also doesn't matter if there were trees
attached to the detached land.
RIVER
CREEK
TORRENT
Art. 460. Trees uprooted and carried away by the current of the waters
belong to the owner of the land upon which they may be cast, if the owners
do not claim them within six months. If such owners claim them, they shall
pay the expenses incurred in gathering them or putting them in a safe place.
(369a)
NOTE: The six-month period given in Article 460 should be considered only a
condition precedent. The recovery period must be made within the period for
prescription.
Art. 461. River beds which are abandoned through the natural change in the
course of the waters ipso facto belong to the owners whose lands are occupied by
the new course in proportion to the area lost. However, the owners of the lands
adjoining the old bed shall have the right to acquire the same by paying the
value thereof, which value shall not exceed the value of the area occupied by
the new bed. (370a)
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1. The change must be sudden in order that the old river bed may be identified
2. The changing of the course must be more or less permanent and not temporary
overflooding of anothers land
3. The change of the river bed must be a natural one caused by natural forces
4. There must be a definite abandonment by the government
5. The river must continue to exist, that is, it must not completely dry up or
disappear
1. Owner of new bed will own the old river bed 2. Adjacent owners has the right to
acquire the old land
Art. 462. Whenever a river, changing its course by natural causes, opens a new bed
through a private estate, this bed shall become of public dominion. (372a)
Even if the new bed is on private property the bed becomes property of public
dominion, just as the old bed had been of public dominion before the abandonment
Art. 463. Whenever the current of a river divides itself into branches, leaving
a piece of land or part thereof isolated, the owner of the land retains his
ownership. He also retains it if a portion of land is separated from the estate by
the current. (374)
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ACCESSION NATURAL 10/08/2017, 12:25 AM
1. Water
2. River bed
3. River bank
Art. 464. Islands which may be formed on the seas within the jurisdiction of the
Philippines, on lakes, and on navigable or floatable rivers belong to the State. (371a)
Art. 465. Islands which through successive accumulation of alluvial deposits are formed
in non-navigable and non-floatable rivers, belong to the owners of the margins or
banks nearest to each of them, or to the owners of both margins if the island is in the
middle of the river, in which case it shall be divided longitudinally in halves. If a
single island thus formed be more distant from one margin than from the other, the
owner of the nearer margin shall
be the sole owner thereof. (373a)
OWNERSHIP OF ISLANDS
If useful for floatage and commerce, whether the tides affect the water or not
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The owner of the older island is the riparian owner and if the new island is nearer in
margin the older island, the owner of the older island should be considered also the owner
of the new island
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