Book I of the Civil Code covers Articles 37 to 413 and deals with persons: when legal personality begins and ends, who has capacity to act, citizenship and domicile, the use of surnames, absence and presumptive death, emancipation, and the civil register. Read a printed edition of the Code and Book I looks much larger than it is, because it still prints the Titles on marriage, legal separation, property relations between spouses, the family, paternity and filiation, and support. Those were repealed in 1988 by Article 254 of the Family Code. What remains in force is narrower but heavily used in practice: it is the law behind a change of name, a corrected birth certificate, a declaration of presumptive death, and every question about who is legally capable of signing a contract.
Quick Answer
Book I (Arts. 37–413) governs civil personality and capacity to act, citizenship and domicile, the use of surnames, absence and presumptive death, emancipation and the age of majority, and the civil register. Specified family-law Titles were repealed by Article 254 of the Family Code (Executive Order No. 209); later special laws also govern some subjects. The applicable law can depend on when a right accrued. Two later statutes, Republic Act No. 9048 and Republic Act No. 10172, moved most corrections of civil registry entries out of court and into an administrative process before the local civil registrar.
What is still in force
| Subject | Articles | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Civil personality | 37–47 | When juridical capacity and capacity to act begin and end; birth, death and the status of a conceived child |
| Citizenship and domicile | 48–51 | Who is a citizen, and how domicile is determined for natural and juridical persons |
| Care and education of children | 356–363 | Rights of a child to care, education and parental company, read today alongside the Family Code and child-welfare legislation |
| Use of surnames | 364–380 | Which surname a person uses, married women’s surnames, and the rule that no person may change name or surname without judicial authority |
| Absence | 381–396 | Provisional measures when a person disappears, declaration of absence, and administration of the absentee’s property |
| Civil register | 407–413 | Which acts, events and judicial decrees are recorded, the evidentiary value of the register, and the rule that entries may not be changed except by judicial order |
Historical age-of-majority provisions: Articles 397–403 form part of Book I’s Title XV, included in the Family Code’s repealing clause. Do not treat their original wording as the present age-of-majority rule. Consult the Family Code provisions as amended by Republic Act No. 6809, subject to applicable exceptions.
What was repealed, and where it now lives
Article 254 of the Family Code repealed specified Titles of Book I. The Supreme Court identifies Titles III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XI and XV in Francisco v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 102330, 25 November 1998, footnote 7. This is not an uninterrupted range from Title III through Title XI. For the following subjects, begin with the Family Code and applicable later special law, while checking material dates and any vested or accrued rights:
- Marriage — requisites, void and voidable marriages, annulment and nullity
- Legal separation
- Rights and obligations between husband and wife
- Property relations between spouses, including the absolute community and the conjugal partnership
- The family and the family home
- Paternity and filiation, legitimate and illegitimate children
- Adoption, support, and parental authority
Those subjects require the Family Code and applicable later special laws, and they are covered on our sister site FamilyCode.ph, published by the same team. CivilLaw.PH does not duplicate them. Where a family-law status question feeds a civil-law computation — most often whether a person is a legitimate, illegitimate or adopted child of the deceased — FamilyCode.ph answers the status question and our Succession and Inheritance hub computes the resulting shares.
The provisions that generate the most questions
Correcting an entry in a birth certificate
Article 412 states the general rule: no entry in a civil register shall be changed or corrected without a judicial order. That rule has been substantially relaxed by statute. Republic Act No. 9048 allows the city or municipal civil registrar to correct a clerical or typographical error and to change a first name or nickname administratively, and Republic Act No. 10172 extended that administrative route to the day and month of birth and to sex, where the error is clerical. Substantial changes — filiation, legitimacy, nationality, age beyond a clerical slip — still require a court proceeding. Which route applies depends on the nature of the error, not on how inconvenient the correction is.
Changing a surname
Article 376 provides that no person can change his name or surname without judicial authority. Republic Act No. 9048 carved out the first name; the surname was not included, so a change of surname generally remains a judicial matter, with the petitioner required to show proper and reasonable cause. A married woman’s use of a surname is addressed in Articles 370 to 372 and is a matter of option rather than obligation.
When someone disappears
Articles 381 to 396 provide a graduated response: provisional measures to manage the property of a person who has disappeared, then a declaration of absence, then administration of the absentee’s estate. Note the boundary carefully. A declaration of presumptive death for the purpose of remarriage is governed by the Family Code, not by these articles; the Civil Code provisions deal with property and representation.
Capacity to act
Articles 37 to 47 distinguish juridical capacity, which is inherent in every natural person, from capacity to act, which can be restricted. The distinction decides whether a contract signed by a minor or by a person under guardianship is void, voidable or unenforceable — a Book IV question that cannot be answered without Book I. Republic Act No. 6809 lowered the age of majority to eighteen, so older material referring to twenty-one is outdated.
Where Book I is explained on CivilLaw.PH
Book I maps to the Persons and Civil Status hub, which covers civil personality, citizenship and domicile, change of name, correction of civil registry entries, absence and presumptive death, emancipation and the civil register. Guides in this hub are in preparation; the hub page lists what is published as it appears.
Read the operative rules through the new guides: Start with juridical capacity vs capacity to act, when civil personality begins, when it ends, domicile vs residence, and proof of civil status. For record problems, use change of name vs correction and administrative birth-certificate correction.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Civil Code articles on marriage still good law?
The old Civil Code provisions on marriage were repealed by the Family Code. Printed editions may retain historical text. Start with the Family Code and applicable later statutes, but check the material dates: repealed provisions may remain relevant to vested or accrued rights. Francisco v. Court of Appeals explains this transition. Adoption also requires its applicable later special law.
Do I need to go to court to fix a misspelled name on my birth certificate?
Usually not. A clerical or typographical error, and a change of first name or nickname, may be corrected administratively by the local civil registrar under Republic Act No. 9048, and the day or month of birth and sex under Republic Act No. 10172 where the error is clerical. Corrections that change status — filiation, legitimacy, nationality — remain judicial. Bring the documents that show what the correct entry should be; the registrar decides on the record, not on explanation.
At what age can a person sign a contract alone?
Eighteen. Republic Act No. 6809 lowered the age of majority from twenty-one to eighteen, and with it the age at which parental authority over the person ends. A contract entered into by a minor is not automatically void in every case — the consequence depends on the contract and on Book IV’s rules on capacity and ratification.
For the complete structure of Republic Act No. 386 and the Book I provisions later replaced by family legislation, see the Civil Code Books I to IV overview.
Sources and Legal Citations
- Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, Book I, Arts. 37–413, full text at lawphil.net. Supports: the subjects and article ranges above, and Arts. 370–372, 376, 381–396 and 407–413. Status: verified against the published text.
- Family Code of the Philippines, Executive Order No. 209 (1987), as amended, Art. 254. Supports: repeal of specified Book I Titles. See Francisco v. Court of Appeals, discussion and footnote 7 for Article 254, the listed Titles and the vested-rights qualification.
- Republic Act No. 9048, as amended. Supports: administrative correction of clerical or typographical errors and change of first name or nickname by the civil registrar.
- Republic Act No. 10172. Supports: the extension of the administrative route to the day and month of birth and to sex, where the error is clerical.
- Republic Act No. 6809, sections 1–3. Supports: amendments to the Family Code on majority and emancipation, subject to the stated exceptions and preserved duties.
Sources rechecked as of 11 September 2026. The Civil Code text was verified directly; the amending statutes are cited by number and subject and should be re-verified against their official text before any figure or deadline is added to this page.
Repeal-reference and historical Title XV classification checked on 13 October 2026. This scoped correction does not certify all remaining Book I provisions as current or unchanged.
Disclaimer
This page is general legal information, not legal advice. Civil registry and name-change procedures depend on the exact entry, the supporting documents and the office with jurisdiction. CivilLaw.PH is independent and is not a government website, a court, a registry or a law firm.