2. When, by a final judgment in a suit for divorce, it is thus determined during the time the effects thereof are in force.

ART. 170. The parental authority is suspended by the incapacity or absence of the father or, in a proper case, of the mother, when judicially decided, and also by civil interdiction.

ART. 171. The courts may deprive the parents of the parental authority or suspend the exercise thereof when they treat their children. with excessive cruelty, or if they give them corrupting orders, advice, or examples. In these cases they can also deprive the parents, either totally or partially, of the usufruct of the property of the child, or take such steps as they may deem advisable for the interests of the latter.

ART. 172. If the widowed mother who has remarried becomes again a widow, she shall recover from that moment her authority over all the children not emancipated.

CHAPTER FIFTH.-Adoption.

ART. 173. Persons who are in the full enjoyment of their civil rights and have attained 45 years of age can adopt. The adopter must be at least fifteen years older than the adopted.

ART. 174. Adoption is forbidden

1. To the clergy.

2. To those having legitimate or legitimized descendants.

3. To the guardian with regard to his ward, until his accounts have been finally approved.

4. To a spouse without the consent of his consort. Spouses may adopt jointly, and, with the exception of this case, nobody can be adopted by more than one person.

ART. 175. The adopted may use together with the surname of his or her family that of the adopter, this being stated in the deed of adoption.

ART. 176. The adopter and the adopted owe each other mutual support. This obligation is understood without prejudice to the preferred right of acknowledged natural children and of the ascendants of the adopter to be supported by the latter.

ART. 177. The adopter does not acquire any right whatsoever to inherit from the adopted. Neither does the adopted acquire any right to inherit from the adopter, except by will, unless the adopter in the deed of adoption has bound himself or herself to make said child his or her heir. This obligation shall produce no effect when the adopted dies before the adopter. The adopted retains all the rights belonging to him or her in his or her natural family excepting those relating to the parental authority.

ART. 178. The adoption shall be made with judicial authorization and the consent of the adopted, if of age, must necessarily be given; when a minor, that of the persons who must give consent to his or her marriage, and, when incapacitated, that of the guardian. The Department of Public Prosecution shall be heard on the matter; and the judge, after the proceedings he may consider necessary, shall approve the adoption, if it is according to law, and he believes it beneficial for the adopted.

ART. 179. After the adoption has been finally approved by the judge, an instrument shall be drafted stating therein the conditions.

with which it took place, and it shall be entered in the proper civil registry.

ART. 180. The minor or the incapacitated person who has been adopted may contest the adoption within the four years following his or her majority or the date on which his or her incapacity ceased to exist.

TITLE VIII.-ABSENCE.

CHAPTER FIRST.-Provisional measures in cases of absence.

ART. 181. When a person has disappeared from his domicile and his whereabouts is unknown and without leaving any attorney to manage his property, the judge, at the instance of a lawful person or at that of the Department of Public Prosecution, may appoint some person to represent him in all that may be necessary.

The same shall be done when, under similar circumstances, the power conferred by the absentee lapses.

ART. 182. After the appointment referred to in the preceding chapter has been made, the judge shall take the necessary steps to secure the rights and interests of the absentee, and shall determine the powers, obligations, and remuneration of his representative, regulating them, according to the circumstances, by the provisions relating to guardians.

ART. 183. The spouse who absents himself or herself shall be represented by the one present, whenever they are not legally separated. If the spouse is a minor, a guardian shall be appointed in the usual

manner.

In the absence of the spouse, the absentee shall be represented by the parents, children, or grandparents, in the order established in article 220.

CHAPTER SECOND.-Declaration of absence.

ART. 184. After two years have elapsed without any news of the absentee having been received, or from the receipt of the last news, and five years, in case the absentee has left a person in charge of the administration of his property, then the absence may be declared. ART. 185. The declaration of absence may be demanded by1. The spouse who is present.

2. The heirs instituted in a will, who present a copy of the same, which is prima facie proof.

3. The relatives who are to inherit ab intestato.

4. Those having in the property of the absentee some right depending on the condition of his death.

ART. 186. The judicial declaration of absence shall produce no effect until six months after its publication in the official newspapers.

CHAPTER THIRD.-Administration of the property of an absentee.

ART. 187. The administration of the property of the absentee is to be given, according to the order established in article 220, to the persons specified therein.

ART. 188. The wife of the absentee, if of age, may freely dispose of the property of any kind whatsoever belonging to her, but she can not

alienate, exchange, or mortgage the husband's private property, nor that of the conjugal partnership, except with judicial authorization. ART. 189. When the administration appertains to the children of the absentee and they are minors, a guardian shall be appointed for them who shall take charge of the property with the legal formalities. ART. 190. The administration shall cease in any of the following

cases:

1. When the absentee appears, either in person or through an attorney.

2. When the death of the absentee is proved and his testamentary or intestate heirs appear.

3. When a third party appears proving by proper instruments that he has acquired the property of the absentee by purchase or in any other manner.

In such cases the administrator shall cease in the discharge of his duties and the property shall be placed at the disposal of those having a right thereto.

CHAPTER FOURTH.-Presumption of the death of the absentee.

ART. 191. After thirty years have elapsed from the date of the disappearance of the absentee or since the last news was received of him, or ninety years from his birth, the judge, at the instance of an interested party, shall declare the presumption of his death.

ART. 192. The judgment declaring the presumption of death of an absentee shall not go into effect until after six months, counted from its publication in the official newspapers.

ART. 193. After the judgment of the presumption of death has been declared final, succession to the estate of the absentee shall be opened and its distribution shall be adjudicated with the formalities of testamentary or intestate proceedings, as the case may be.

ART. 194. Should the absentee appear, or, if without appearing, his existence be proven, he shall recover his property in its condition at the time and the value of that conveyed, or that acquired thereby; but he can claim neither the profits nor the income.

CHAPTER FIFTH.-Effects of absence upon the eventual rights of the absentee.

ART. 195. The person claiming a right belonging to another person, whose existence is not acknowledged, is bound to prove that such other person existed at the time his existence was necessary to acquire the

same.

ART. 196. Without prejudice to the provisions contained in the preceding article, when a succession has been opened in which an absentee is interested, the share of the absentee shall accrue to his coheirs, unless there is some person having rights of his own to claim it. Both the former and the latter, in a proper case, must make an inventory of said property with the intervention of the department of public prosecution.

ART. 197. The provisions of the foregoing article are to be understood without prejudice to proceedings by petition of inheritance or other rights of the absentee, and of his personal or legal representatives. Such rights shall not be extinguished, except by the lapse of

time fixed for prescription. In the record to be made in the registry of the real property, which may accure to the coheirs, there shall be stated that it is subject to the provisions of this article.

ART. 198. Those who have taken possession of the estate shall become owners of the income received in good faith. While the absentee does not appear his rights shall not be exercised by his personal or legal representatives.

TITLE IX.-GUARDIANSHIP.

CHAPTER FIRST.-General provisions.

ART. 199. The object of guardianship is the custody of the person and property or only of the property of those who, not being under the parental authority, are incapable of taking care of themselves. ART. 200. The following are subject to guardianship:

1. Minors not legally emancipated.

2. Insane and demented persons, even though they have lucid intervals, and the deaf and dumb who do not know how to read and write. 3. Those who have been declared prodigal by a final judgment. 4. Those who are suffering the penalty of civil interdiction. ART. 201. Guardianship shall be exercised by a single guardian under the surveillance of a protutor and the family council.

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ART. 202. The offices of guardian and protutor can not be renounced unless for a lawful cause duly proven.

ART. 203. The municipal judges of the places in which persons subject to guardianship reside shall provide for their care and that of their personal property until a guardian is appointed, when there is no other person charged with these duties under the law.

Should they not do so they shall be liable for the damages suffered by minors or by incapacitated persons by reason thereof.

ART. 204. Guardianship is conferred

1. By will.

2. By law.

3. By the family council.

ART. 205. The guardian shall not enter upon the discharge of his duties until his appointment has been recorded in the registry of guardianships.

CHAPTER SECOND.-Testamentary guardianship.

ART. 206. The father may appoint a guardian and a protutor for his minor children or for those of age who are incapacitated, be they legitimate or acknowledged natural, or for any of his illegitimate children. whom he is obliged to support, according to article 139.

The mother has the same privilege, but if she has contracted a second marriage the appointment made by her for the children of her first marriage shall not be valid without the approval of the family council.

In any case it shall be necessary that the person appointed guardian or protutor be not subject to the authority of any other person.

A person managing the business of a minor although not appointed as guardian.

ART. 207. A guardian may also be appointed for minors or incapacitated persons by the person leaving them an inheritance or an important legacy. The appointment, however, shall not be valid until the family council has decided to accept the inheritance or legacy.

ART. 208. The father as well as the mother may appoint a guardian for each one of their children, and make different appointments in order that the appointees may substitute one another.

In case of doubt, there shall be understood that a single guardian has been appointed for all the children, and the position shall be conferred upon the first of those named in the appointment.

ART. 209. If different persons should have appointed a guardian for the same minor, the position shall devolve upon:

1. The one designated by the father or by the mother.

2. The one appointed by the stranger who has made the minor or incapacitated person his heir, if the amount of the inheritance is important.

3. The one who has been designated by the person leaving an important legacy.

If there is more than one guardian in any of the cases of Nos. 2 and 3 of this article, the family council shall declare which one is to be preferred.

ART. 210. When a guardian is in the discharge of his duties and the one appointed by the father appears, the guardianship shall immediately be transferred to the latter. If the guardian who appears is the one appointed by a stranger, included in numbers 2 and 3 of the preceding article, he shall limit himself to the administration of the property of the person who appointed him until the incumbent guordian vacates.

CHAPTER THIRD.-Legitimate guardianship.

SECTION FIRST.-Guardianship of minors.

ART. 211. Legitimate guardianship of minors, not emancipated, appertains solely

1. To the paternal grandfather.

2. To the maternal grandfather.

3. To the paternal and maternal grandmothers, in the same order, while they remain widows.

4. To the eldest of the male brothers of full blood, and, in the absence of the latter, to the eldest of the brothers on the paternal or maternal side.

The guardianship referred to in this article does not apply to illegitimate children.

ART. 212. Heads of fondling institutions are the guardians of those kept and educated therein. The representation in court of such officials as guardians shall be assumed by the department of public prosecution.

SECTION SECOND.-Guardianship of the insane and of the deaf and dumb.

ART. 213. No guardians shall be appointed for insane, demented, and deaf and dumb persons of age without a previous declaration to the effect that they are incapable of managing their property.