judge should consider his opinion well founded, the judge shall render a decision denying his approval thereof.

ART. 2006. If the promotor fiscal should request that the petition be approved, and if the judge should consider it proper, he shall render a decision approving what may be proper according to law, and ordering, if it relates to facts of acknowledged importance, that it be filed in the protocol of the register of the court clerk, if he is also a notary, and otherwise in that of another notary residing in the town which is the seat of the judicial district, and if there be more than one, then of any who may be designated by the person in interest.

If the facts embraced in the proceedings should not be of wellknown importance, the judge shall order that the record be filed in the office of the court clerk.

ART. 2007. An order shall also be contained in the same ruling requiring that an authenticated statement of the proceedings be furnished to the petitioner, if he should so request, as well as to any other person who may desire said statement, in order to impugn it in the proper action, if he may be prejudiced thereby.

ART. 2008. If, before the approval of the proceedings, any person should appear and object thereto by reason of their being prejudicial to him, the judge shall order that the proceedings of voluntary jurisdiction be discontinued, reserving their rights to the parties, which they may exercise in the proper action.

ART. 2009. Proceedings relating to possession for the purpose of recording some property right in real property shall be had in accordance with the rules prescribed in the mortgage law in force in the colonial provinces, in the regulations for its execution, and in other provisions in force.

TITLE XI.-ALIENATION OF THE PROPERTY OF MINORS AND INCAPACI

TATED PERSONS AND SETTLEMENT OF THEIR RIGHTS OUT OF COURT.

ART. 2010. Judicial permission shall be necessary in order to alienate or encumber the property of minors or incapacitated persons which pertains to the following classes:

1. Real property.

2. Public securities and commercial paper of all kinds, whether made payable to bearer or order.

3. Rights of all kinds.

4. Jewelry, personal property, and precious objects which may be preserved without deterioration."

ART. 2011. In order to decree a sale it shall be necessary:

1. That the father or the mother, in a proper case, of the child not emancipated should request it. If said child be over 12 or 14 years of age, respectively, according to sex, it shall also sign the petition.

2. That in the absence of a parent, the tutor of the minor, the curator of an incapacitated person, or the minor, together with his curator request it.

3. That the reason for the alienation and the purpose to which the amount obtained is to be applied be stated.

4. That the necessity or utility of the alienation be proven.

The provisions in force hereon are articles 164 and 270 to 275 of the Civil Code.

5. That the promotor fiscal be heard in the matter.

ART. 2012. If the proof, referred to in number 4 of the foregoing article, is to be furnished by witnesses, there must be at least three. and the clerk shall identify them. Should he not be acquainted with them two witnesses for the purpose of identification shall be required. The evidence shall be taken after the promotor fiscal has been cited to appear.

ART. 2013. After the evidence has been taken, and after the promotor fiscal has been heard, the judge without further proceedings shall render a decision, granting or denying the authority to make

the sale.

This ruling may be appealed from for review and a stay of proceedings.

ART. 2014. The authority shall be granted in all cases under the condition that the sale must be made at public auction, after an appraisement, if property mentioned in numbers 1, 3, or 4 of article 2010 is involved.

Sales made by the father, or mother, in a proper case, exercising parental authority, are excepted from the foregoing rule. Such sales may be made without any other requisite than that of having first obtained judicial authority with a hearing of the promotor fiscal and of the persons mentioned in articles 219 and 213 of the mortgage laws respectively in force in the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico.

ART. 2015. The judge shall always appoint the experts for the appraisement, who can not be challenged. Neither can the third expert be challenged, if it should have become necessary to appoint one upon disagreement of the first two experts.

ART. 2016. After the appraisement has been made, the judge shall order that the sale be announced for a period of thirty days, designating the day, hour, and place where it is to take place, and that edicts be posted in the customary places, inserting them also, should he deem it proper, in some official newspaper.

ART. 2017. No bid shall be received which does not amount to the sum at which the property was appraised.

ART. 2018. If no admissible bid has been received, the tutor or curator may make any of the following requests:

1. That he be permitted to withdraw from further proceedings in the matter, and that the proceedings be discontinued.

2. That he be authorized to make the sale extrajudicially, for the price and under the conditions which served as the basis for the public sale.

3. That a second sale be announced, with a reduction of twenty per cent of the appraised value.

If he makes the second request, and if no extrajudicial sale can be made within one year from the time when the first public sale was attempted, he can request that another public sale be announced, subject to the aforementioned reduction.

ART. 2019. The second public sale shall take place with the same formalities as are prescribed for the first.

If in this sale there should be no admissible bid, the judge may authorize the tutor or curator to make an extrajudicial sale for the price fixed for said second public sale.

ART. 2020. When the sale is requested for the payment of debts or other necessary purposes, a third public sale may be held, at the re

quest of the tutor or curator, with a reduction of another twenty per cent from the price fixed for the second sale.

If no admissible bid is received at this sale, the representative of the minor may be authorized to sell the property extrajudicially at the price fixed for the third public sale.

ART. 2021. The securities referred to in number two of article 2010 shall always be sold through a stockbroker or agent, whom the judge shall appoint, and at the current official quotations.

If not quoted on exchange they shall be sold according to the formalities prescribed in the foregoing articles for the sale of real property.

ART. 2022. After the sale is made the judge shall, under his liability, see that the amount received at said sale be applied as stated in the petition for authorization to make the sale.

ART. 2023. The amount received shall be delivered to the tutor or curator, pending its application, if he has been exempted from furnishing bond or if he has furnished bond sufficient to secure the same. Otherwise it shall be deposited in the public establishment in which judicial deposits are made.

ART. 2024. The authority to settle questions out of court relating to the rights of minors or incapacitated persons shall be requested by the same persons that request the sale of property.

The reason for and the purpose of the settlement must be stated in the written petition, as well as the doubts and difficulties of the business and the reasons that exist for believing it profitable and proper; the petition shall also be accompanied by a document in which the basis for the transaction shall be set forth.

All the documents and data necessary for the purpose of forming an exact judgment in the matter shall also be presented with the petition.

ART. 2025. If an action should be pending with reference to the right to be settled out of court, the documents shall be filed with the record thereof.

ART. 2026. If, in order to demonstrate the necessity of the settlement, the proof of some fact or the taking of certain steps should be necessary or proper, the judge shall order that it take place with the citation of the promotor fiscal.

ART. 2027. After the provisions of the foregoing article have been observed, the record shall be delivered to the promotor fiscal in order that he may make such statements as he may deem proper.

ART. 2028. After the record has been returned by the promotor fiscal the judge shall make an order granting or denying authority for the settlement, as he may consider best for the interests of the minor or incapacitated person.

If it be granted he shall modify or approve the bases submitted, ordering that an authenticated statement of the proceedings, with the necessary inclosures, be delivered to the tutor or curator for the proper effects.

These orders may be appealed from for review and for a stay of proceedings.

ART. 2029. For the purpose of mortgaging or incumbering real property or for the extinction of property rights belonging to minors or incapacitated persons, the formalities shall be observed which are established for the sale of property, with the exception of those prescribed for public sales.

TITLE XII.-ADMINISTRATION OF PROPERTY OF ABSENT PERSONS WHOSE WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN."

ART. 2030. When the whereabouts of a person who has absented himself from his domicile for more than two years is unknown, leaving his property abandoned, and there is no evidence of his death, any of his nearest relatives, who would be heirs ab intestato, may request that the administration of said property be transferred to them under bond.

ART. 2031. The person who presents the petition mentioned in the foregoing article must present the documents which prove his relationship with the absentee, and a statement of the property whose administration he requests, with a report of the income received or which may be received therefrom.

He shall also furnish evidence as to the following facts:

1. The absence and unknown whereabouts of the person referred to, the date or time when he absented himself, and the time when last heard from.

2. That there is no one authorized by the absentee to care for and administer his property.

3. That the petitioner is the nearest relative of the absentee, with a statement, in a proper case, of those who possess the same degree of relationship.

ART. 2032. The judge shall take the evidence with a citation of the promotor fiscal.

This evidence must be given by at least three witnesses who may have been friends or had business relations with the absentee. The court clerk shall certify that he is acquainted with said witnesses, and should he not know them two witnesses for identification shall be furnished.

ART. 2033. If from the evidence the facts mentioned in article 2031 should be proven, the judge shall order the publication of two edicts, each at an interval and for a period of two months, calling upon the absentee, and those who believe themselves entitled to the administration of his property, should the absentee not appear, to present themselves.

These edicts shall be published at the place of the last domicile of the absentee, and in the place where the property is situate, and shall be inserted in the Gaceta of the general government, and in the Boletin Oficial of the province, should there be one. They shall also be inserted in the Gaceta de Madrid should the judge consider it proper.

Said edicts shall also contain the names of those who have requested the administration of the property, their relationship with the absentee, and shall require that those who believe themselves to have a better right, appear before the court and prove the same with the proper documentary evidence.

ART. 2034. After the expiration of the period fixed in the second edict, and after the petitions of those who have appeared have been attached to the record, it shall be delivered to the promotor fiscal for six days in order that he may report upon the propriety of granting

The Civil Code has considerably modified the provisions of this title, as may be observed by consulting articles 181 to 186 and others thereof.

the administration of the property of the absentee to the relatives, as well as upon the rights of the claimants.

The promotor fiscal may also recommend the correction of any error that may have been committed in the course of the proceedings, in which case the corrections shall first be made.

ART. 2035. When but one relative has requested the administration and the promotor fiscal does not oppose the same, the judge shall grant it without further proceedings, should he deem it proper.

The same shall be done when there are two or more petitioners who have stated their agreement which person or persons should be entrusted with the administration.

ART. 2036. With the exception of the cases mentioned in the foregoing article, the judge shall call a meeting of the claimants within eight days in order that they may agree as to their rights and which of them is to be entrusted with the administration.

A proper record of the result of said meeting shall be made and signed by the persons present, and also by the judge and the court clerk.

ART. 2037. If an agreement should be reached at the meeting, the judge shall order that it be executed, provided that it is proven that the whereabouts or existence of the absentee is unknown, that the property is abandoned, and that the persons selected to take charge of the administration are relatives of the said absentee.

ART. 2038. If no agreement is reached at the meeting, within the three following days the judge shall decide what he may consider proper, and order, in a proper case, that the administration be granted at once to the nearest relative or relatives named by himself, without prejudice to the rights of the other persons interested, which they may make use of in the action which may be proper in view of the amount of the property.

This decision may be appealed from for review only.

ART. 2039. The administrator appointed shall furnish bond to the satisfaction of the judge, in amount sufficient to cover the income of the property for five years at least.

This bond may be of any of the kinds recognized by law, with the exception of a personal bond.

In order to fix the amount of the bond the judge may order, should he deem it proper, that the amount of its income be appraised by an expert of his own appointment.

ART. 2040. After the bond has been furnished by the administrator, the judge shall order that he be given the proper certificate of appointment and that the property be delivered to him under an inventory which shall be prepared by the court clerk, with citation of the promotor fiscal and the other relatives of the same degree of relationship, who are not administrators.

At the same time the judge shall order that a memorandum be made in the property register of the absence and unknown whereabouts of the owner of the real property and of the appointment of an administrator, the proper orders being issued therefor.

ART. 2041. The administrator shall be entitled to the compensation which the judge may determine, which can not exceed ten per cent of the income from the property; and he shall be obliged to keep an account, properly vouched, of the receipts and expenses, for submission to the owner thereof when he presents himself, or to his heirs or successors in interest.