Art. 438.
discovered P5M worth of treasure not of interest to
Hidden treasure belongs to the owner of the LAND,
BUILDING or OTHER PROPERTY on which it is
found.
Nevertheless, when the discovery is made on the
property of another, or of the State or any of its
subdivisions, and by chance, one-half thereof
shall be allowed to the finder. If the finder is a
trespasser, he shall not be entitled to any share of
the treasure.
If the things found be of interest to science or the
arts, the State may acquire them at their just
price, which shall be divided in conformity with the
rule stated.
 If X finds a hidden treasure in his house, he ALONE
owns the treasure. If he is married, the treasure
belongs to the conjugal partnership.
 TREASURE FOUND ON ANOTHER’S
PROPERTY; By chance
For the finder to be entitled to one-half, the
discovery on another’s property must be BY
CHANCE.
By chance
 Other interpretations say it means BY GOOD
LUCK whether there was a deliberate
search for the treasure or not but there was
NO PRIOR agreement on how the
treasure, if found, would be DIVIDED
 Reason: it is extremely difficult to find
hidden treasure without looking for it
deliberately, for in many instances, the
treasure is buried, that is, hidden, sometimes
many feet under the ground.
if the discovery is on another’s property,
PERMISSION must be sought, otherwise, the
finder will be considered a trespasser.
 Equity demands the equal sharing for it
cannot be denied that had the land owner
not given his permission, the treasure would
not have been found
 Presumptuous to conclude that the land
owner by giving permission, intended to
renounce all his rights
e.g.
X – landowner; Y – owner of the mechanical device
used in detecting the hidden treasure; given
permission by X to use his device on his land. Y
science or art.
To whom should the treasure belong?
Ans. Both (Equal Share), because this is still a case
of finding by chance, defined as good luck. Even if
the search for the treasure was clearly a deliberate
one.
1) It is difficult to find hidden treasure without a
hunt for it, for in many cases, the same is
buried many feet beneath the earth.
2) What is the use of asking permission, if after
all the treasure would go, all of it, to the
proprietor of the land.
3) Permission is required, otherwise the finder
would generally be a trespasser, who gets
nothing.
If the finder sought permission, he must be entitled
to one-half, even if the search was deliberate.
RULE If the finder or Owner is married
- It shall belong to their conjugal partnership
Rights of a Usufructuary over the Hidden
Treasure found on Land he is Using
Usufructuary is considered a stranger (Art.
566)
He does NOT get a share
If he found the treasure, he gets half as finder;
but if another person found it, such person
gets half as finder, and the naked owner gets
the other half as owner.
Same rule applies to a TENANT or LESSEE
If finder is a paid LABORER of the Landowner
if he really discovered the property by chance,
he gets HALF.
If he had been employed precisely to look for
it, he will get NOTHING insofar as the treasure
is concerned
Treasure found under Government Property
If hidden treasure is found by chance under a
municipal plaza?
  Half goes to the finder and the other half to
the municipality
 if the hidden treasure is scientifically or
artistically valuable, the finder’s half has
to be given to the municipality or state who in
turn will give him a just price therefor.
 The acquisition by the municipality or by the
state is a particular form of eminent domain
or appropriation, hence, the procedure
thereon should be substantially followed.
Trespasser
one prohibited to enter or not given authority
to enter
not entitled to any share of the treasure
 if a person lawfully allowed to enter discovers
the treasure, but does NOT REVEAL the fact of
discovery, he does not become thereby a
trespasser, in view of the permission to enter.
He is therefore still entitled to his share.
Treasure hunts
an express search for hidden treasure.
Owner of land may for example contract
with a group of men who would look for the
treasure
Should discovery be made, the actual
finders will not necessarily be entitled to
half. Instead, they will be given what has
been stipulated in the contract.
Art. 439.
By treasure is understood, for legal purposes, any
hidden and unknown deposit of money, jewelry, or
other precious objects, the lawful ownership of
which does not appear.
Requisites:
a) Hidden and unknown deposit (such that
finding it would be a discovery)
b) Consists of money, jewelry or other
precious objects
c) Their lawful ownership does not appear.
Other precious objects
Following the doctrine of ejusdem generis – other
precious objects should be understood to refer to
those of the same class as MONEY or
JEWELRY, and should NOT therefore include
property imbedded in the soil, or part of the soil, like
minerals.
Immovables like tomb are excluded, except
those found inside the said tomb, particularly
those of interest to Science or the arts
Lawful ownership must not appear
Legatee who inherited some books.
Inside one of the books was a wad of money bills. It
was held that the money did NOT constitute
hidden treasure, because its lawful ownership
appeared.
Precious objects deliberately hidden
if discovered by another, cannot be considered
hidden treasure, as long as the true owner can
PROVE his ownership
far from abandoning or renouncing his property, not
being hidden treasure, cannot indeed be acquired
by occupation, one of the modes of acquiring
ownership -which includes within its scope hidden
treasure.
If the owner has forgotten where he kept the same
and has given up hope of ever recovering it, the
object may be appropriated by another since it has
already become abandoned property.
If the owner of the property has NOT YET
ABANDONED the property, it is clear that same
CANNOT be acquired by OCCUPATION and
cannot properly be considered hidden treasure.
Abandoned property → HIDDEN TREASURE
= has forgotten where it was kept
= has given up hope recovering it
Death of the LAWFUL OWNER
If the ownership of the treasure is known, but
the owner is already dead, same will not be
considered HIDDEN TREASURE and must
therefore go to the owner’s rightful heirs
If the only legal heir is the state, the treasure
will pertain to the State’s patrimonial property