Title XIII.

- ALEATORY CONTRACTS

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 2010. By an aleatory contract, one of the parties or both

reciprocally bind themselves to give or to do something in
consideration of what the other shall give or do upon the happening
of an event which is uncertain, or which is to occur at an
indeterminate time. (1790)

CHAPTER 1
INSURANCE

Art. 2011. The contract of insurance is governed by special laws.

Matters not expressly provided for in such special laws shall be
regulated by this Code.

Art. 2012. Any person who is forbidden from receiving any donation
under Article 739 cannot be named beneficiary of a life insurance
policy by the person who cannot make any donation to him,
according to said article.

CHAPTER 2
GAMBLING

Art. 2013. A game of chance is that which depends more on chance

or hazard than or skill or ability. For the purposes of the following
articles, in case of doubt a game is deemed to be one of chance.

Art. 2014. No action can be maintained by the winner for the

collection of what he has won in a game of chance. But any loser in a
game of chance may recover his loss from the winner, with legal
interest from the time he paid the amount lost, and subsidiarily from
the operator or manager of the gambling house. (1799a)

Art. 2015. If cheating or deceit is committed by the winner, he, and

subsidiarily the operator or manager of the gambling house, shall
pay by way of exemplary damages, not less than the equivalent of
the sum lost, in addition to the latter amount. If both the winner and
the loser have perpetrated fraud, no action for recovery can be
brought by either.

Art. 2016. If the loser refuses or neglects to bring an action to

recover what has been lost, his or her creditors, spouse,
descendants or other persons entitled to be supported by the loser
may institute the action. The sum thereby obtained shall be applied
to the creditors' claims, or to the support of the spouse or relatives,
as the case may be.

Art. 2017. The provisions of Article 2014 and 2016 apply when two
or more persons bet in a game of chance, although they take no
active part in the game itself. (1799a)

Art. 2018. If a contract which purports to be for the delivery of

goods, securities or shares of stock is entered into with the intention
that the difference between the price stipulated and the exchange or
market price at the time of the pretended delivery shall be paid by
the loser to the winner, the transaction is null and void. The loser
may recover what he has paid.

Art. 2019. Betting on the result of sports, athletic competitions, or

games of skill may be prohibited by local ordinances.

Art. 2020. The loser in any game which is not one of chance, when
there is no local ordinance which prohibits betting therein, is under
obligation to pay his loss, unless the amount thereof is excessive
under the circumstances. In the latter case, the court shall reduce
the loss to the proper sum. (1801a)

CHAPTER 3
LIFE ANNUITY

Art. 2021. The aleatory contract of life annuity binds the debtor to
pay an annual pension or income during the life of one or more
determinate persons in consideration of a capital consisting of
money or other property, whose ownership is transferred to him at
once with the burden of the income. (1802a)

Art. 2022. The annuity may be constituted upon the life of the
person who gives the capital, upon that of a third person, or upon
the lives of various persons, all of whom must be living at the time
the annuity is established.
It may also be constituted in favor of the person or persons upon
whose life or lives the contract is entered into, or in favor of another
or other persons. (1803)

Art. 2023. Life annuity shall be void if constituted upon the life of a
person who was already dead at the time the contract was entered
into, or who was at that time suffering from an illness which caused
his death within twenty days following said date. (1804)

Art. 2024. The lack of payment of the income due does not authorize
the recipient of the life annuity to demand the reimbursement of the
capital or to retake possession of the property alienated, unless
there is a stipulation to the contrary; he shall have only a right
judicially to claim the payment of the income in arrears and to
require a security for the future income, unless there is a stipulation
to the contrary. (1805a)

Art. 2025. The income corresponding to the year in which the person
enjoying it dies shall be paid in proportion to the days during which
he lived; if the income should be paid by installments in advance, the
whole amount of the installment which began to run during his life
shall be paid. (1806)

Art. 2026. He who constitutes an annuity by gratuitous title upon his

property, may provide at the time the annuity is established that the
same shall not be subject to execution or attachment on account of
the obligations of the recipient of the annuity. If the annuity was
constituted in fraud of creditors, the latter may ask for the execution
or attachment of the property. (1807a)

Art. 2027. No annuity shall be claimed without first proving the

existence of the person upon whose life the annuity is constituted.
(1808)