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Threatening someone you love voids the contract, and it counts even from a third party

Last reviewed: September 12, 2026 — VerifiedPoder Judicial

In short

Article 295 opens with a short condition: violence and intimidation make the juridical act voidable, if they are grave. Then it defines only one of the two. There is intimidation, it says, if through threats the executor of a juridical act is caused the founded fear of suffering an imminent and grave harm in their person or in their property, or in the person or property of those with whom they have affective or family ties. That ending is worth reading slowly: it does not say family alone, it says affective or family ties, and it puts the affective ones first. A threat against someone you care about counts just like a threat against you. The third paragraph adds a rule of measurement that avoids holding everyone to the same yardstick: to appraise the requirements of violence and intimidation, the age and other personal circumstances of the injured person must be considered. Article 296 clears up the most frequent doubt: violence or intimidation meeting those requirements makes the act voidable even if a third person exercises it. It does not require the other party to have known, unlike what Article 293 does with a third party’s deceit. And Article 297 closes a door: reverential fear does not void the juridical act, and reverential means the fear of displeasing the persons to whom obedience and respect are owed. A warning about the text: the section defines intimidation and never defines violence, although it names it in every paragraph.

External link

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What is it?

They are Articles 295, 296 and 297 of the Civil Code of 2020: when violence or a threat voids a juridical act, and which fear does not.

Who can do it?

Anyone who signed a contract, a deed or any other juridical act under threat or by force.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Check whether it was grave

    Article 295: violence and intimidation make the juridical act voidable, if they are grave.

  2. Step 2: Compare with the definition of intimidation

    Founded fear, through threats, of an imminent and grave harm in person or property.

  3. Step 3: A threat to a loved one counts

    The article reaches the person and property of those with whom you have affective or family ties.

  4. Step 4: Your age and circumstances weigh

    Third paragraph: the age and other personal circumstances of the injured person must be considered.

  5. Step 5: It does not matter who threatened

    Article 296: the act is voidable even if a third person exercises the violence or intimidation.

  6. Step 6: Rule out reverential fear

    Article 297: fear of displeasing those owed obedience and respect does not void the act.

  7. Step 7: Add Article 286’s damages

    Besides voidability, the author of the violence or intimidation answers for the resulting damages.

Where to do it

These three articles describe no procedure before any agency. The Code defines intimidation here and never defines violence, although it names it in every paragraph and in the section’s own title; this guide does not define it for the Code. Nor does it say what makes violence or intimidation grave, what an affective tie is, or to whom obedience and respect are owed for purposes of reverential fear. It does not say whether threatening something lawful counts as a threat. And it does not say who may seek annulment, before which forum, with what pleading, at what fee or within what deadline. None of those gaps is filled here. If what you are living through is abuse at home or in your relationship, that has its own laws and its own remedies, which this site covers separately.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

With this defect, the order in which you look at things changes the outcome. The first question is not who threatened you but what they threatened: Article 295 asks for an imminent and grave harm, and asks for it on your person, your property, or the person or property of those with whom you have affective or family ties. That last stretch is broader than it looks, because it is not limited to relatives. The second point is that gravity is not measured in the abstract: the third paragraph orders your age and other personal circumstances considered, so what bends one person may not bend another, and the article accepts that. The third is who applied the pressure, and here the Code is generous: Article 296 says the act is voidable even if a third person exercises it, without requiring the other party to have known. The contrast with deceit is worth noticing, since Article 293 does hinge solidary liability for damages on one party’s knowledge. What does close a door is Article 297: fear of displeasing someone owed obedience and respect voids nothing. Signing because you did not want to cross an older relative, a boss or a figure of authority, with no threat of harm, falls under that article. And there is one point this section does not settle, worth knowing up front: the Code names violence in every paragraph and defines it in none. The only thing defined here is intimidation. This guide does not fill that definition in. Separately, Article 286 makes the author of the violence or intimidation answer for the resulting damages, which is a claim distinct from annulment. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.

Common mistakes

  • Believing the threat must target you: Article 295 includes those with whom you have affective or family ties.
  • Thinking only relatives count: the article names affective ties first.
  • Measuring gravity by one yardstick for everyone: the third paragraph orders age and circumstances considered.
  • Dropping the case because a third party threatened: Article 296 reaches it all the same.
  • Requiring the other party to have known of the threat: Article 296 does not ask for that.
  • Alleging intimidation over fear of displeasing someone: that is reverential fear and voids nothing.
  • Looking in the section for a definition of violence: it defines intimidation, not violence.
  • Seeking only annulment and forgetting damages: Article 286 places them on the author.

Frequently asked questions

Does it count if they threatened a relative of mine?

Yes. Article 295 includes harm to the person or property of those with whom you have affective or family ties.

A third party threatened me, not the other side. Is it still voidable?

Article 296 says the act is voidable even if a third person exercises the violence or intimidation.

Does signing out of fear of my boss void the contract?

Article 297 says reverential fear — of displeasing those owed obedience and respect — does not void the act.

Is a threat measured the same for everyone?

No. Article 295 orders the age and other personal circumstances of the injured person considered.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 12, 2026

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