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The fruits of a separate good are community property even though the good stays one spouse’s

Last reviewed: September 13, 2026 — VerifiedPoder Judicial

In short

Against the two lists of privative goods, the Civil Code of 2020 sets two more of ganancial goods. Article 513 names five classes. Ganancial are those acquired for value and at the cost of the common estate — and here is a surprising detail: it does not matter whether the acquisition is made for the conjugal society, for the enjoyment and benefit of the family members, or for one spouse alone. Buying something with common money and putting it in one name does not make it privative. Ganancial are those obtained by the work or industry of either spouse. Ganancial are the fruits produced both by privative goods and by common and ganancial goods, the item most people overlook: the inherited house stays yours, but the rent it produces belongs to both. Ganancial are those acquired by the right of retracto with ganancial character, even where privative funds are used, in which case the society is debtor to the spouse for the value paid. And ganancial are the firms created or founded during the society at the expense of common goods; if privative and common capital concur in their formation or development, the article on cotitularidad applies. Article 514 adds four more: lost profits, fringe benefits and special compensations received by reason of employment or profession, provided they are not personalísimo in character; the economic product or result of intellectual and artistic works and inventions developed during the society, if the law does not provide otherwise; the winnings obtained in lawful gambling or from other causes that exempt restitution; and goods donated or left by will to the spouses jointly and without special designation of shares, if both accept and the donor or testator did not provide otherwise.

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What is it?

They are Articles 513 and 514 of the Civil Code of 2020, the two lists of ganancial goods in the Classes of Goods section of the community-property chapter.

Who can do it?

Married people under the sociedad de gananciales who need to know whether a good or income belongs to both.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: See where the money came from

    What is acquired for value at the cost of the common estate is ganancial, even if for one alone.

  2. Step 2: Either one’s work belongs to both

    What is obtained by the work or industry of either spouse is ganancial.

  3. Step 3: Fruits are always common

    The fruits of privative goods and of common and ganancial goods are ganancial.

  4. Step 4: The firm founded with common money

    It is ganancial if created or founded during the society at the expense of common goods.

  5. Step 5: Employment benefits, save the personal

    Lost profits, fringe benefits and special compensations, if not personalísimo in character.

  6. Step 6: What is given to both without shares

    It is ganancial if both accept and the donor or testator did not provide otherwise.

Where to do it

These two articles do not define what personalísimo character is, and that word decides whether an employment compensation enters the common estate. Nor do they say what counts as lawful gambling or which other causes exempt restitution. In the item on works and inventions the Code reserves with a "if the law does not provide otherwise" and does not name that other law: it is not guessed at here. They name no forum, form or procedure to declare a good’s character, and publish no tariff or term. What happens when privative and common capital concur, and how a doubtful good’s character is decided, live in other articles of the same chapter and this site covers them separately. None of those gaps is filled here.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

The item that most changes the arithmetic is the one on fruits, and almost nobody keeps it in mind. Article 513 makes ganancial the fruits produced both by privative goods and by common and ganancial goods. That means the house you inherited stays yours, but the rent that house collects during the marriage belongs to both. The same with the interest on a privative account or the harvest of a privative farm. The good does not change owner; what it produces is common. The second point worth being clear about is that putting something in one name does not take it out of the common estate. The same article says ganancial is what is acquired for value and at the cost of the common estate, whether the acquisition is made for the conjugal society, for the enjoyment and benefit of the family members, or for one spouse alone. What governs is where the money came from, not whose name appears on the paper. The third is the word that decides employment disputes: Article 514 makes ganancial the lost profits, fringe benefits and special compensations received by reason of employment or profession, provided they are not personalísimo in character. The Code does not define personalísimo, so that boundary is not written in the text and it is better to know it than to assume it. And there are two items rarely read to the end. The ganancial retracto one, which recognises the society as debtor to the spouse for the value paid when privative funds were used. And the joint-donation one, which is ganancial only if the liberality is accepted by both and the donor or testator did not provide otherwise.

Common mistakes

  • Believing the rent of a privative house is privative: fruits are ganancial.
  • Thinking that putting the good in one name makes it privative if paid from the common estate.
  • Forgetting item (a) also covers what is acquired for one spouse alone.
  • Assuming every employment compensation is ganancial: those of personalísimo character are excluded.
  • Looking in the Code for the definition of personalísimo: it gives none.
  • Believing a ganancial retracto paid with privative funds creates no credit: the society becomes debtor.
  • Treating a donation made to both as ganancial without both having accepted it.
  • Ignoring that the donor or testator may provide otherwise and switch that item off.

Frequently asked questions

Is the rent of my inherited house both ours?

Article 513 makes ganancial the fruits produced both by privative goods and by common and ganancial ones.

I bought with common money but in my name. Is it mine?

Item (a) makes ganancial what is acquired for value at the cost of the common estate, even if for one spouse alone.

Do lawful-gambling winnings enter the community?

Article 514 makes ganancial the winnings obtained by either spouse in lawful gambling.

And the business I opened while married?

It is ganancial if created during the society at the expense of common goods; if privative capital concurs, the cotitularidad article applies.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 13, 2026

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