Ansaldo vs.

Sheriff
FACTS:
Appellee Angel Ansaldo stood as guarantor for Romarico Agcaoili. He promised to indemnify the Surety
Company for any damage that they may incur from Agcaoilis credits. Agcaoili defaulted and thus the
Surety Company was forced to pay the Philippine Trust Bank the amount of 19,065.17 pesos. Thus, the
Surety Company instituted an action to get the said amount from Angel Ansaldo. The Sheriff of City of
Manila favored the Surety Company and levied on a property that belongs to the conjugal property of
Angel and Margarita Ansaldo. The spouses brought an action to the Court of First Instance of Manila
and the court ruled in their favor to the extent that the Sheriff should not have deducted from the same
property and that the Surety Company should pay the spouses the amount of 636.80 pesos.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the Sheriff was right in deducting from the conjugal property of the Spouses
HELD:
NO. The decision of the lower court is affirmed by the Supreme Court
RATIO:
The Civil Code provision, in Article 1408, that the conjugal property of the spouses should be liable for all
the debts and obligations contracted by either spouses during the marriage, should be construed in line
and be reconciled with Articles 1385 and 1386 of the same code. Construing the 3 articles together leads
to the conclusion that the conjugal property should be held liable only when the said debt or obligation
contracted by either party was proved to have produced some level of benefit for the family. It not
being showed to be such, the Sheriff could not have levied from the said property. The issue of the
spouses is not that the said property was part of their conjugal property but that whether it could be
subject to the levy of the Sheriff or whether it falls under the purview of 1408.