Duhaime's Law Dictionary

Paulian Action Definition:

Civil law: a claim by a creditor against a third party to rescind any transfer of property made to
the third party by the debtor done to frustrate enforcement of the creditor's debt.
The term comes from the Roman law jurist Julius Paulus (approx. 250 AD) who, according to
Roman law legend, was the first to articulate the theory of a claim against third parties to whom
the insolvent debtor had transferred assets to conceal or to otherwise frustrate his creditor.

In a Paulian action, the defrauded creditor seeks to leapfrogs over the fraudulent transaction and
seeks to have the transaction reversed by the court.

In Quebec, the doctrine has been renamed in the French language Civil Code from l'action
Paulinenne to action en inopposabilité, but retains the nomenclature of Paulian action in the
2009 English version.

Legal Terms
A-D

ACCION PAULIANA – an action where the creditor files an action in court for the rescission of
acts or contracts entered into by the debtor designed to defraud the former

ACCION REIVINDICATORIA – an action where the plaintiff alleges ownership over a parcel
of land seeks recovery of its possession

ACCION SUBROGATORIA – an action where the creditor whose claimes had not been fully
satisfied, may go after the debtors (third persons) of the defendant-debtor

ANNUITY – is any continuing payment with a fixed total amount

ANTI-CHRESIS – an agreement between the creditor and the debtor where the latter gives the
former the income from the property he/she has pledged in lieu of interest on his/her debt

CARTE BLANCHE – complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best

CERTIORARI – a writ or order by whicha higher court reviews a decision of a lower court

CLAIMS – a legal assertion or demand by a person who wants a payment, compensation or

reimbursement for a loss under a contract or an injury caused by negligence
COMMODATUM – a a gratuitous contract involving
a proper loan, that is, loan of a thing where the obligation is to return the goods in exactly the
form in which it was lent

CONSIGNATION – the act of depositing the object of obligation to the court if the creditor
unjustifiably refused to accept the same or not in the position to accept it due to some reason or
circumstances

CREDITOR – an individual or an entity to whom money is due; “pinagkakautangan”

DEBTOR – an individual or an entity that is in debt to another; “may utang”

DEPOSIT – to place for safekeeping or in trust by the depositor, without any reward and which
to be returned when the depositor shall require it

E-H

EQUITY – under the context of obligations and contract, equity is the money value of property
on top of claims, liens, or property mortgages; in its broadest definition, equity means fairness

What are the requisites of Accion Pauliana?

1. Defendant must be indebted to plaintiff

2. The fraudulent act performed by the debtor subsequent to the contract gives advantage to
another

3. The creditor is prejudiced by such act.

4. The creditor must have pursued all properties of the debtor subject to execution

5. The creditor has no other legal remedy.

An accion pauliana accrues only when the creditor discovers that he has no other legal remedy for the
satisfaction of his claim against the debtor other than an accion pauliana.