M1033rd1

• Contract


  An agreement between private parties creating mutual obligations enforceable by law
• Meeting of minds


  Between 2 persons
• Legal binding


  Of promises or agreement
• Features/Characteristics/Elements of a lawful contract


  • Promise or agreement between 2 or more persons for the performance of an action or restraint from certain actions
  • Mutual understanding of the terms and meaning of the contract by all
  • A lawful purpose - activity must be legal
  • Compensation in the form of something of value-monetary
• Requirements for a Valid Contract


  • Consent
  • Subject Matter
  • Cause
• Types of Contract

  • Expressed - when 2 parties discuss and agree orally or in writing the terms and conditions during the creation of the contract
  • Implied - one that has not been explicitly agreed to by the parties, but that the law considers to exist
  • Formal - required to be in writing
  • Informal - oral or written
  • Void - inexistent from the very beginning (e.g. illegal drug supplier)
  • Illegal - expressly prohibited by the law (e.g. lending your PRC ID in exchange of money)
• Points to observe by midwives to avoid criminal liability


  • Be very familiar with the Philippine Midwifery Law
  • Beware of laws affecting midwifery practice
  • At the start of employment, get a copy of your job description, the agency's rules, regulations and policies
  • Upgrade your skills and competence
  • Accept only such responsibility that is within the scope of your employment and job description
  • Do not delegate your responsibility to others
• Elements of Consent


  • The consent must be manifested by the concurrence of the offer and acceptance
  • The contracting parties must possess the necessary legal capacity
  • The consent must be intelligent, free, spontaneous and real
• Persons who cannot consent to a contract


  • Unemancipated minors
  • Insane/Mentally ill or demented persons
  • Unconscious
• Types of Consent

  • Informed - written, sufficient information has been given to give consent
  • Implied
• Nature of Consent


  • Midwife secures consent of patient upon admission
  • Physician obtains the consent, provides the necessary information regarding the procedure and forms of treatment
• Succession


  Mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights, and obligations, to the extent of the value of inheritance or a person, are transmitted through his death to another by his will or by operation of law
• Descendant


  Any person whose property is transmitted through succession, whether or not he left a will
• Inheritance


  Refers to property, rights, and obligations of a person which are not extinguished by his death
• Kinds of Succession


  • Testamentary - made in a will
  • Legal or instate - without a will
  • Mixed - partly by will, partly by operational law
• Will


  An act (instrument or document) whereby a person is permitted, with the formalities prescribed by law, to control to a certain degree the disposition of its state effect after his death
• Terms

  • Testament - a person's will, especially the part relating to personal property
  • Testator - the one (man) making a will
  • Testatrix - a woman who has made a will or given a legacy
  • Heir - a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of law
  • Devise or Legatee - a person to whom gifts of real and personal property are respectively given by virtue of a will
• Probate


  Validation of a will in court
• Probate Process


  A court-supervised proceeding in which the authenticity of the will left behind is proven to be valid and accepted as the true last testament of the deceased
• Forms of Wills

  • Holographic will - written, dated, and signed by the testator
  • Nuncupative Will - made orally, a type of will that's delivered verbally to witnesses
  • Living Will - tells how the patient feels about the care intended to sustain life
  • Ordinary or Natural Will - must be in writing and executed in a language or dialect known to the testator
• Persons qualified to make a will


  • All persons not expressly prohibited by the law to make a will
  • The testator is of sound mind
  • A married woman (even without the consent of the husband or authority of the court)
  • Persons of either sex, above 18 years of age
• Witnesses to Wills


  • Any person of sound mind
  • 18 years old and above
  • Not blind, deaf, or dumb
  • Able to read and write
• Persons disqualified to be a witness to a will


  • Any person not domiciled in the Phil.
  • Persons convicted of fraud, perjury or false testimony
• It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do. - Edmund Burke
• IGNORANTIA LEGIS NEMINEM EXCUSAT - "ignorance of the law does not excuse"