Art. 2671 Proceeding against surviving spouse in community

If a married couple takes out a loan and puts up shared property (community property) as collateral, and one spouse later dies, the lender can still take legal action to enforce that debt. The lender can go after the surviving spouse directly through a fast-track legal process called executory proceedings.

The lender does not need to involve the deceased spouse's estate. This means there's no need to name the succession representative, heirs, or anyone who inherited property from the deceased spouse as parties in the case. The surviving spouse alone can be the target of the legal action.

This rule makes it easier and faster for lenders to collect on debts tied to shared property after one spouse dies. It skips extra steps that would otherwise slow down the process, like tracking down heirs or waiting for a deceased person's estate to be settled.