Chapter Third: Extinctive Prescription

Article 338

Article 338 - The waiver of debt, or abandonment by the creditor of its rights in favor of the debtor, can only be conventional; it assumes the agreement of the interested parties' wills.

Article 339

Article 339 - This operation is exempt from the rules of form for gratuitous acts, even if it were made by the creditor without any consideration to their advantage: but in this case, it is subject to the rules of substance governing gratuitous acts, particularly as regards the capacity of those who participate in them.

Article 340

Article 340 - A debt release agreement can be express or tacit; it results from any act, circumstance indicating clearly to the creditor the intention to relinquish their rights, and to the debtor the intention to benefit from such relinquishment. The voluntary surrender by the creditor of the original title held by them implies a presumption of debt release, unless proven otherwise. Restitution by the creditor of the thing given as security does not establish a presumption of this kind.

Article 341

Article 341 - The obligation extinguishes when, since its inception, the performance that is its object has become impossible, naturally or legally, without the fault of the debtor.

Article 342

Article 342 - It is up to the debtor to prove the case of force majeure; this proof leaves it to the creditor to establish that an event external to the debtor occurred before or in conjunction with a fault on their part, for example a delay in performance that justified their default; in such a case, the obligation remains.

Article 343

Article 343 - The debtor is released from the obligation only to the extent that performance has become impossible; therefore, the extinction of the obligation can be partial. In any case, even if the extinction is total, the debtor must transfer to the creditor all rights and actions for indemnity related to the original payment due, and he must deliver to him, as necessary, everything that remains of the thing that perished.