Patrimonio de familia inembargable and afectación a vivienda familiar: the two figures that protect your home in Colombia

For most Colombian families, the home is the most valuable asset they will ever have: it holds decades of savings, many years of credit and the daily life of those who live in it. And yet, in our practice we find the same gap again and again: houses that make up almost the whole of a family's estate and that, legally, are as exposed as any other asset — to attachment by a creditor and to being sold or mortgaged by the spouse in whose name they stand, without consulting anyone.

Colombian law has two specific answers to that problem: the non-attachable family wealth, created by Ley 70 de 1931, and the family-home protection encumbrance, created by Ley 258 de 1996. They are frequently confused —even in deeds—, but they are different figures, with different requirements, beneficiaries, effects and ways of being lifted. Choosing well between them, or combining them, calls for a thorough understanding of each.

This guide is a detailed analysis of the two figures: what each one is, how it is constituted, what it protects, what its exceptions are and how it is lifted. If what you want is to decide at what point in life to activate these protections, we deal with that subject in when to organize your family's estate; and if you are looking for the complete method for putting assets, debts and succession in order, the route is set out in how to organize your family's estate step by step. Here the purpose is a different one: to master the two tools that protect the roof.

The essentials

If you can take away only seven ideas from this guide, let them be these:

• The Constitución authorizes the law to create a family estate that is inalienable and exempt from attachment (article 42). The two figures in this guide give effect to that authorization.
• The non-attachable family wealth (Ley 70 de 1931) shields a property worth up to 250 minimum wages against attachment and, in addition, prevents it from being mortgaged. It protects the family as a whole, above all the minor children.
• The family-home protection encumbrance (Ley 258 de 1996) operates by operation of law over the home bought by a person who is married or in a de facto marital union: no one may sell it or mortgage it without the joint signature, and it is exempt from attachment, with two exceptions tied to mortgages.
• The afectación protects the couple's joint decision; the patrimonio de familia protects the asset itself against creditors. They are not mutually exclusive: they can coexist over the same house.
• Neither is effective against third parties unless it is recorded in the folio de matrícula inmobiliaria. What is not registered does not exist as far as legal dealings are concerned.
• Neither is absolute: an earlier registered mortgage, an acquisition or improvement mortgage and, in vivienda de interés social, the financing entity can break the shield.
• Both can be lifted: by agreement and escritura pública in straightforward cases; with a judge or the Defensor de Familia where there are minors or disagreement.

The problem they solve: a home exposed on two flanks

A severe principle governs the law of obligations: the debtor answers for their debts with all their assets, present and future — the so-called prenda general de los acreedores (the creditors' general claim over the debtor's entire estate). If you sign as a co-debtor, if a business fails or a lawsuit ends in an award against you, the creditor may seek attachment, sequestration and sale at auction, and the house where your family lives goes into that pool like any other asset. Unless a special rule excludes it, the home is subject to attachment.

That is the first flank. The second produces as much litigation or more: the unilateral sale or mortgage. Marriage and the de facto marital union give rise to a community of property, but that community only takes shape on liquidation; in the meantime, each spouse disposes freely of the assets deeded in their name. If the house stands in the name of only one of them, that one may sell it or mortgage it without the other's signature or knowledge, and the non-owner spouse will be left only with a claim for financial compensation on liquidation — not with the house.

The two figures attack those flanks with different strategies. The patrimonio de familia concentrates on the first: it removes the property from creditors' reach and makes it impossible to mortgage. The afectación attacks above all the second: it makes any act of disposal conditional on both signatures, and adds a relative exemption from attachment. These two tools are, moreover, only part of the arsenal available; the full picture is set out in legal strategies to protect your assets.

First figure: the patrimonio de familia inembargable (Ley 70 de 1931)

What it is and where it comes from

It is the classic figure for protecting the home. Ley 70 de 1931 authorized "the constitution, in favor of every family, of a special estate, with the quality of not being subject to attachment, and under the name patrimonio de familia" (article 1). The idea is to separate a property from the owner's ordinary estate and attach it to the family as a unit, so that the holder's economic ups and downs cannot touch it. The person who establishes it is called the constituyente; the person in whose favor it is established, the beneficiary (article 2). Ley 495 de 1999 modernized caps and beneficiaries; Ley 962 de 2005 and Decreto 2817 de 2006 took the constitution to the notary's offices; Decreto Ley 019 de 2012 did the same for cancellation; and the Corte Constitucional brought the figure into line with the principle of equality.

Who can be beneficiaries

Article 4, as worded by Ley 495 de 1999, allows three configurations: (a) the family made up of a man and a woman through marriage, or of compañero or compañera permanente, together with the minor children; (b) the couple alone —married or in a de facto marital union—, without children; and (c) a minor, or two or more minors among themselves within the second degree of consanguinity (siblings, or grandparent and grandchild).

Two clarifications from the Court complete the picture: the protection extends on equal terms to same-sex couples (Sentencia C-029 de 2009), and the power that the 1931 text gives the "husband" to constitute the patrimonio over assets of the sociedad conyugal belongs equally to the wife (Sentencia C-340 de 2014). Moreover, unless otherwise agreed, the patrimonio is deemed established in favor of the beneficiary, their spouse and any children they may come to have (article 7). If yours is a de facto union, it is advisable to have the evidence of cohabitation in order; in de facto marital union in Colombia we explain how it is proved.

Which property it is available over, and with what value limit

Not just any property will do. Article 3, in the version given by Ley 495 de 1999, requires three conditions to be met simultaneously at the time of constitution: full ownership not held undivided with another person; a property free of mortgage, censo and antichresis; and a value no greater than 250 current monthly statutory minimum wages. For the notarial procedure, Decreto 2817 de 2006 made clear that the reference value is the cadastral one, and allowed a single exception to the requirement of being free of encumbrances: a mortgage created to acquire that same property.

The cap is measured only once. Later appreciation does not destroy the protection: the increase in value "is regarded as an acquired benefit that does not strip the patrimonio of its original character, even where the total value of the asset comes to exceed" the 250 minimum wages (article 9). And each family may have only un patrimonio de familia (article 8); if the property is worth less than the cap, adjoining plots may be acquired to make it up.

How it is created: the five routes

Ley 70 de 1931 designed a court procedure with a public summons to creditors and a judgment (articles 11 to 19). It still exists, but since 2005 it has ceased to be the main route. Today it is worth distinguishing five routes:

• By escritura pública before a notary (the ordinary route today). Article 37 of Ley 962 de 2005 assigned the constitution to notaries and Decreto 2817 de 2006 laid down the procedure: an application to the notary of the notarial district where the property is located; an edict posted for fifteen (15) days at the notary's office and published once in a newspaper, so that creditors may object; where there is no objection, deed and registration. If a creditor objects and does not consent, the notary terminates the proceeding and the judicial route remains. The deed incurs notarial fees as an act with no stated value, the lowest rate.
• By the judicial route, where there is objection from creditors or a dispute: the original procedure of Ley 70 de 1931, with the judge's authorization.
• By will, under the rules on specific bequests (article 10); a third party may also constitute it by gift (article 6).
• By statutory mandate, in vivienda de interés social. Under article 60 of Ley 9ª de 1989 —heir to Ley 91 de 1936, to whose articles 2, 4 and 5 it refers—, in sales of VIS housing buyers must constitute a patrimonio de familia in the purchase deed itself, without being subject to the formalities or the value limits of Ley 70 de 1931. Here the figure is not an option but a requirement.
• By reason of being a mother or father who heads the household (Ley 861 de 2003). The sole property, urban or rural, of a woman who heads the household is constituted as a patrimonio familiar inembargable in favor of her minor children and those yet to be born, directly before the Oficina de Registro de Instrumentos Públicos, with the civil registry records, the notarial declaration of that status, the title and two witnesses who declare under oath that this is her sole property; the statute provides that these procedures carry no cost (articles 2 and 3).

Effects: what exactly it protects

Once constituted and recorded, it produces three major effects. First, the exemption from attachment: the asset cannot be attached "not even in the event of the beneficiary's bankruptcy", and any consent the beneficiary may give to the attachment "shall have no effect whatsoever" (article 21) — not even the protected person can waive the shield, because the protection is not theirs but the family's. Second, the bar on encumbering: it may not be mortgaged, encumbered with a censo, given in antichresis or sold under a repurchase agreement (article 22). Third, the restriction on disposal: the owner may transfer the asset or cancel the figure, but if they are married or have minor children they need the consent of the spouse and, for the minors, consent given through a curador —a court-appointed guardian— (article 23).

Note the philosophy: it does not merely require two signatures; it closes the door to mortgage credit over that asset. It is a rigid protection, designed to keep the roof, not to use it as security: that rigidity is its strength and, depending on the case, its drawback.

How it is lifted, substituted or extinguished

The patrimonio de familia (the unattachable family homestead) is not a life sentence:

• Cancellation and substitution before a notary (in Colombia notaries have jurisdiction over acts of this kind). Decreto Ley 019 de 2012 (articles 84 to 87) allowed notaries, without prejudice to the courts' jurisdiction, to substitute or cancel the patrimonio by escritura pública (public deed). The application is deemed to be made under oath; where there is a minor beneficiary, the notary notifies the Family Defender, who has fifteen (15) business days to accept, refuse or attach conditions. Substitution makes it possible to move the protection from one house to another —typically when the family sells in order to buy— without leaving the interval unprotected.
• Extinction on reaching the age of majority. When all the beneficiaries come of age, the patrimonio is extinguished and the property returns to the ordinary law (article 29). Where both spouses have died, it survives for as long as there are minor children, held undivided (article 28).
• Survival in favor of the spouse. It survives the dissolution of the marriage in favor of the surviving spouse, even where there are no children (article 27); if there are no minors among the heirs, the survivor may ask that the property be awarded to them so as to keep it with that character, paying the others their share (article 30).
• Expropriation or destruction. Where there are minor beneficiaries, the judge orders protective measures over the expropriation price or the insurance compensation while it is invested in another patrimonio de familia (articles 24 and 26): the protection is subrogated into the money.

Second figure: the afectación a vivienda familiar (Ley 258 de 1996)

What it is and which property it applies to

The afectación a vivienda familiar (the family-dwelling encumbrance) is a more recent creation, with a different spirit. Ley 258 de 1996 deems subject to the afectación "the real property acquired in its entirety by one or both spouses, before or after the celebration of the marriage, intended as the family's dwelling" (article 1, as worded by Ley 854 de 2003). Three elements define its scope: a property acquired in its entirety by one or both spouses —Sentencia C-560 de 2002 upheld that requirement: it does not apply to property held undivided with third parties—; a couple with a subsisting bond; and the actual dedication of the property to the family's dwelling. It does not cover vacant lots, offices or rental houses: it covers the roof over the home.

The statute speaks of "spouses", but its article 12 extends everything to compañeros permanentes (permanent partners) whose union has lasted at least two years, and Sentencia C-029 de 2009 made clear that the extension covers same-sex couples on equal terms. Marriage and the de facto marital union (unión marital de hecho, a Colombian statutory institution; not the same as common-law marriage) —heterosexual or same-sex— receive the same protection here.

How it is created: the figure that arises on its own

Here lies the first great practical difference: the afectación, as a rule, does not have to be constituted; it operates by operation of law in respect of homes acquired after the statute came into force (published in the Diario Oficial —the official gazette— 42.692 of January 18, 1996). If a married person, or one in a union of two years or more, buys their family's home today, the property becomes encumbered without anyone applying for it (article 2).

The machinery sits in the notary's offices: in every deed transferring or encumbering property intended as a dwelling, the notary must inquire —under oath— into the owner's sociedad conyugal (marital property regime), marriage or de facto marital union and into the afectación; and must ask the buyer whether they have a partner and whether they own another property already encumbered. If they do not, the notary expressly records that the afectación arises by operation of law (article 6). Properties acquired before 1996 may be encumbered by an escritura pública granted by both spouses, or through the notarial or judicial procedure the statute provides (articles 2, 9 and 10).

Two nuances almost no one mentions. First: the spouses may, by mutual agreement, declare in the purchase deed that they are not subjecting the property to the afectación (article 6) — a legitimate waiver, but one that must be informed; we have seen waivers signed without any understanding of what was being given up. Second: the afectación is only enforceable against third parties from the date it is recorded in the folio de matrícula inmobiliaria, the land registry folio (article 5). An afectación that was never recorded stops no attachment and voids no sale as against a third party in good faith. The folio is what counts.

The headline effect: the joint signature

The heart of Ley 258 de 1996 is its article 3: property subject to the afectación "may only be transferred, or an encumbrance or other right in rem created over it, with the free consent of both spouses, which shall be deemed expressed by their signature". It does not matter that the house is deeded in the name of just one of them: selling it, mortgaging it or creating any right in rem requires both signatures. The non-owner spouse or partner stops being a spectator and becomes a co-holder of the decision.

The penalty for ignoring the rule is the harshest in civil law: absolute nullity of acts that disregard the afectación (article 6), and a notary who omits those statements incurs grounds of misconduct. Note the contrast with the earlier figure: the afectación does not prohibit mortgaging or selling; it requires the decision to be taken by both. That is why it is compatible with ordinary credit life: an encumbered house can secure a mortgage loan, provided both sign.

The relative exemption from attachment and its exceptions

In addition to the joint signature, the afectación grants an exemption from attachment that is only relative. Article 7 declares property subject to the afectación exempt from attachment, except in two cases: (1) a mortgage created before the afectación was registered; and (2) a mortgage created to secure loans for the acquisition, construction or improvement of the home. The logic of the second exception is economic: if the afectación blocked the bank that financed the purchase, no bank would ever again finance a home for married people.

The Corte Constitucional refined the first exception with a clarification that has decided lawsuits: the "earlier" mortgage allows attachment only if it was previously registered (Sentencia C-664 de 1998). A mortgage signed before but registered after the afectación was recorded does not break the shield. Once again: the folio is what counts.

How the afectación is lifted

The natural route is agreement: the two of them may lift it at any time, by mutual agreement, through an escritura pública submitted for registration (article 4). In practice this happens every day, typically within the sale deed itself: both appear, lift the afectación and transfer. If only one of them applies and there is agreement, the procedure is notarial, with notice to the other spouse (article 9).

Without agreement, the decision falls to the family court judge of the place where the property is located, in a summary oral proceeding (article 10), and only on the grounds listed in article 4: another home lived in by the family, or at least summary evidence that there will be one; expropriation or a judicial declaration of a tax obligation —in expropriation, Sentencia C-192 de 1998 requires compensation that is prior, full and in money—; suspension or deprivation of patria potestad (parental authority); a declaration of a spouse's absence or civil incapacity; dissolution of the sociedad conyugal —which is why the lifting is usually joined to the divorce or to the liquidation—; and, as a final valve, "any just cause assessed by the family court judge", at the request of a spouse, of the Ministerio Público (Colombia's public oversight body) or of a third party harmed or defrauded by the afectación.

There is also an automatic termination that takes many families by surprise: the afectación is extinguished by operation of law upon the actual or presumed death of one or both spouses, unless the minor heirs living in the property ask the judge to maintain it —at most until they come of age or are emancipated— (article 4, paragraph 2, as worded by Ley 854 de 2003). The protection of Ley 258 is designed for a couple who are alive; once the succession is opened, the property enters the succession with almost no shield. We deal with how to shield that moment in successions: avoiding future problems.

Comparative table: patrimonio de familia vs. afectación a vivienda familiar

The table condenses the differences set out above. Read it with one warning: the point is not to choose "the better one" in the abstract, but the one that answers your family's actual risk — and, in many cases, the right answer is to have both.

Can the two figures coexist over the same home?

Yes. The law does not make them mutually exclusive and sets them side by side: the paragraph of article 5 of Ley 258 de 1996 allows an "afectación a vivienda familiar or patrimonio de familia inembargable" to be constituted over social-housing improvements built on land belonging to another, treating them as parallel tools of the same system. In registry practice it is possible —and frequent in VIS housing— for a single folio to show both entries.

Does it make sense to combine them? Often it does, because they cover each other's gaps. The patrimonio de familia shields against creditors even after the parents' death, but it does not give the non-owner spouse the power of veto that the joint signature provides. The afectación guarantees that veto while the couple are alive, but it fades away with death and yields to home mortgages. Together, the house is protected against attachment, against unilateral disposal and against a good part of the immediate contingencies of the succession.

Combining them also costs flexibility: with a patrimonio de familia in force the house cannot be mortgaged —not even with both signatures—, so anyone who expects to use the home as security may prefer the afectación alone; and canceling or substituting the patrimonio will require the Defensor de Familia where there are minors. The right combination depends on the value of the property (the 250 SMLMV cap leaves many urban homes outside the patrimonio de familia), on the children, on civil status and on credit plans. It is a decision of estate architecture, not a form to fill in.

Common mistakes at the notary's office and at the registry

These are the missteps we see most often when reviewing folios and deeds, and they tend to surface years later, when the protection is needed and is not there:

• Confusing the two figures in the draft deed. Deeds that say "patrimonio de familia" while citing Ley 258 de 1996, or "afectación" while citing Ley 70 de 1931. The registrar may return the document; in the worst case, a figure different from the one the family believed it had is recorded.
• Taking the afectación for granted without checking the folio. It operates by operation of law, but to be enforceable against third parties it must be recorded (article 5). If the notary omitted the statement, or the registry did not reflect it, as against third parties it is as if it did not exist.
• Waiving the afectación without understanding it. Some draft deeds routinely include the declaration not to subject the property (article 6). Signing it without grasping its scope amounts to giving away the joint signature and the exemption from attachment in the very act in which they were arising.
• Misstating your civil status. The seller who is "single on paper" but has a two-year de facto marital union, and who swears to having no partner in order to avoid the joint signature, exposes the transaction to absolute nullity and exposes himself for failing to tell the truth under oath.
• Trying to constitute a patrimonio de familia over a mortgaged property or one held undivided. Article 3 of Ley 70 de 1931 bars it (except for the acquisition mortgage): the procedure fails, with costs and time lost.
• Forgetting that there can be only one patrimonio de familia per family (article 8). Anyone who already has one —sometimes from an old VIS purchase no one remembers— cannot constitute another without canceling or substituting the first.
• Failing to update after changes in the family. Divorces without renegotiating the afectación; new unions that leave the partner outside the protection; children who came of age, extinguishing a patrimonio the family was still counting on.

Many of these mistakes are made —or avoided— at the time of purchase. Reviewing the transaction, the folio and the draft deed beforehand is the cheapest insurance against them; we explain that support in why you should have a lawyer when buying a property.

Mortgages and attachments: what happens when the bank already had security

This is the question we receive most about these figures. Scenario by scenario:

• The mortgage was registered before the afectación. The creditor may attach the property and have it sold at auction: the first exception in article 7, limited by C-664 de 1998 to the case of a mortgage previously registered. The later afectación does not take from the bank a right in rem that has already arisen and been made public.
• The mortgage secures the purchase, construction or improvement loan. The creditor may attach even though the afectación came first: the second exception in article 7, which covers practically the whole residential mortgage portfolio. The afectación does not stop enforcement of the loan on the house itself.
• VIS housing with a mandatory patrimonio de familia. The entity that financed the construction, acquisition, improvement or subdivision may attach (article 60 of Ley 9ª de 1989, subsection as amended by Ley 3ª de 1991). As against all other creditors, the shield holds.
• Voluntary patrimonio de familia and later debt. The property cannot be mortgaged while it subsists (article 22), so the "bank with later security" scenario should not exist; and as against unsecured creditors —credit cards, payroll-deduction loans, co-signed debts— the property is simply exempt from attachment (article 21).
• Tax debts and expropriation. With the afectación, judicial lifting is available for a declared tax obligation or for expropriation; in the latter, the compensation must be paid in advance, in full and in money (Sentencia C-192 de 1998).

The operational conclusion is twofold. For the debtor: these figures protect the roof against general economic failure, not against the loan that bought the house. For the buyer or the lender: the title examination must read the folio in chronological order, because the fate of the transaction depends, literally, on what was registered first.

What NOT to do

• Do not sign waivers of the afectación "because that is how the draft deed came". Ask to have the effect explained to you and decide together with your partner: recovering the protection requires a new deed granted by both.
• Do not sell or mortgage an encumbered property with a single signature. The act is tainted with absolute nullity from the outset and can be undone years later, with the money already spent and a lawsuit on top.
• Do not constitute these figures in order to evade existing creditors. The notarial procedure includes a public summons and creditor objections; and with the afectación, a defrauded third party may seek judicial lifting (article 4, subsection 7). Used in bad faith, the protections fall.
• Do not confuse exemption from attachment with extinction of the debt. The obligation remains alive: the creditor may pursue other assets, wages within the statutory limits, or the co-debtor.
• Do not leave the protections on autopilot after a divorce, a new union or the children's coming of age: each event changes who is protected.
• Do not choose by the name. If your plan includes a loan secured on the house, the patrimonio de familia will prevent it; if your risk is a unilateral sale, what you need is the joint signature.

Common myths

"The house a family lives in cannot be attached in Colombia." False as a general rule. A home is subject to attachment unless it is covered by a figure that has been constituted and recorded in the folio. Protection is not presumed; it is constituted and registered.

"With the afectación they cannot attach my home for any debt." False. The exemption from attachment in article 7 is relative: it yields to an earlier registered mortgage and to an acquisition, construction or improvement mortgage. The mortgage loan on the house itself always gets through.

"The patrimonio de familia is lost if the house appreciates above 250 minimum wages." False. The cap is assessed at the time of constitution; later appreciation is an "acquired benefit" that does not strip it of its character (article 9, Ley 70 de 1931).

"These protections are only for married couples." False. Both cover compañeros permanentes —in the afectación, with a union of at least two years— and the Corte Constitucional extended them to same-sex couples (Sentencia C-029 de 2009).

"The joint signature applies to all the couple's assets." False. It applies only to the encumbered property, the one intended as the family's dwelling. All other assets follow the ordinary rules: each owner disposes of what is theirs and the accounts are settled on liquidation.

"Constituting these figures is an expensive procedure." Inaccurate. The patrimonio de familia deed incurs notarial fees as an act with no stated value —the minimum rate— (Decreto 2817 de 2006, article 13); constitution for a head of household carries no cost by provision of Ley 861 de 2003; and the afectación arises by operation of law in the purchase deed itself. What does carry a real cost is not having them the day the attachment arrives.

"If my spouse dies, the afectación keeps protecting the house." False. It is extinguished by operation of law on death, unless the minor heirs living in the property apply (article 4, paragraph 2). The protection that does survive death is that of the patrimonio de familia, which subsists for the surviving spouse and the minor children.

Checklist for setting up the protection of your home

An orderly work plan, applicable to most cases:

1. Obtain a recent certificado de tradición y libertad (certificate of title and encumbrances) and read it in full: ownership, undivided shares, mortgages with their registration date, attachments, and whether entries for either of the two figures already exist.
2. Define the family picture: civil status, how long the de facto marital union has lasted (two years or more?), minor children, status as a mother or father who heads the household.
3. Compare the avalúo catastral (cadastral appraisal) with the current 250 SMLMV. If the property exceeds them, the voluntary patrimonio de familia is ruled out and the analysis focuses on the afectación.
4. Check your own debts and other people's: mortgages, co-signed debts, guarantees. The patrimonio de familia requires the property to be free of any mortgage (except the acquisition mortgage), and setting up protections while creditors are already circling may be reversible.
5. Choose the architecture: afectación only? patrimonio de familia only? both? Decide by looking at risks, credit plans and the succession scenario.
6. Gather the documents: the deed and the folio, civil registry records, the declaration of the de facto marital union where applicable, the avalúo catastral and, for Ley 861 de 2003, the notarial declaration of head-of-household status with its two witnesses.
7. Go to the notary's office of the notarial district where the property is located (Decreto 2817 de 2006) or, for a head of household, to the Oficina de Registro (the public instruments registry office). Always declare the truth: everything is deemed to be stated under oath.
8. Follow the procedure through to registration, not just to signature. A deed without recording does not protect against third parties: request the new certificate and check the entry.
9. Keep the complete file (deed, public notice, notarial statements, updated certificate).
10. Schedule reviews at every relevant change: marriage or a new union, divorce, births, the last child coming of age, a sale, loans secured by a right in rem. Protection is managed, not filed away.

This checklist fits, as the housing module, within the general process we describe in organizing your family's estate step by step.

Protecting the roof is protecting the family project

After years of accompanying families in Bogotá, our conviction is this: organizing a family's estate calls for careful planning and an honest understanding of each family's needs and goals, and no part of that planning yields as much, for so little, as the legal protection of the home. Used well, these two figures preserve the value of the assets, prevent lawsuits between the couple and make the orderly transfer of the estate to the generations that follow easier. When the moment comes, they make the difference between keeping the house and seeing it sold at auction.

The other side of the coin is that neither works well improvised: they call for reading the folio, calculating caps, declaring the truth, registering in time and reviewing matters when life changes. That is the kind of work in which a family lawyer with an estate focus brings method and prevents litigation; you can read about our approach in what an estate lawyer does. If you want to assess which figure suits your case, to constitute it or to lift it with every safeguard, at Cafore Abogados we will give you clear guidance: write to us or call us at 313 8411825 and we will review the protection of your home together.

Laws and case law cited

• Constitución Política, article 42 — authorization of the family estate that is inalienable and exempt from attachment.
• Ley 70 de 1931 (D.O. 21.706) — creates the patrimonio de familia that is not subject to attachment.
• Ley 495 de 1999 (D.O. 43.499) — amends arts. 3, 4, 8 and 9 of Ley 70 de 1931.
• Ley 258 de 1996 (D.O. 42.692) — establishes the afectación a vivienda familiar.
• Ley 854 de 2003 — amends arts. 1 and 4 (paragraph 2) of Ley 258 de 1996.
• Ley 861 de 2003 — patrimonio familiar inembargable over the sole property of a mother or father who heads the household (art. 5 repealed by art. 626, subparagraph c, of Ley 1564 de 2012).
• Ley 9ª de 1989, article 60, second subsection as amended by Ley 3ª de 1991, article 38 — mandatory patrimonio de familia in VIS housing; refers to Ley 91 de 1936.
• Decreto 2817 de 2006 — implements art. 37 of Ley 962 de 2005: constitution of the patrimonio de familia before a notary.
• Decreto Ley 019 de 2012, arts. 84-87 — substitution and cancellation of the patrimonio de familia before a notary.
• Ley 1564 de 2012 (CGP), article 594 — assets exempt from attachment; a reference to special statutes.
• Corte Constitucional, C-192 de 1998 — expropriation of an encumbered property: compensation that is prior, full and in money.
• Corte Constitucional, C-664 de 1998 — the exceptions in art. 7 of Ley 258 de 1996 require a previously registered mortgage.
• Corte Constitucional, C-560 de 2002 — constitutionality of “acquired in its entirety” (art. 1, Ley 258 de 1996).
• Corte Constitucional, C-722 de 2004 — extends Ley 861 de 2003 to a man who heads the household.
• Corte Constitucional, C-029 de 2009 — extends both figures to same-sex couples.
• Corte Constitucional, C-340 de 2014 — the power under art. 5, subparagraph a), of Ley 70 de 1931 belongs equally to the wife.