Article V. When Must Restitution Be Made?

712. • I. As regards any debts whatever, generally restitution must be made as soon as it can be done without grave inconvenience. For natural right demands that you not retain another's thing when the owner is reasonably unwilling.

Hence 1. he who culpably defers restitution ¹ remains in continuous sin, and cannot be absolved. Besides, if damages come to the owner from the delay of restitution, he is held to compensate them.

¹ Add: and notably, as the Author afterwards explains; and if it is a matter of grave matter.

2. If someone, having the purpose of restoring, defers for some time short of grave inconvenience of the owner, he is not easily to be condemned of mortal sin, indeed not even of venial sin, if there is some cause of deferring, for example, hope of a more convenient occasion, etc. - St. Lig., Hom. apost., n. 104, 105.

3. He who wished to restore by parts, when he could easily restore the whole, would not be absolved ², because the owner is reasonably unwilling also in this. The same must be said of him who, although he can restore during the course of life, nevertheless defers until death; or who, constituted in danger of death, would reject without sufficient reason the obligation of restoring onto his heirs, unless perhaps it is a matter of restitution of uncertain goods. - Hom. apost., ibid.

² Understand, when it is grave matter.

II. As regards debts from injury: all damages which have followed from the delay must be compensated, even when the delay was inculpable. - Hom. apost., ibid.

But whether extraordinary damages also must be compensated, or those which do not necessarily follow from the delay of restitution, is controverted. - It seems that it must probably be denied, because these damages could not be foreseen, nor consequently can they be imputed. - Vogler, n. 426. - Lugo, etc.

714. • III. As regards debts from contract, generally one must stand by the conditions appended to the contract concerning the time, or concerning other circumstances, unless it is prudently presumed that the will of the other contracting party is otherwise.

Hence 1. restitution, or rather payment, must be made at the time concerning which it was expressly or tacitly agreed.

2. The debtor can anticipate, if the term assigned for payment is in his favor, as ordinarily is accustomed to happen; but otherwise, if the same term turns to the utility of the creditor, as, for example, in the furnishing of money with profit to be received.

3. If the term is not fixed, according to the sentence of several, the debtor can generally wait without at least grave sin until he is warned by the creditor, unless however the latter thence takes damage, or from fear does not dare to warn him, or from forgetfulness or inability omits the warning.

4. If the debtor has a just cause of deferring, he is not held to compensate damage arising from the delay. - Thus commonly, with St. Lig., n. 680.

Q. Whether he who deferred restitution from a just cause is held to compensate ceasing profit or arising damage?

Resp. He is held when the debt comes from delict, because although he did not sin by deferring restitution from a just cause, nevertheless from the preceding injury he is truly the unjust and culpable cause of that damage, if it was then sufficiently foreseen ³. - Thus commonly, with St. Lig., n. 680 and 704, against others. - But if the debt comes from contract, he is not held; because then the debtor is not the unjust and culpable cause of that damage, since he is by no means supposed to be in culpable delay, and therefore it does not appear by what title he would be held to it. - St. Lig., ibid., and others more commonly. - See Casus, n. 704.

³ The Doctors who hold this sentence do not restrict the burden of restitution to damages in some way foreseen, but even to fortuitous ones (see Lugo, Disp. 21, n. 17). But although St. Alphonsus (Lib. 3, n. 680) said that this sentence is both more common and more probable, nevertheless not a few also judge the opposite probable (apud St. Alphonsus, l.c., and Croix, Lib. 3, P. 2, n. 252); and this will be able to be of use to Confessors, so that they may lessen the difficulty, never not arduous, of restoring.