1

CASE

DOCTRINE

1. Nazareno V Court Of Appeals

The estate of a deceased person is a juridical entity that has a personality of its
own. It therefore has a right to recover property belonging to it that was
improperly disposed.

2. Pacio V Billon

The trial judge said "a donation propter nuptias in order to be valid between the
donor and the donee, need not be embodied in a public instrument as such
formality is only necessary for registration purposes in the Office of the Register
of Deeds" so as to bind third persons. He was obviously applying the new
principles in the Philippine Civil Code effective in the year 1950. But in 1901
when the gift was made, the law was contained in the Spanish Civil Code,
according to which, even between the parties, the donation must be in a public
instrument.

3. Uson V Del Rosario

Article 777 provides that the right to the succession are transmitted from the
moment of the death of the decedent. Accordingly, Uson holds that the
inheritance pertains to the heirs from the moment of the death of the ancestor as
completely as if the ancestor had executed and delivered to the heirs a deed for
the same before his death. This transmission takes place by operation of law

4. Bonilla V Barcena

The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the
decedent. The moment of death is the determining factor when the heirs acquire
a definite right to the inheritance. The right of the heirs to the property of the
deceased vests in them even before judicial declaration of their being heirs in the
testate or intestate proceedings.

5. Butte V Manuel Uy & Sons, Inc

The legacies of credit and remission are valid only in the amount due and
outstanding at the death of the testator (Art. 935),and the fruits accruing after
that instant are deemed to pertain to the legatee (Art. 948).

Due to the rules of succession, the heirs of Jose V. Ramirez acquired his
undivided share in the Sta. Cruz property from the moment of his death, and
from that instant, they became co-owners in the property, together with the
original surviving co-owners of their decedent.

A co-owner of an undivided share is necessarily a co-owner of the whole.
Hence, any one of the Ramirez heirs, as such co-owner became entitled to
exercise the right of legal redemption as soon as another co-owner (Maria
Garnier Vda. de Ramirez) had sold her undivided share to a stranger, Manuel Uy
& Sons, Inc.

6. De Borja V Vda. De Borja

Jose, entered the compromise agreement personally and as administrator of the
Testate Estate of Josefa Tangco on the one hand and an heir of Francisco de
Borja on the otherhand with Tasiana Ongsingco vda. de Borja," it is clear that the
transaction was binding on both in their individual capacities, upon the perfection
of the contract, even without previous authority of the Court to enter into the
same.

7. Salvador V Sta. Maria

Right of heirs to specific, distributive shares of inheritance does not become
finally determinable until all the debts of the estate are paid. Rights are only
inchoate, and subject to the existence of a residue after payment of the debts.

8. Reganon V Imperial

The rights to the succession of a person are transmitted from the moment of
death, and where, as in this case, the heir is of legal age and the estate is not
burdened with any debts, said heir immediately succeeds, by force of law, to the
dominion, ownership, and possession of the properties of his predecessor and
2

consequently stands legally in the shoes of the latter

9. Ramirez V Baltazar

Exemption to the general rule that formal declaration or recognition to such
successional rights needs judicial confirmation "when the administrator fails or
refuses to act in which event the heirs may act in his place."

10. Ypon V Ponteras

The determination of who are the legal heirs of the deceased must be made in
the proper special proceedings in court, and not in an ordinary suit for recovery
of ownership and possession of property

11. Go Ong V Court Of Appeals

An heir may dispose or encumber his share in the estate during settlement
proceedings even without prior court approval because the substantive rights of
the heir cannot be impaired by the provisions of the Rules of Court.

12. National Housing Authority V Almeida

The Sinumpaang Salaysay states that it will become effective upon the death of
Margarita. Thus, upon her death, all her interests cease to be hers and shall be
in the possession of her estate for transfer to her heirs.

13. Lee V Regional Trial Court Of Quezon City

It is well-settled that court approval is necessary for the validity of any disposition
of the decedents estate. The sale of the property of the estate by an
administrator without the order of the probate court is void and passes no title to
the purchaser.

14. Sandejas Sr. V Lina

In settling the estate of the deceased, a probate court has jurisdiction over
matters incidental and collateral to the exercise of its recognized powers. Such
matters include selling, mortgaging or otherwise encumbering realty belonging to
the estate.

15. Puno V Puno Enterprises, Inc.

Upon the death of a stockholder, the heirs do not automatically become
stockholders of the corporation; neither are they mandatorily entitled to the rights
and privileges of a stockholder.

16. Estate Of Hemady V Luzon Surety,

The contingent liabilities of the decedent are part of the obligations transmitted
by his death to his heirs. Contingent obligations of a deceased person arising
from his personal guaranty are not extinguished by his death.

17. Alvarez V Iac

The general rule is that a party's contractual rights and obligations are
transmissible to the successors.

Since the Alvarezs are the heirs of Rosendo Alvarez, they cannot escape the
legal consequence of their fathers transaction, which gave rise to the present
claim for damages.
- That petitioners did not inherit the property involved herein is of no
moment because by legal fiction, the monetary equivalent thereof
devolved into the mass of their father's hereditary estate, and the SC
had ruled that the hereditary assets are always liable in their totality for
the payment of the debts of the estate.

However, the Alvarezs are only liable to the extent of the value of their
inheritance.

18. Union Bank Of The Philippines Vs.
Santibaez

In our jurisdiction, the rule is that there can be no valid partition among the heirs
until after the will has been probated. In the present case, Efraim left a
holographic will which contained the provision which reads as follows:
(e) All other properties, real or personal, which I own and may
be discovered later after my demise, shall be distributed in the
3

proportion indicated in the immediately preceding paragraph in
favor of Edmund and Florence, my children.

The above-quoted is an all-encompassing provision embracing all the
properties left by the decedent which might have escaped his mind at
that time he was making his will, and other properties he may acquire
thereafter. Included therein are the three (3) subject tractors.


19. Blas V Santos

To add, although the document is not a will since it lacks the formality, it is still
enforceable because the promise was actually executed to avoid litigation (i.e.
the partition of the estate of Simeon Blas); hence, it is deemed to be a
compromise.

The document was prepared at the instance of Simeon Blas for the
reason that the conjugal properties from his first marriage had not been
liquidated and to prevent his heirs by his first marriage from contesting
his will and demanding liquidation of the conjugal properties acquired
during the first marriage.

20. Balus V Balus

The rights to a person's succession are transmitted from the moment of his
death. In addition, the inheritance of a person consists of the property and
transmissible rights and obligations existing at the time of his death, as well as
those which have accrued thereto since the opening of the succession. In the
present case, since Rufo lost ownership of the subject property during his
lifetime, it only follows that at the time of his death, the disputed parcel of land no
longer formed part of his estate to which his heirs may lay claim. Stated
differently, petitioner and respondents never inherited the subject lot from their
father.

21. Santos V Lumbao

Whatever rights and obligations the decedent have over the property were
transmitted to the heirs by way of succession, a mode of acquiring the property,
rights and obligations of the decedent to the extent of the value of the
inheritance of the heirs.