The RTC ruled in favor of petitioners and ordered the
HEIRS OF Jose Lim vs.
Juliet Villa Lim
G.R. No. 172690 March 3, 2010
Petitioners: Crescentia is the widow of late Jose Lim,
and the rest of the petitioners are their children.
Respondent: Respondent Juliet Lim is the widow of late
Elfredo Lim, who is the eldest child of Crescentia Lim
and Jose Llim
Facts of the case:
Petitioners filed a complaint for partition, accounting
and damages against respondent Juliet Lim
Petitioner alleged that Jose Lim entered into a
partnership agreement with Jimmy Yu and Norberto Uy.
That they contributed P50,000.00 each and used the
funds to purchase a truck to start their trucking business.
A year later however, Jose Lim died and the eldest son
of Jose Lim, Elfledo Lim, took over the trucking
business. Petitioner alleged that Elfredo served only as
Jose Lim’s driver in the trucking business and that he
was never a partner or an investor in the business. He
merely supervised the purchase of additional trucks that
were all registered under his name, using the income
from the trucking business of Jose Lim and his partners.
Petitioner also averred that Elfredo used the profits of
the partnership to buy numerous properties. After the
death of Elredo, respondent Juliet Lim took over the
administration of the aforementioned properties, which
belonged to the estate of Jose. Given this, the
petitioners claimed that they are co-owners of the
properties, thus they require respondent to submit an
accounting of all income, profits and rentals received
from the estate of Elfredo, and to surrender the
administration to herein petitioners.
Respondent claimed that, Elfredo was himself the
partner of Norberto and Jimmy. That Jose Lim gave
Elfredo P50,000 that he used as capital in an informal
partnership with Norberto and Jimmy. She also
maintained that all the properties involved in this case
were purchashed and acquired through her and
husband’s joint efforts and hard work and that these
form part of their conjugal partnership.
accounting prayed for.
The CA however reversed and set aside the decision
and dismissed petitioner complain for lack of merit.
Issue
Whether or not Elfredo Lim has a parternship relation
with Jimmy Yu and Normerto Uy.
Held
Supreme Court Ruled in affirmative
 The best evidence would have been the contract of
partnership, or the articles of partnership, however, in
this case there is none. In the absence of such, the court
ruled that partnership can be determined based on
circumstances of the case. A careful review of the
circumstance showed that Elfredo is the real partner in
the said business
The following circumstances tend to prove that Elfledo
was himself the partner of Jimmy and Norberto:
1) Cresencia testified that Jose gave Elfledo
P50,000.00, as share in the partnership, on a
date that coincided with the payment of the initial
capital in the partnership;
2) Elfledo ran the affairs of the partnership,
wielding absolute control, power and authority,
without any intervention or opposition
whatsoever from any of petitioners herein;
3) all of the properties, particularly the nine trucks
of the partnership,were registered in the name of
Elfledo;
4) Jimmy testified that Elfledo did not receive
wages or salaries from the partnership,
indicating that what he actually received were
shares of the profits of the business;
5) none of the petitioners, as heirs of Jose, the
alleged partner, demanded periodic accounting
from Elfledo during his lifetime.