Guy vs. CA
Guy vs. CA
Guy vs. CA
*
G.R. No. 163707. September 15, 2006.
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* FIRST DIVISION.
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claims of whatsoever nature and kind x x x against the estate of the late
Rufino Guy Susim.” Considering that the document did not specifically
mention private respondents’ hereditary share in the estate of Sima Wei, it
cannot be construed as a waiver of successional rights.
Same; Same; Same; Parent and Child; Parents and guardians may not
repudiate the inheritance of their wards without judicial approval.—Even
assuming that Remedios truly waived the hereditary rights of private
respondents, such waiver will not bar the latter’s claim. Article 1044 of the
Civil Code, provides: ART. 1044. Any person having the free disposal of his
property may accept or repudiate an inheritance. Any inheritance left to
minors or incapacitated persons may be accepted by their parents or
guardians. Parents or guardians may repudiate the inheritance left to their
wards only by judicial authorization. The right to accept an inheritance left
to the poor shall belong to the persons designated by the testator to
determine the beneficiaries and distribute the property, or in their default, to
those mentioned in Article 1030. (Emphasis supplied) Parents and guardians
may not therefore repudiate the inheritance of their wards without judicial
approval. This is because repudiation amounts to an alienation of property
which must pass the court’s scrutiny in order to protect the interest of the
ward. Not having been judicially authorized, the Release and Waiver of
Claim in the instant case is void and will not bar private respondents from
asserting their rights as heirs of the deceased.
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YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
This petition
1
for review on certiorari assails the January 22, 2004
Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R.
2
SP No. 79742,3 which
affirmed the Orders dated July 21, 2000 and July 17, 2003 of the
Regional Trial Court of Makati City, Branch 138 in SP Proc. Case
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1 Rollo, pp. 19-26. Penned by Associate Justice Martin S. Villarama, Jr. and
concurred in by Associate Justices Mario L. Guariña III and Jose C. Reyes, Jr.
2 Id., at pp. 48-49. Penned by Judge Sixto Marella, Jr.
3 Id., at p. 53.
4 Id., at p. 28.
5 Id., at pp. 29-31.
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6 Id., at p. 31.
7 Id., at pp. 35-36.
8 Id., at pp. 37-41.
9 Id., at pp. 42-44.
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10 Id., at p. 25.
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ART. 1044. Any person having the free disposal of his property may accept
or repudiate an inheritance.
Any inheritance left to minors or incapacitated persons may be accepted
by their parents or guardians. Parents or guardians may repudiate the
inheritance left to their wards only by judicial authorization.
The right to accept an inheritance left to the poor shall belong to the
persons designated by the testator to determine the beneficiaries and
distribute the property, or in their default, to those mentioned in Article
1030. (Emphasis supplied)
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15 Rollo, p. 44.
16 Tolentino, Civil Code of the Philippines, Vol. III, p. 554.
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ART. 285. The action for the recognition of natural children may be brought
only during the lifetime of the presumed parents, except in the following
cases:
(1) If the father or mother died during the minority of the child, in
which case the latter may file the action before the expiration of
four years from the attainment of his majority;
(2) If after the death of the father or of the mother a document should
appear of which nothing had been heard and in which either or both
parents recognize the child.
In this case, the action must be commenced within four years from the
finding of the document. (Emphasis supplied)
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17 D.M. Consunji, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 137873, April 20, 2001, 357
SCRA 249, 266.
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18
We ruled in Bernabe v. Alejo that illegitimate children who were
still minors at the time the Family Code took effect and whose
putative parent died during their minority are given the right to seek
recognition for a period of up to four years from attaining majority
age. This vested right was19 not impaired or taken away by the
passage of the Family Code.
On the other hand, Articles 172, 173 and 175 of the Family Code,
which superseded Article 285 of the Civil Code, provide:
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ART. 173. The action to claim legitimacy may be brought by the child
during his or her lifetime and shall be transmitted to the heirs should the
child die during minority or in a state of insanity. In these cases, the heirs
shall have a period of five years within which to institute the action.
The action already commenced by the child shall survive
notwithstanding the death of either or both of the parties.
ART. 175. Illegitimate children may establish their illegitimate filiation
in the same way and on the same, evidence as legitimate children.
The action must be brought within the same period specified in Article
173, except when the action is based on the second paragraph
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of Article 172, in which case the action may be brought during the lifetime
of the alleged parent.
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“The question whether a person in the position of the present plaintiff can in
any event maintain a complex action to compel recognition as a natural
child and at the same time to obtain ulterior relief in the character of heir, is
one which in the opinion of this court must be answered in the affirmative,
provided always that the conditions justifying the joinder of the two distinct
causes of action are present in the particular case. In other words, there is no
absolute necessity requiring that the action to compel acknowledgment
should have been instituted and prosecuted to a successful conclusion prior
to the action in which that same plaintiff seeks additional relief in the
character of heir. Certainly, there is nothing so peculiar to the action to
compel acknowledgment as to require that a rule should be here applied
different from that generally applicable in other cases. x x x
The conclusion above stated, though not heretofore explicitly formulated
by this court, is undoubtedly to some extent supported by our prior
decisions. Thus, we have held in numerous cases, and the doctrine must be
considered well settled, that a natural child having a right to compel
acknowledgment, but who has not been in fact acknowledged, may maintain
partition proceedings for the division of the inheritance against his coheirs
(Siguiong vs. Siguiong, 8 Phil. 5; Tiamson vs. Tiamson, 32 Phil. 62); and the
same person may intervene in proceedings for the distribution of the estate
of his deceased natural father, or mother (Capistrano vs. Fabella, 8 Phil.
135; Conde vs. Abaya, 13 Phil. 249; Ramirez vs. Gmur, 42 Phil. 855). In
neither of these situations has it been thought necessary for the plaintiff to
show a prior decree compelling acknowledgment. The obvious reason is that
in partition suits and distribution proceedings the other persons who might
take by inheritance are before the court; and the declaration of heirship is
appropriate to such proceed-ings.”
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SO ORDERED.
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