Case Digest (G.R. No. L-2659)
Facts:
In the Matter of the Testate Estate of Emil Maurice Bachrach, Deceased, G.R. No. L-2659, October 12, 1950, the Supreme Court, Ozaeta, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner and appellee Mary McDonald Bachrach was the life usufructuary under the last will and testament of her husband Emil Maurice Bachrach; oppositors and appellants Sophie Seifert and Elisa Elianoff were the remaindermen and legal heirs. The will gave the widow the usufruct (life enjoyment) of the remainder of the estate after payment of specified legacies and directed that, upon her death, the estate be divided among the legal heirs to the exclusion of certain relatives.At the time of decedent’s death the estate owned 103,000 shares of stock of the Atok‑Big Wedge Mining Co., Inc. The corporation declared a 50% stock dividend, issuing 54,000 additional shares to the estate. On June 10, 1948, Mary McDonald Bachrach, as usufructuary, petitioned the lower court requesting that the Peoples Bank and Trust Company, administrator of the estate, be authorized to endorse and deliver the certificates for the 54,000 stock‑dividend shares to her, asserting that the stock dividend constituted fruit or income belonging to the usufructuary.
Oppositors Seifert and Elianoff objected, contending that a stock dividend is not income but an accretion to capital (corpus) and thus belongs to the remaindermen. The lower court granted the pet...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is a stock dividend paid to a decedent’s estate a fruit or income belonging to the usufructuary, or is it capital that forms part of the corpus and thus belongs to the remai...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)