Carvajal vs. Court of Appeals

Facts:

Private respondents Eutiquiano Camarillo and Liberata Cacabellos (husband and wife) brought an action for ejectment and recovery of possession in the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan, docketed as Civil Case No. T-1163, claiming ownership in fee simple, pro indiviso, of a 150.8 sq. m. parcel sold to them by Evaristo G. Espique by a Deed of Absolute Sale dated April 15, 1964; they also sought monthly rentals (they asked P40.00) for the defendant's use of the property. Defendant-petitioner Sulpicio Carvajal occupied two-fifths of the whole lot and claimed title by purchase from Estefanio Espique (deed dated April 26, 1967) and a lease from Tropinia Espique for another portion.

The disputed parcel forms part of a 754 sq. m. lot originally owned by Hermogenes Espique and his wife, which devolved upon five children (Maria, Evaristo, Faustina, Estefanio and Tropinia) as co-heirs. At the time both the 1964 sale to respondents and the 1967 transaction relied upon by petitioner were made, a partition suit filed by Evaristo Espique was pending in the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan as Civil Case No. T-966.

The trial court (Court of First Instance) ruled for respondents, declaring them owners and ordering petitioner to pay monthly rentals (the judgment ordered P30.00 monthly) and to surrender possession. The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's judgment in toto. Petitioner Carva...(Pro-only)

Issues:

• Was the ejectment action properly maintainable while the partition proceedings affecting the same property were still pending?
• Do sales of successional rights or of portions of an undivided inheritance made by a co-heir before partition transfer title to a specific, determinate portion of the estate, or do they convey only hereditary rights subject to partition?
• Does failure to give written notice to co-heirs render a sale ...(Pro-only)

Ruling:

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Ratio:

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Doctrine:

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