Case Digest (G.R. No. L-19382)
Facts:
Filomena Abellana de Bacayo v. Gaudencia Ferraris de Borromeo, et al., G.R. No. L-19382, August 31, 1965, the Supreme Court En Banc, Reyes, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner-appellant Filomena Abellana de Bacayo brought a pauper's appeal directly to the Supreme Court on points of law from the Court of First Instance of Cebu, Third Branch, Special Proceeding No. 2177-R.The trial court excluded petitioner as an heir in the summary settlement of the estate of Melodia Ferraris by resolution dated September 20, 1961, and denied a motion for reconsideration by order dated October 16, 1961; petitioner appealed. The facts are undisputed: Melodia Ferraris last resided in Intramuros, Manila, continuously until 1944 and was not heard from thereafter. A petition for summary settlement of her estate was filed December 22, 1960; more than ten years had elapsed since she was last known to be alive, and she was declared presumptively dead for purposes of succession.
The decedent left real property in Cebu City—specifically a one-third share in the estate of her aunt Rosa Ferraris, adjudicated in Special Proceeding No. 13‑V of the same court. She left no spouse, ascendants, or descendants. The competing claimants were petitioner Filomena Abellana de Bacayo (an aunt of the decedent and half-sister of the decedent’s father, Anacleto Ferraris) and the oppositors-appellees Gaudencia, Catalina, Conchita, and Juanito Ferraris (the nieces and nephew, children of Arturo Ferraris, the decedent’s only brother of the full blood, who predeceased the decedent). The trial court held that the nieces and nephew, as children of a predeceased brother, exclude the aunt from succession on the ground that they succeed by right of representation and are nearer in degree.
Petitioner contended on appeal that an aunt and nieces/nephews are of the same degree under Article 966 of the Civil Code and that Article 975 limits representation to cases where nieces/nephews survive together with u...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- In intestate succession, when the decedent is survived only by an aunt and by the children of a predeceased brother (nieces and nephews), do the nieces and nephews exclude the aunt from in...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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