Case Digest (G.R. No. 130623)
Facts:
Lorea de Ugalde v. Jon de Ysasi, G.R. No. 130623, February 29, 2008, Supreme Court Second Division, Carpio, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Lorea de Ugalde and respondent Jon de Ysasi married in 1951 (civil solemnization 15 February 1951; church solemnization 1 March 1951). They had a son, Jon de Ysasi III, and did not execute an ante-nuptial agreement. The spouses separated in April 1957. Respondent later allegedly contracted another marriage (with Victoria Eleanor Smith) and engaged in transactions purportedly to petitioner's prejudice.
On 12 December 1984 petitioner filed Special Proceedings No. 3330 in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 48, Bacolod City, seeking dissolution of the conjugal partnership of gains, payment of her conjugal and inheritance shares (including share in proceeds from respondents' parents’ estates), monthly support, receivership during litigation, annulment of respondent's contracts with third persons, and attorneys' fees. Respondent pleaded estoppel, laches, and res judicata, and alleged that petitioner had executed an overseas divorce and remarried; he also pleaded a 1961 agreement between the parties (an Amicable Settlement filed in Civil Case No. 4791 pending before the Court of First Instance (CFI)) which, he said, settled all property claims in consideration of P30,000 and was approved by the CFI on 6 June 1961.
On 22 November 1991 the trial court dismissed Special Proceedings No. 3330, finding (a) the marriage was void for lack of a marriage license and therefore no conjugal partnership arose, and (b) alternatively, the 1961 Amicable Settlement, as approved by the CFI, operated as res judicata or otherwise barred petitioner's claims. Petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA).
On 21 November 1996 the CA in CA-G.R. CV No. 41121 affirmed the trial court: it held the marriage void for absence of a license (hence no conjugal partnership), sustained the validity and binding effect of the 1961 compromise, and found the action barred by laches. The CA denied reconsideration in its 2 September 1997 Resolution. Petitioner then filed a petition for review under Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure before the Court.
While Special Proceedings No. 3330 was pending, a separate action, Civil Case No. 430 (Judicial Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Marriage) before the RTC of Himamaylan, Branch 55, culminated in a decision dated 31 May 1995 declaring the marriage between petitioner and respondent null and void ab initio for lack...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the trial court exceed its jurisdiction by adjudicating the validity of petitioner and respondent's marriage when that same subject was the subject of a different pending action (Civil Case No. 430)?
- Did the Amicable Settlement approved by the CFI on 6 June 1961 effect the dissolution of the conjugal partnership of gains between petitioner and respondent?
- Was the marriage's alleged nullity for lack of a marriage license fatal to petitioner's claim that a conjugal partnership ever subsisted between the parties?
- Was petitioner's Special Proceedings No. 3330 pro...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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