Case Digest (G.R. No. 35694)
Facts:
Allison D. Gibbs v. The Government of the Philippine Islands, G.R. No. 35694, December 23, 1933, Supreme Court En Banc, Butte, J., writing for the Court. The appeal arose from a March 10, 1931 order of the Court of First Instance of Manila directing the Register of Deeds of the City of Manila to cancel certain certificates of title and issue new transfer certificates in favor of Allison D. Gibbs without requiring proof of payment of the succession (inheritance) tax under Article XI of Chapter 40 of the Administrative Code.The material facts are that Allison D. Gibbs and Eva Johnson Gibbs were married in 1906, had no antenuptial contract, and were citizens and domiciliaries of California. During the marriage they acquired several parcels of land in the City of Manila, evidenced by Transfer Certificates of Title Nos. 20880, 28336 and 28331, each describing the spouses as co-owners or otherwise indicating conjugal ownership. Eva Johnson Gibbs died intestate in Palo Alto, California, on November 28, 1929, leaving the husband and two sons as heirs.
In local intestate proceedings (Case No. 36795), Allison D. Gibbs was appointed administrator of his wife's estate and on September 22, 1930 obtained an ex parte decree in the Court of First Instance adjudicating him sole and absolute owner of the listed Philippine parcels, relying on California Civil Code §1401 (that where the wife dies before the husband the surviving husband acquires the community property without administration). Gibbs presented that decree to the Register of Deeds, who refused to register the transfer on the ground that the inheritance tax imposed by Article XI, Chapter 40 of the Administrative Code had not been paid (Section 1547 requires registers not to register documents transferring real property by inheritance unless the tax has been shown paid).
Gibbs then petitioned the Court of First Instance to order the Register to issue transfer titles without requiring payment of the inheritance tax; the trial court granted the relief in its March 10, 1931 orde...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was Eva Johnson Gibbs at the time of her death vested with a descendible interest in the three parcels of land in Manila?
- If so, could the Register of Deeds lawfully refuse to register a transfer to Allison D. Gibbs for lack of proof of payment of the inheritance tax under Article XI, Chapter 40 of the Administrative Code?
- Which law governs the nature and transmissibility of the spouses' rights in the Philippine land—the law of California (national law/domicile...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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