Case Digest (G.R. No. 192571)
Facts:
In the Matter of the Intestate Estate of the Deceased Maria Pastor de Teves, and Pedro Teves; G.R. Nos. L-16698 & 15726; March 31, 1964; the Supreme Court En Banc; Paredes, J., writing for the Court.Pedro Teves and Maria Pastor were husband and wife of Dumaguete City. Maria Pastor died on February 22, 1937, survived by her husband Pedro Teves and three children including Concepcion Teves. On December 12, 1949, Pedro Teves applied for letters of administration over Maria Pastor’s intestate estate in the Court of First Instance (CFI) of Negros Oriental (Sp. Proc. No. 675) and was appointed administrator on May 9, 1951; Concepcion Teves was appointed co-administratrix on June 2, 1951.
Pedro Teves died on December 15, 1954, leaving a will which was probated in the same CFI in Sp. Proc. No. 1010 (probate allowed February 25, 1955). Mariano J. Teves was appointed executor on February 24, 1955. The inventories in the two special proceedings showed that the properties of Maria Pastor and Pedro Teves were the same conjugal properties. The will adjudicated several lots to heirs; paragraph XI adjudicated Lots Nos. 6272 and 1932 to Concepcion Teves.
On October 20, 1956, Dr. Jose T. Imbo (appointed co-administrator after Pedro’s death) and the heirs filed a joint manifestation proposing that the two special proceedings be considered jointly. Prior to the court’s final disposition, on June 28, 1955, Concepcion Teves sold her adjudicated shares—Lots Nos. 1932 and 6272—to the spouses Dr. Conrado A. Habafia and Rosario Remollo (the record uses variant spellings — the caption identifies the purchasers as Conrado Habasa and Rosario Habasa; hereafter “the appellants”).
Disputes over administration followed. On October 4, 1956, the CFI ordered the executor to sell some properties mentioned in the will (paragraph XVIII). The executor subsequently, by ex parte motion filed November 8, 1956, sought authority to sell Lots 1932 and 6272, stating that Concepcion had already disposed of her rights. The court granted the motion on December 10, 1956; the lots were sold to Dr. Jose T. Imbo on December 21, 1956, and the court approved the sale the same day by a rubber-stamped endorsement. The record does not disclose personal service of notice on all parties.
On February 7 and 15, 1957, petitions were filed to nullify the sale to Dr. Imbo (including a motion by the appellants alleging bad faith and notice of prior sale to them). On August 30, 1957, the CFI denied the appellants’ motion, treated the February 7 petition as withdrawn, and struck matters off the record. The appellants took a record on appeal, but before the appeal was perfected Dr. Imbo moved to rescind the sale; the CFI rescinded the sale on November 7, 1957, and the appellants’ appeal was discontinued with return of the appeal bond.
On March 19, 1958 the executor again moved to sell Lots 1932 and 6272; the appellants opposed and sought possession subject to a lien for estate obligations. On October 21, 1958, Concepcion filed a p...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- May an heir who has been adjudicated specific lots by a testator's will sell her hereditary rights over those lots before court-approved partition or liquidation?
- Are the executor and the other heirs precluded from assailing the validity of such a sale by the heir to a third person who purchased in good faith?
- Did the sale to the judicial administrator (Dr. Jose T. Imbo) and the subsequent rescission display bad faith sufficient to affect the rights of the appellants?
- Was the CFI justified in authorizing the executor to sell Lots Nos. 1932 and 6272 to pay est...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)