Title
Supreme Court
Spouses Kilario vs. Court of Appeals
Case
G.R. No. 134329
Decision Date
Jan 19, 2000
Heirs dispute land partition validity; 1951 extrajudicial division upheld, donation void, petitioners' possession by tolerance, ejectment affirmed.

Case Digest (G.R. No. 88158)
Expanded Legal Reasoning Model

Facts:

  • Decedent and Property
    • Jacinto Pada died intestate, owning a residential and coconut parcel (Lot No. 5581, 1,301.92 sq m) in Poblacion, Matalom, Leyte.
    • He had six children: Marciano, Ananias, Amador, Higino, Valentina (d. without issue), and Ruperta (d. without issue).
  • Partition, Possession, and Conveyances
    • In May 1951 the heirs executed an unregistered extra-judicial partition allocating Lot No. 5581 to Marciano and Ananias (Ananias present; other heirs represented by their children).
    • During Jacinto’s lifetime, half-brother Feliciano built a house on the northern portion of Lot No. 5581; his son Pastor and granddaughter Verona (petitioner) occupied it since 1960.
    • June 14, 1978: Juanita (Ananias’s heir) sold her co-ownership share of Lot No. 5581 to Engr. Paderes.
    • November 17, 1993: Maria (Marciano’s heir) sold her co-ownership share of Lot No. 5581 to respondent Silverio Pada.
    • July 24, 1995: Heirs of Amador (Esperanza, Concordia, Angelito) executed a deed donating their undivided shares of Lot No. 5581 to petitioner spouses.
  • Procedural History
    • June 26, 1995: Silverio Pada filed an ejectment suit against petitioners in the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (Civil Case No. 91).
    • February 29, 1996: MCTC ruled for petitioners, holding the extra-judicial partition invalid and recognizing petitioners’ co-ownership through donation and long possession.
    • November 6, 1997: RTC reversed, declaring the 1951 partition valid, the sales by Juanita and Maria binding, and the 1995 donation void; ordered ejectment, damages, rent, and costs.
    • May 20, 1998: Court of Appeals affirmed the RTC, finding petitioners’ possession permissive (no good faith) and the partition conclusive; denied petitioners’ motion for reconsideration (June 16, 1998).

Issues:

  • Whether petitioners, as co-owners by donation from Amador’s heirs, could be validly ejected.
  • Whether Maria Pada’s 1993 deed conveyed only her undivided share or entitled her vendee to the disputed portion.
  • Whether petitioners qualify as builders in good faith entitled to improvements’ value or retention.

Ruling:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

  • (Subscriber-Only)

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