Case Digest (G.R. No. 121027)
Facts:
Corazon Dezoller Tison and Rene R. Dezoller v. Court of Appeals and Teodora Domingo, G.R. No. 121027, July 31, 1997, Supreme Court Second Division, Regalado, J., writing for the Court.Petitioners Corazon and Rene Dezoller (niece and nephew of the late Teodora Dezoller Guerrero) filed an action for reconveyance (Civil Case No. Q-88-1054) in the Regional Trial Court (Quezon City, Branch 98) against private respondent Teodora Domingo, contesting title to a lot with improvements in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City that originally belonged to spouses Martin Guerrero and Teodora Dezoller Guerrero. Teodora died March 5, 1983 without ascendants or descendants and was survived by her husband Martin and by petitioners (who claim by right of representation from their father Hermogenes Dezoller, who predeceased Teodora).
After Teodora’s death, Martin executed an Affidavit of Extrajudicial Settlement (September 15, 1986) purporting to adjudicate the property to himself; Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 358074 issued in his name. Martin sold the lot to private respondent Domingo on January 2, 1988 and title in Domingo’s name (TCT No. 374012) followed. Martin died October 25, 1988. Petitioners filed reconveyance on November 2, 1988, claiming one-half of Teodora’s share by right of representation.
At pretrial the parties framed five issues including petitioners’ filiation and entitlement by right of representation, whether a reservation annotation under Section 4, Rule 74 should be reconveyed, entitlement to damages, and whether the property was conjugal. Petitioners presented Corazon as the lone witness and offered documentary exhibits (baptismal, marriage and death certificates, certificates of destroyed records, joint affidavits of third persons, family picture). Private respondent filed a Comment and then a Demurrer to Plaintiffs’ Evidence, arguing petitioners failed to prove legitimate filiation under Article 172 of the Family Code and that several documents were hearsay or incompetent.
The trial court (RTC, Branch 98) granted the demurrer and dismissed the complaint by Order of December 3, 1992. The Court of Appeals, in a judgment penned by Associate Justi...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- May legitimacy and filiation be collaterally controverted in an action for reconveyance, and who bears the burden of proof when legitimacy is put in issue?
- Were petitioners’ proofs — including the decedent’s out-of-court declaration and the documentary exhibits — sufficient to establish their filiation with Teodora Dezoller Guerrero and thus their right to inherit by representation, and what ar...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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