Facts:

• The case involves Margarita Toribio et al. vs. Modesta Toribio et al. concerning the estate of Narciso Natalio Lopez, who died in 1884.
• Plaintiffs Margarita Toribio and Celestina Toribio are granddaughters of Clara Chaves, Narciso's first wife, who died in 1860.
• Clara left behind a conjugal property valued at 25,000 pesos, which was never liquidated.
• After Clara's death, Narciso managed the property and later remarried Maria Castelo, one of the defendants, with whom he had more children.
• Following Narciso's death, the defendants, including Maria Castelo and Lorenzo Lopez, took possession of the estate.
• The plaintiffs filed a complaint for an inventory of the estate, an accounting of its administration since 1884, and a partition of the property.
• The defendants demurred to the complaint, resulting in its dismissal by the lower court.
• The plaintiffs appealed, and the Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision, remanding the case for further proceedings.
• The trial court later ordered the defendants to submit an inventory and accounting, which the defendants contested as a final judgment.

Issue:

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Ruling:

• The Supreme Court ruled that the trial court's order was not a final judgment and thus not appealable.
• The court found that the trial court failed to adequately determine the specific prope...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• The Supreme Court's decision was based on the Code of Civil Procedure, specifically Section 123, which states that only final judgments disposing of the action can be appealed.
• The court emphasized that the trial court's order was interlocutory, as it did not resolve substantive issues, such as identifying the specific property of the conjugal society or the rights of the parties to the estate.
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