Case Digest (G.R. No. L-68470)
Facts:
Alice Reyes Van Dorn v. Hon. Manuel V. Romillo, Jr. and Richard Upton, G.R. No. 68470, October 08, 1985, First Division, Melencio-Herrera, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Alice Reyes Van Dorn (a Philippine citizen) and private respondent Richard Upton (a U.S. citizen) were married in Hong Kong in 1972, thereafter resided in the Philippines, and had two children (born 1973 and 1975). The parties were divorced in Nevada, United States, in 1982; petitioner subsequently remarried in Nevada to Theodore Van Dorn.
On June 8, 1983 private respondent filed Civil Case No. 1075‑P in the Regional Trial Court (Branch CXV, Pasay City) seeking an accounting and management rights over the Galleon Shop in Ermita, Manila, alleging it constituted conjugal property. Petitioner moved to dismiss, arguing the suit was barred by the prior Nevada divorce judgment in which respondent had represented there was “no community property.” The trial court (respondent Judge Romillo) denied the Motion to Dismiss on the ground that the property sued upon was located in the Philippines and thus the Nevada decree had no bearing.
Petitioner filed this Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition to set aside the trial court’s September 15, 1983 denial of her Motion to Dismiss and the August 3, 1984 denial of her motion for reconsideration. The Court treated the petition as within the exception allowing certiorari where grave abuse of disc...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- May a petition for certiorari and prohibition lie to assail the trial court’s interlocutory denial of a Motion to Dismiss on the basis of a foreign divorce—i.e., was this Court justified in taking the petition under the grave‑abuse exception?
- Does the Nevada divorce decree and respondent’s representation in those proceedings bar him from claiming conjugal rights or property in the Philippines, thereby depriving him of sta...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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