Title
FERDEZ vs. FERDEZ
Case
G.R. No. 143256
Decision Date
Aug 28, 2001
A dispute over property inheritance arose when Rodolfo Fernandez, claiming to be the legitimate heir of the deceased spouses, executed partition and sale deeds. The Supreme Court ruled Rodolfo failed to prove filiation, voiding his share, while upholding the surviving spouse's right to dispose of her portion. Respondents, as heirs, retained their 1/4 share.
legal dispute
partition of estate
null and void

Case Summary (G.R. No. 198594)

Factual Background

The late spouses Dr. Jose K. Fernandez and Generosa A. de Venecia were the registered owners of a parcel of land in Dagupan City covered by TCT No. T-9267, containing 194 square meters, and a two-storey residential building declared under Tax Declaration No. 22-592-1. The spouses had a son, Rogelio, who died in childhood. The spouses allegedly purchased a one-month-old baby for P20.00 who grew up as Rodolfo Fernandez, the principal petitioner. Rodolfo resided with and was supported by the spouses and worked in Dr. Fernandez’s clinic. After Dr. Fernandez’s death in 1982, Generosa and Rodolfo executed a Deed of Extra-Judicial Partition on August 31, 1989, allocating 119.5 square meters and the house to Generosa and 74.5 square meters to Rodolfo. On the same day Generosa executed a Deed of Absolute Sale over the 119.5 square meters and the building in favor of Eddie C. Fernandez, petitioner’s son.

Commencement of Litigation and Pleadings

Upon learning of the partition and sale, Romeo Fernandez and his co-plaintiffs, nephews and nieces of the deceased Dr. Fernandez, filed on September 21, 1994 an action to declare the Deed of Extra-Judicial Partition, the Deed of Absolute Sale and the resulting titles void ab initio. The complaint alleged that defendants, motivated by greed, colluded to deprive the plaintiffs of their inheritance by producing simulated and inauthentic documents and by taking advantage of Generosa’s alleged physical and mental incapacity. In their answer the defendants admitted that the late spouses acknowledged Rodolfo as their son and asserted that the questioned documents were executed with full knowledge and for value.

Trial Court Proceedings and Findings

The Regional Trial Court rendered judgment on May 10, 1996 in favor of the plaintiffs, declaring the Deed of Extra-Judicial Partition, the Deed of Absolute Sale, and the titles issued thereunder null and void. The trial court found that Rodolfo was neither a legitimate nor a legally adopted child of the spouses and therefore could not inherit from them. The court based its finding on several considerations: absence of a birth certificate in public records; irregularities and alleged alterations in an application for back pay; doubts as to the authenticity of the baptismal certificate given the parish’s records were damaged for the relevant years; purported inconsistencies in Rodolfo’s educational and family history; and the trial court’s conclusion that the questioned instruments were prepared and executed under abnormal and irregular circumstances. The trial court ordered reconveyance and surrender of possession and awarded P50,000 compensatory damages, P100,000 moral damages, P20,000 attorney’s fees, and P2,000 litigation costs.

Court of Appeals Decision

The Court of Appeals, in its decision dated December 22, 1999, affirmed the trial court’s judgment. The appellate court undertook a detailed examination of the filiation evidence offered by the defendants-appellants, notably the baptismal certificate and the application for recognition of back pay rights under RA 897. The CA concluded that such public documents constitute only prima facie evidence of the facts they state and do not conclusively establish the truthfulness of declarations therein concerning parentage. The CA further relied on the certification from the Records Management and Archives Office that there was no available birth record for the alleged birth of Rodolfo in 1934, and on the parish certification that baptismal records for 1930 to 1936 were damaged, diminishing the probative value of the baptismal certificate. The CA held that Rodolfo failed to prove his filiation and that the partition including him was void only with respect to him pursuant to Art. 1105, New Civil Code. The CA also sustained the trial court’s nullification of the titles issued to Rodolfo.

Issues Raised in the Petition for Review

Rodolfo et al. raised four principal issues before the Supreme Court: (I) that the CA erred in ordering reconveyance and surrender of the house and lot because the property was admitted to be conjugal; (II) that the CA erred in declaring the deeds and titles null and void and that respondents lacked personality to contest the validity of instruments to which they were not parties; (III) that the trial courts improperly resolved Rodolfo’s filiation in collateral proceedings; and (IV) that awards of damages and attorney’s fees lacked factual basis.

Parties’ Contentions on Filiation and Succession

Petitioners contended that the burden to disprove Rodolfo’s filiation rested on respondents and that one’s legitimacy may be impugned only in a direct action under Articles of the Family Code. Petitioners argued that respondents were not heirs of Generosa by consanguinity and therefore could not succeed ab intestato to her estate. Respondents maintained that they were heirs of Dr. Jose K. Fernandez and that Rodolfo was not born to the spouses, which, if true, deprived Rodolfo of heirship and rendered the partition void as to him; they further contended that the deed of sale prejudiced their rights as heirs and therefore they had standing to attack it.

Supreme Court’s Ruling on Reviewability of Filiation and Evidentiary Assessment

The Supreme Court denied the petition for review and affirmed the judgments below with modification. The Court held that the issue of Rodolfo’s filiation was properly determined in the present action because respondents did not seek merely to impugn legitimacy under the Family Code; they alleged that Rodolfo was not the child of the deceased spouses at all and therefore lacked any claim as heir. The Court applied the doctrine in Benitez-Badua vs. Court of Appeals and the Court’s decision in Cabatbat-Lim, distinguishing cases that restrict the husband’s heirs to a direct action to impugn legitimacy. The Court observed that respondents specifically pleaded that Rodolfo was not born to the spouses and that petitioners had raised the issue in their pre-trial brief, thereby estopping them from challenging the trial court’s consideration of filiation. The Court further emphasized the conclusive nature of factual findings by the Court of Appeals when it affirms the trial court.

Evidentiary Conclusions and Application of Legal Principles

The Supreme Court agreed with the CA’s assessment that the Application for Recognition of Back Pay Rights under RA 897 and the baptismal certificate constituted only prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. The Court cited the provision quoted from the Revised Rules on Evidence that public documents are prima facie evidence of the facts which gave rise to their execution but not conclusive proof of the truthfulness of declarations by interested parties. The Court accepted the Records Management and Archives Office certification that no birth record was available and the parish certification that baptismal registers for the relevant period were damaged, thereby diminishing the probative force of the baptismal entry issued decades later. The Court reiterated that forgery must be proved by clear, positive and convincing evidence and that respondents had not met the heavy burden to overcome the presumption of regularity attaching to a notarized deed of sale.

Allocation of Succession Rights and Effect on the Deeds and Titles

Applying Art. 1001, Civil Code, the Court held that where brothers and sisters or their children survive with a widow, the widow is entitled to one-half of the inheritance and the brothers and sisters or their children to the other half. The Court found that respondents, as heirs of Dr. Jose Fernandez, were entitled to one-fourth of the conjugal lot and building, while Generosa, as surviving spouse, had rights to three-fourths; the Court ruled that the extra-judicial partition was null and void insofar as it purported to allocate a share to Rodolfo, who was not a legal heir. The Court held that while Generosa validly sold her interest, such sale did not divest the respondents’ hereditary share. Consequently the Deed of Absolute Sale was valid only insofar as it transferred Generosa’s share to Eddie C. Fernandez, and the title issued pursuant to the sale had to be adjusted so that Eddie and respondents would be co-owners in the proportions determined by the Court.

Modification of Remedies and Deletion of Damages

The Supreme Court deleted the trial court’

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