Case Digest: Arellano vs. Pascual, G.R. No. 189776, December 15, 2010

Succession | Intestate Succession

Art. 1003. If there are no descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, or a surviving spouse, the collateral relatives shall succeed to the entire estate of the deceased in accordance with the following articles.

Art. 1004. Should the only survivors be brothers and sisters of the full blood, they shall inherit in equal shares. 

Ponente:
Carpio-Morales, J.:

Facts:
In 1999, Angel N. Pascual Jr. died intestate, leaving as heirs his siblings, namely: 
  1. Petitioner Amelia P. Arellano who is represented by her daughters Agnes P. Arellano and Nona P. Arellano, 
  2. Respondents Francisco Pascual and Miguel N. Pascual.
Respondents filed a petition for "Judicial Settlement of Intestate Estate and Issuance of Letters of Administration" alleging to include the donation of a property in Teresa Village, Makati, by the deceased to the petitioner.

The respondents assails the validity of the donation and may be considered as an advance legitime of petitioner.

RTC-Makati: Provisionally assessed the Deed of Donation valid based on the presumption of the validity of notarized documents, and deemed the donated property subject to collation according to Article 1061 of the New Civil Code.

CA: Found the appeal "partly meritorious" and sustained the probate court's ruling that the property donated to petitioner is subject to collation.

Issues:
WoN the property donated to petitioner is subject to collation. NO
WoN the estate should have been ordered equally distributed among the parties. YES

Held:

On the first issue:

The term collation has two distinct concepts: 
  1. It is a mere mathematical operation by the addition of the value of donations made by the testator to the value of the hereditary estate; and 
  2. It is the return to the hereditary estate of property disposed of by lucrative title by the testator during his lifetime.
The purposes of collation are to secure equality among the compulsory heirs in so far as is possible, and to determine the free portion, after finding the legitime, so that inofficious donations may be reduced.

Collation takes place when there are compulsory heirs, one of its purposes being to determine the legitime and the free portion. If there is no compulsory heir, there is no legitime to be safeguarded.

The records do not show that the decedent left any primary, secondary, or concurring compulsory heirs. He was only survived by his siblings, who are his collateral relatives and, therefore, are not entitled to any legitime – that part of the testator’s property which he cannot dispose of because the law has reserved it for compulsory heirs.

The compulsory heirs may be classified into: 
  1. primary
  2. secondary and 
  3. concurring. 
The primary compulsory heirs are those who have precedence over and exclude other compulsory heirs; legitimate children and descendants are primary compulsory heirs.

The secondary compulsory heirs are those who succeed only in the absence of the primary heirs; the legitimate parents and ascendants are secondary compulsory heirs.

The concurring compulsory heirs are those who succeed together with the primary or the secondary compulsory heirs; the illegitimate children, and the surviving spouse are concurring compulsory heirs.

The decedent not having left any compulsory heir who is entitled to any legitime, he was at liberty to donate all his properties, even if nothing was left for his siblings-collateral relatives to inherit. His donation to petitioner, assuming that it was valid, is deemed as donation made to a "stranger," chargeable against the free portion of the estate. There being no compulsory heir, however, the donated property is not subject to collation.

On the second issue:

The decedent’s remaining estate should thus be partitioned equally among his heirs-siblings-collateral relatives, herein petitioner and respondents, pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code, viz:

Art. 1003. If there are no descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, or a surviving spouse, the collateral relatives shall succeed to the entire estate of the deceased in accordance with the following articles.

Art. 1004. Should the only survivors be brothers and sisters of the full blood, they shall inherit in equal shares. 

WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Court of Appeals Decision ordering the collation of the property donated to petitioner, Amelia N. Arellano, to the estate of the deceased Angel N. Pascual, Jr. is set aside.

Let the records of the case be REMANDED to the court of origin, Branch 135 of the Makati Regional Trial Court, which is ordered to conduct further proceedings in the case for the purpose of determining what finally forms part of the estate, and thereafter to divide whatever remains of it equally among the parties.

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