Wills Cases 4

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    court a quohas limited the extent of the petitioners' intervention is also within its powers as articulated by

    the Rules of Court.

    D E C I S I O N

    CASTRO, J p:

    On July 7, 1956 Basilia Austria vda. de Cruz filed with the Court of First Instance of Rizal (Special

    Proceedings 2457) a petition for probate, ante mortem,of her last will and testament. The probate wasopposed by the present petitioners Ruben Austria, Consuelo Austria-Benta and Lauro Austria Mozo, and still

    others who, like the petitioner, are nephews and nieces of Basilia. This opposition was, however, dismissed

    and the probate of the will allowed after due hearing.

    The bulk of the estate of Basilia, admittedly, was destined under the will to pass on to the respondents

    Perfecto Cruz, Benita Cruz-Meez, Isagani Cruz, Alberto Cruz, and Luz Cruz-Salonga, all of whom had been

    assumed and declared by Basilia as her own legally adopted children.

    On April 23, 1969, more than two years after her will was allowed to probate, Basilia died. The respondent

    Perfecto Cruz was appointed executor without bond by the same court in accordance with the provisions of

    the decedent's will, notwithstanding the blocking attempt pursued by the petitioner Ruben Austria.

    Finally, on November 5, 1959, the present petitioners filed in the same proceedings a petition in

    intervention for partition alleging in substance that they are the nearest of kin of Basilia, and that the five

    respondents Perfecto Cruz, et al., had not in fact been adopted by the decedent in accordance with law, in

    effect rendering these respondents mere strangers to the decedent and without any right to succeed as

    heirs.

    Notwithstanding opposition by the respondent Perfecto Cruz, as executor of the estate, the court a

    quoallowed the petitioners' intervention by its order of December 22, 1959, couched in broad terms, as

    follows: "The Petition in Intervention for Partition filed by the above-named oppositors [Ruben Austria, et

    al.,] dated November 5, 1969 is hereby granted."

    In the meantime, the contending sides debated the matter of authenticity or lack of it of the severaladoption papers produced and presented by the respondents. On motion of the petitioners Ruben Austria,

    et al., these documents were referred to the National Bureau of Investigation for examination and advice.

    N.B.I. report seems to bear out the genuineness of the documents, but the petitioners, evidently

    dissatisfied with the results, managed to obtain a preliminary opinion from a Constabulary questioned-

    document examiner whose views undermine the authenticity of the said documents. The petitioners Ruben

    Austria, et al., thus moved the lower court to refer the adoption papers to the Philippine Constabulary for

    further study. The petitioners likewise located former personnel of the court which appeared to have

    granted the questioned adoption, and obtained written depositions from two of them denying any

    knowledge of the pertinent adoption proceedings.

    On February 6, 1963, more than three years after they were allowed to intervene, the petitioners RubenAustria, et al., moved the lower court to set for hearing the matter of the genuineness of the adoption of

    the respondents Perfecto Cruz, et al., by the late Basilia. Before the date set by the court for hearing

    arrived, however, the respondent Benita Cruz-Meez, who entered an appearance separately from that of

    her brother Perfecto Cruz, filed on February 28, 1963 a motion asking the lower court, by way of alternative

    relief, to confine the petitioners' intervention, should it be permitted, to properties not disposed of in the

    will of the decedent.

    On March 4, 1963, the lower court heard the respondent Benita's motion. Both sides subsequently

    submitted their respective memoranda, and finally, the lower court issued an order on June 4, 1963,

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    delimiting the petitioners' intervention to the properties of the deceased which were not disposed of in the

    will.

    The petitioners moved the lower court to reconsider this latest order, eliciting thereby an opposition from

    the respondents. On October 25, 1963 the same court denied the petitioners' motion for reconsideration.

    A second motion for reconsideration which set off a long exchange of memoranda from both sides, was

    summarily denied on April 21, 1964.

    Hence this petition for certiorari,praying this Court to annul the orders of June 4 and October 25, 1963 and

    the order of April 21, 1964, all restricting petitioners' intervention to properties that were not included in

    the decedent's testamentary dispositions.

    The uncontested premises are clear. Two interests are locked in dispute over the bulk of the estate of the

    deceased. Arrayed on one side are the petitioners Ruben Austria, Consuelo Austria-Benta and Lauro Austria

    Mozo, three of a number of nephews and nieces who are concededly the nearest surviving blood relatives

    of the decedent. On the other side are the respondents brothers and sisters, Perfecto Cruz, Benita Cruz-

    Meez, Isagani Cruz, Alberto Cruz and Luz Cruz-Salonga, all of whom heirs in the will of the deceased

    Basilia, and all of whom claim kinship with the decedent by virtue of legal adoption. At the heart of the

    controversy is Basilia's last willimmaculate in its extrinsic validity since it bears the imprimatur of duly

    conducted probate proceedings.

    The complaint in intervention filed in the lower court assails the legality of the tie which the respondent

    Perfecto Cruz and his brothers and sisters claim to have with the decedent. The lower court had, however,

    assumed, by its orders in question, that the validity or invalidity of the adoption is not material nor decisive

    on the efficacy of the institution of heirs; for, even if the adoption in question were spurious, the

    respondents Perfecto Cruz, et al., will nevertheless succeed not as compulsory heirs but as testamentary

    heirs instituted in Basilia's will. This ruling apparently finds support in article 842 of the Civil Code which

    reads:

    "One who has no compulsory heirs may dispose of by will all his estate or any part of it in favor of any

    person having capacity to succeed.

    "One who has compulsory heirs may dispose of his estate provided he does not contravene the provisions

    of this Code with regard to the legitime of said heirs."

    The lower court must have assumed that since the petitioners nephews and niece are not compulsory heirs,

    they do not possess that interest which can be prejudiced by a free-wheeling testamentary disposition. The

    petitioners' interest is confined to properties, if any, that have not been disposed of in the will, for to that

    extent intestate succession can take place and the question of the veracity of the adoption acquires

    relevance.

    The petitioners nephews and niece, upon the other hand, insist that the entire estate should descend to

    them by intestacy by reason of the intrinsic nullity of the institution of heirs embodied in the decedent's will.They have thus raised squarely the issue of whether or not such institution of heirs would retain efficacy in

    the event there exists proof that the adoption of the same heirs by the decedent is false.

    The petitioners cite, as the controlling rule, article 850 of the Civil Code which reads:

    "The statement of a false cause for the institution of an heir shall be considered as not written, unless it

    appears from the will that the testator would not have made such institution if he had known the falsity of

    such cause."

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    Coming closer to the center of the controversy, the petitioners have called the attention of the lower court

    and this Court to the following pertinent portions of the will of the deceased which recite:

    "III

    "Ang aking mga sapilitang tagapagmana (herederos forzosos) ay ang aking itinuturing na mga anak na

    tunay (Hijos legalmente adoptados) na sina Perfecto, Alberto, Luz, Benita at Isagani, na pawang may

    apelyidong Cruz.

    xxx xxx xxx

    "V

    "Kung ako ay bawian ng Dios ng buhay, ay aking ipinamamana ang aking mga ari-ariang maiiwan, sa

    kaparaanang sumusunod:

    "A.Aking ipinamamana sa aking nabanggit na limang anak na sina Perfecto, Alberto, Luz, Benita at

    Isagani, na pawang may apelyidong Cruz, na parepareho ang kaparti ng bawa't isa at walang lamangan (en

    partes iguales), bilang kanilang sapilitang mana (legiti[ma]), ang kalahati (1/2) ng aking kaparti sa lahat ng

    aming ari-ariang gananciales ng aking yumaong asawang Pedro Cruz na napapaloob sa Actuacion Especial

    No. 640 ng Hukumang Unang Dulugan ng Rizal at itinutukoy sa No. 1 ng parafo IV ng testamentong ito,ang kalahati (1/2) ng mga lagay na lupa at palaisdaan na nasa Obando at Polo, Bulacan, na namana ko sa

    aking yumaong ama na si Calixto Austria, at ang kalahati (1/2) ng ilang lagay na lupa na nasa Tinejeros,

    Malabon, Rizal, na aking namana sa yumao kong kapatid na si Fausto Austria."

    The tenor of the language used, the petitioners argue, gives rise to the inference that the late Basilia was

    deceived into believing that she was legally bound to bequeath one-half of her entire estate to the

    respondents Perfecto Cruz, et al. as the latter's legitime. The petitioners further contend that had the

    deceased known the adoption to be spurious, she would not have instituted the respondents at allthe

    basis of the institution being solely her belief that they were compulsory heirs. Proof therefore of the falsity

    of the adoption would cause a nullity of the institution of heirs and the opening of the estate wide to

    intestacy. Did the lower court then abuse its discretion or act in violation of the rights of the parties in

    barring the petitioners nephews and niece from registering their claim even to properties adjudicated by the

    decedent in her will?

    Before the institution of heirs may be annulled under article 850 of the Civil Code, the following requisites

    must concur: First,the cause for the institution of heirs must be stated in the will; second,the cause must

    be shown to be false; and third,it must appear from the face of the will that the testator would not have

    made such institution if he had known the falsity of the cause.

    The petitioners would have us imply, from the use of the terms, "sapilitang tagapagmana"(compulsory

    heirs) and "sapilitang mana"(legitime), that the impelling reason or cause for the institution of the

    respondents was the testatrix's belief that under the law she could not do otherwise. If this were indeed

    what prompted the testatrix in instituting the respondents, she did not make it known in her will. Surely ifshe was aware that succession to the legitime takes place by operation of law, independent of her own

    wishes, she would not have found it convenient to name her supposed compulsory heirs to their legitimes.

    Her express adoption of the rules on legitimes should very well indicate her complete agreement with that

    statutory scheme. But even this, like the petitioners' own proposition, is highly speculative of what was in

    the mind of the testatrix when she executed her will. One fact prevails, however, and it is that the

    decedent's will does not state in a specific or unequivocal manner the cause for such institution of heirs. We

    cannot annul the same on the basis of guesswork or uncertain implications.

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    And even if we should accept the petitioners' theory that the decedent instituted the respondents perfecto

    Cruz, et al. solely because she believed that the law commanded her to do so, on the false assumption that

    her adoption of these respondents was valid, still such institution must stand.

    Article 850 of the Civil Code, quoted above, is a positive injunction to ignore whatever false cause the

    testator may have written in his will for the institution of heirs. Such institution may be annulled only when

    one is satisfied, after an examination of the will, that the testator clearly would not have made the

    institution if he had known the cause for it to be false. Now, would the late Basilia have caused the

    revocation of the institution of heirs if she had known that she was mistaken in treating these heirs as her

    legally adopted children? Or would she have instituted them nonetheless?

    The decedent's will, which alone should provide the answer, is mute on this point or at best is vague and

    uncertain. The phrases, "mga sapilitang tagapagmana"and"sapilitang mana,"were borrowed from the

    language of the law on succession and were used, respectively, to de scribe the class of heirs instituted and

    the abstract object of the inheritance. They offer no absolute indication that the decedent would have

    willed her estate other than the way she did if she had known that she was not bound by law to make

    allowance for legitimes. Her disposition of the free portion of her estate (libre disposicion) which largely

    favored the respondent Perfecto Cruz, the latter's children, and the children of the respondent Benita Cruz,

    shows a perceptible inclination on her part to give to the respondents more than what she thought the law

    enjoined her to give to them. Compare this with the relatively small devise of land which the decedent had

    left for her blood relatives, including the petitioners Consuelo Austria-Benta and Lauro Mozo and the

    children of the petitioner Ruben Austria. Were we to exclude the respondents Perfecto Cruz, et al, from the

    inheritance, then the petitioners and the other nephews and nieces would succeed to the bulk of the estate

    by intestacya result which would subvert the clear wishes of the decedent.

    Whatever doubts one entertains in his mind should be swept away by these explicit injunctions in the Civil

    Code: "The words of a will are to receive an interpretation which will give to every expression some effect,

    rather than one which will render any of the expressions inoperative; and of two modes of interpreting a

    will, that is to be preferred which will prevent intestacy."1

    Testacy is favored and doubts are resolved on its side, especially where the will evinces an intention on thepart of the testator to dispose of practically his whole estate,2as was done in this case. Moreover, socompelling is the principle that intestacy should be avoided and the wishes of the testator allowed to

    prevail, that we could even vary the language of the will for the purpose of giving it effect.3A probatecourt has found, by final judgment, that the late Basilia Austria Vda. de Cruz was possessed of

    testamentary capacity and her last will executed free from falsification, fraud, trickery or undue influence.

    In this situation, it becomes our duty to give full expression to her will.4

    At all events, the legality of the adoption of the respondents by the testatrix can be assailed only in a

    separate action brought for that purpose, and cannot be the subject of a collateral attack.5

    To the petitioners' charge that the lower court had no power to reverse its order of December 22, 1969,

    suffice it to state that, as borne by the records, the subsequent orders complained of served merely toclarify the firstan act which the court could legally do. Every court has the inherent power to amend and

    control its processes and orders so as to make them conformable to law and justice.6That the court aquohas limited the extent of the petitioners' intervention is also within its powers as articulated by the

    Rules of Court.7

    ACCORDINGLY, the present petition is denied, at petitioners cost.

    |||(Austria v. Reyes, G.R. No. L-23079, February 27, 1970)

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  • 8/10/2019 Wills Cases 4

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    6

    Preterition

    [G.R. No. 141882. March 11, 2005.]

    J.L.T. AGRO, INC., represented by its Manager, JULIAN L. TEVES,petitioner, vs. ANTONIOBALANSAG and HILARIA CADAYDAY,respondents.

    D E C I S I O N

    TINGA,J p:

    Once again, the Court is faced with the perennial conflict of property claims between two sets of heirs, a

    conflict ironically made grievous by the fact that the decedent in this case had resorted to great lengths to

    allocate which properties should go to which set of heirs.

    This is a Rule 45 petition assailing the Decision1dated 30 September 1999 of the Court of Appeals whichreversed the Decision2dated 7 May 1993 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 45, of Bais City,Negros Oriental.

    The factual antecedents follow.

    Don Julian L. Teves (Don Julian) contracted two marriages, first with Antonia Baena (Antonia), and afterher death, with Milagros Donio Teves (Milagros Donio). Don Julian had two children with Antonia, namely:

    Josefa Teves Escao (Josefa) and Emilio Teves (Emilio). He had also four (4) children with Milagros Donio,

    namely: Maria Evelyn Donio Teves (Maria Evelyn), Jose Catalino Donio Teves (Jose Catalino), Milagros

    Reyes Teves (Milagros Reyes) and Pedro Reyes Teves (Pedro).3

    The present controversy involves a parcel of land covering nine hundred and fifty-four (954) square meters,

    known as Lot No. 63 of the Bais Cadastre, which was originally registered in the name of the conjugal

    partnership of Don Julian and Antonia under Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 5203 of the Registry of

    Deeds of Bais City. When Antonia died, the land was among the properties involved in an action for

    partition and damages docketed as Civil Case No. 3443 entitled "Josefa Teves Escao v. Julian Teves,

    Emilio B. Teves, et al."4Milagros Donio, the second wife of Don Julian, participated as an intervenor.Thereafter, the parties to the case entered into a Compromise Agreement5which embodied the partitionof all the properties of Don Julian.

    On the basis of the compromise agreement and approving the same, the Court of First Instance (CFI) of

    Negros Oriental, 12th Judicial District, rendered a Decision6dated 31 January 1964. The CFI decisiondeclared a tract of land known as Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa as property owned in common by Don Julian

    and his two (2) children of the first marriage. The property was to remain undivided during the lifetime of

    Don Julian.7Josefa and Emilio likewise were given other properties at Bais, including the electric plant, the"movie property," the commercial areas, and the house where Don Julian was living. The remainder of the

    properties was retained by Don Julian, including Lot No. 63. acCITS

    Paragraph 13 of the Compromise Agreement, at the heart of the present dispute, lays down the effect ofthe eventual death of Don Julian vis--vishis heirs:

    13. That in the event of death of Julian L. Teves, the properties hereinafter adjudicated to Josefa Teves

    Escao and Emilio B. Teves, (excluding the properties comprised as Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa together

    with all its accessories and accessions) shall be understood as including not only their one-half share which

    they inherited from their mother but also the legitimes and other successional rights which would

    correspond to them of the other half belonging to their father, Julian L. Teves. In other words, the

    properties now selected and adjudicated to Julian L.Teves (not including his share in the Hacienda Medalla

    Milagrosa) shall exclusively be adjudicatedto the wife in second marriage of Julian L. Teves and his four

    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    minor children, namely, Milagros Donio Teves, his two acknowledged natural children Milagros Reyes Teves

    and Pedro Reyes Teves and his two legitimated children Maria Evelyn Donio Teves and Jose Catalino Donio

    Teves. (Emphasis supplied)

    On 16 November 1972, Don Julian, Emilio and Josefa executed a Deed of Assignment of Assets with

    Assumption of Liabilities8in favor of J.L.T. Agro, Inc. (petitioner). Less than a year later, Don Julian,Josefa and Emilio also executed an instrument entitled Supplemental to the Deed of Assignment of Assets

    with the Assumption of Liabilities (Supplemental Deed)9dated 31 July 1973. This instrument whichconstitutes a supplement to the earlier deed of assignment transferred ownership over Lot No. 63, among

    other properties, in favor of petitioner.10On 14 April 1974, Don Julian died intestate.

    On the strength of the Supplemental Deedin its favor, petitioner sought the registration of the subject lot

    in its name. A court, so it appeared, issued an order11cancelling OCT No. 5203 in the name of spousesDon Julian and Antonia on 12 November 1979, and on the same date TCT No. T-375 was issued in the

    name of petitioner.12Since then, petitioner has been paying taxes assessed on the subject lot.13

    Meanwhile, Milagros Donio and her children had immediately taken possession over the subject lot after the

    execution of the Compromise Agreement. In 1974, they entered into a yearly lease agreement with spouses

    Antonio Balansag and Hilaria Cadayday, respondents herein.14On Lot No. 63, respondents temporarily

    established their home and constructed a lumber yard. Subsequently, Milagros Donio and her childrenexecuted a Deed of Extrajudicial Partition of Real Estate15dated 18 March 1980. In the deed of partition,Lot No. 63 was allotted to Milagros Donio and her two (2) children, Maria Evelyn and Jose Catalino.

    Unaware that the subject lot was already registered in the name of petitioner in 1979, respondents bought

    Lot No. 63 from Milagros Donio as evidenced by the Deed of Absolute Sale of Real Estate16dated 9November 1983. jur2005cda

    At the Register of Deeds while trying to register the deed of absolute sale, respondents discovered that the

    lot was already titled in the name of petitioner. Thus, they failed to register the deed.17

    Respondents, as vendees of Lot No. 63, filed a complaint before the RTC Branch 45 of Bais City, seeking

    the declaration of nullity and cancellation of TCT No. T-375 in the name of petitioner and the transfer of the

    title to Lot No. 63 in their names, plus damages.18

    After hearing, the trial court dismissed the complaint filed by respondents. The dispositive portion of the

    decision reads:

    WHEREFORE, premises considered, by preponderance of evidence, this Court finds judgment in favor of the

    defendant and against the plaintiff, and thus hereby orders:

    (1) That complaint be dismissed; ASHaTc

    (2) That plaintiffs vacate the subject land, particularly identified as Lot No. 63 registered under Transfer

    Certificate of Title No. T-375;

    (3) That plaintiffs pay costs.

    Finding no basis on the counterclaim by defendant, the same is hereby ordered dismissed.19

    The trial court ruled that the resolution of the case specifically hinged on the interpretation of paragraph 13

    of the Compromise Agreement.20It added that the direct adjudication of the properties listed inthe Compromise Agreementwas only in favor of Don Julian and his two children by the first marriage,

    Josefa and Emilio.21Paragraph 13 served only as an amplification of the terms of the adjudication in favorof Don Julian and his two children by the first marriage.

    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  • 8/10/2019 Wills Cases 4

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    8

    According to the trial court, the properties adjudicated in favor of Josefa and Emilio comprised their shares

    in the estate of their deceased mother Antonia, as well as their potential share in the estate of Don Julian

    upon the latter's death. Thus, upon Don Julian's death, Josefa and Emilio could not claim any share in his

    estate, except their proper share in the Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa which was adjudicated in favor of Don

    Julian in the Compromise Agreement. As such, the properties adjudicated in favor of Don Julian, except

    Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa, were free from the forced legitimary rights of Josefa and Emilio, and Don

    Julian was under no impediment to allocate the subject lot, among his other properties, to Milagros Donio

    and her four (4) children.22

    The trial court further stressed that with the use of the words "shall be," the adjudication in favor of

    Milagros Donio and her four (4) children was not final and operative, as the lot was still subject to future

    disposition by Don Julian during his lifetime.23It cited paragraph 1424of the Compromise Agreementinsupport of his conclusion.25With Lot No. 63 being the conjugal property of Don Julian and Antonia, thetrial court also declared that Milagros Donio and her children had no hereditary rights thereto except as to

    the conjugal share of Don Julian, which they could claim only upon the death of the latter.26

    The trial court ruled that at the time of Don Julian's death on 14 April 1974, Lot No. 63 was no longer a

    part of his estate since he had earlier assigned it to petitioner on 31 July 1973. Consequently, the lot could

    not be a proper subject of extrajudicial partition by Milagros Donio and her children, and not being the

    owners they could not have sold it. Had respondents exercised prudence before buying the subject lot by

    investigating the registration of the same with the Registry of Deeds, they would have discovered that five

    (5) years earlier, OCT No. 5203 had already been cancelled and replaced by TCT No. T-375 in the name of

    petitioner, the trial court added.27

    The Court of Appeals, however, reversed the trial court's decision. The decretal part of the appellate

    decision reads:

    WHEREFORE, premises considered, the decision appealed from is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE and a

    new one is entered declaring the Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-375 registered in the name of J.L.T.

    Agro, Inc. as null and void.

    With costs against defendant J.L.T. Agro, Inc. represented by its Manager, Julian L. Teves.

    SO ORDERED.28

    Per the appellate court, the Compromise Agreementincorporated in CFI decision dated 31 January 1964,

    particularly paragraph 13 thereof, determined, adjudicated and reserved to Don Julian's two sets of heirs

    their future legitimes in his estate except as regards his (Don Julian's) share in Hacienda Medalla

    Milagrosa.29The two sets of heirs acquired full ownership and possession of the properties respectivelyadjudicated to them in the CFI decision and Don Julian himself could no longer dispose of the same,

    including Lot No. 63. The disposition in the CFI decision constitutes res judicata.30Don Julian could havedisposed of only his conjugal share in the Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa.31

    The appellate court likewise emphasized that nobody in his right judgment would preterit his legal heirs by

    simply executing a document like the Supplemental Deedwhich practically covers all properties which Don

    Julian had reserved in favor of his heirs from the second marriage. It also found out that the blanks

    reserved for the Book No. and Page No. at the upper right corner of TCT No. T-375, "to identify the exact

    location where the said title was registered or transferred," were not filled up, thereby indicating that the

    TCT is "spurious and of dubious origin."32

    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  • 8/10/2019 Wills Cases 4

    9/159

    9

    Aggrieved by the appellate court's decision, petitioner elevated it to this Court via a petition for review

    on certiorari, raising pure questions of law. DcaSIH

    Before this Court, petitioner assigns as errors the following rulings of the appellate court, to wit: (a) that

    future legitime can be determined, adjudicated and reserved prior to the death of Don Julian; (b) that Don

    Julian had no right to dispose of or assign Lot No. 63 to petitioner because he reserved the same for his

    heirs from the second marriage pursuant to the Compromise Agreement; (c) that the Supplemental

    Deedwas tantamount to a preterition of his heirs from the second marriage; and (d) that TCT No. T-375 in

    the name of petitioner is spurious for not containing entries on the Book No. and Page No.33

    While most of petitioner's legal arguments have merit, the application of the appropriate provisions of law

    to the facts borne out by the evidence on record nonetheless warrants the affirmance of the result reached

    by the Court of Appeals in favor of respondents.

    Being the key adjudicative provision, paragraph 13 of the Compromise Agreementhas to be quoted again:

    13. That in the event of death of Julian L. Teves, the properties herein adjudicated to Josefa Teves Escao

    and Emilio B. Teves, (excluding the properties comprised as Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa together with all

    its accessories and accessions) shall be understood as including not only their one-half share which they

    inherited from their mother but also the legitimes and other successional rights which would correspond to

    them of the other half belonging to their father, Julian L. Teves. In other words, the properties now

    selected and adjudicated to Julian L. Teves (not including his share in the Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa) shall

    exclusively be adjudicated to the wife in second marriage of Julian L. Teves and his four minor children,

    namely, Milagros Donio Teves, his two acknowledged natural children Milagros Reyes Teves and Pedro

    Reyes Teves and his two legitimated children Maria Evelyn Donio Teves and Jose Catalino Donio Teves."

    (Emphasis supplied)

    With the quoted paragraph as basis, the Court of Appeals ruled that the adjudication in favor of the heirs of

    Don Julian from the second marriage became automatically operative upon the approval of the Compromise

    Agreement, thereby vesting on them the right to validly dispose of Lot No. 63 in favor of respondents.

    Petitioner argues that the appellate court erred in holding that future legitime can be determined,adjudicated and reserved prior to the death of Don Julian. The Court agrees. Our declaration in Blas v.

    Santos34is relevant, where we defined future inheritance as any property or right not in existence orcapable of determination at the time of the contract, that a person may in the future acquire by

    succession. Article 1347 of the New Civil Code explicitly provides:

    ART. 1347. All things which are not outside the commerce of men, including future things, may be the

    object of a contract. All rights which are not intransmissible may also be the object of contracts.

    No contract may be entered into upon future inheritance except in cases expressly authorized by law.

    All services which are not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order or public policy may likewise

    be the object of a contract.

    Well-entrenched is the rule that all things, even future ones, which are not outside the commerce of man

    may be the object of a contract. The exception is that no contract may be entered into with respect to

    future inheritance, and the exception to the exception is the partition inter vivosreferred to in Article

    1080.35

    For the inheritance to be considered "future," the succession must not have been opened at the time of the

    contract.36A contract may be classified as a contract upon future inheritance, prohibited under thesecond paragraph of Article 1347, where the following requisites concur:

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