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Query: I am one of the three children of Ambrosio and
Benita Conde. During their lifetime, they bought two parcels of land
adjoining a river. After the death of Benita, our father bought
another parcel of land with the intention of having a child possess
and cultivate a parcel. Unfortunately, a year thereafter, our father
took a mistress, who later on—after the latter’s death—tried
to assume ownership of the three parcels. My brothers and I tried to
oppose her move, but she told me that she had a better right over
said parcels as she made our father enjoy his life.
Has my father’s mistress the
right to assume ownership of the properties left behind by my
parents simply because of the enjoyment she had allegedly given to
my father? What should I do now?
Response: Your query as to
whether or not your deceased father’s mistress has the right to
inherit the land left behind by your parents calls for a negative
answer. She is not even entitled to share in the parcel acquired
solely by your father, because the acquisition occurred before her
illegal relationship with your father. Said property, therefore,
should be considered as husband’s capital which passes on to the
legal heirs. With respect to the two parcels of land which were
acquired during the marriage of your parents, they are considered
conjugal properties, which should descend to the legal heirs, that
is, the three children.
I advert to Article 160 of the
Civil Code which provides: All property of the marriage is presumed
to belong to the conjugal partnership, unless it is probed that it
pertains exclusively to the husband or to the wife. Nonetheless,
even if the third parcel is classified as husband’s capital, the
same descends to you as you are the only legal heirs—the mistress
cannot be considered as an heir of your father.
Nonetheless, to fully protect
your interest over the three parcels of land, you should initiate a
settlement of the estates of your deceased parents. On this
score, Section 1 of Rule 74 of the Revised Rules of Court states
that if the decedent left no will and no debts and the heirs are all
of legal age, the parties may, without securing letters of
administration, divide the estate(s) among themselves as they see
fit by means of a public instrument filed in the office of the
register of deeds and should they disagree, they may do so in an
ordinary action of partition.
The parties to an extrajudicial
settlement should file, simultaneously with and as a condition
precedent to the filing of the public instrument, a bond with the
register of deeds, in an amount equivalent to the value of the
properties involved conditioned upon the payment of any just claim
that may be filed within two years after the partition.
Another move is to have it titled
under the Torrens system. Such move requires the technical survey of
the subject parcels of land before the filing of a petition (for
titling) with the court. Such titling is advisable even if the
subject parcels of land are covered by tax declarations.
These proposals fully answer your
query relative to the parcels of land left behind by your parents.
Pursuing them will give you peace of mind.
This corner wishes to
congratulate Justice Rodolfo Pallatao on his official installation
as president of the City College of Manila last Wednesday.
His plan to give legal education
to the barangay leaders will certainly pave the way for peace and
prosperity for all in Manila—to the credit of Mayor Alfredo Lim.
This should be imitated by other
leaders around the Philippines.
Above all things, let us
reflect on the statement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every
creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark, 16:16)
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