G.R. No. 11599 ; September 20, 1917
MAURA RAMOS, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MARIA CASTELO, LORENZO LOPEZ and MARIANO LOPEZ, as administrators of the estate of Natalio Lopez, deceased, defendants-appellants.

FACTS:
Maura Ramos filed an action to recover possession of a parcel of land, claiming sole ownership as her paraphernal property inherited from her mother, Clemencia Buhay. The defendants, administrators of the estate of Natalio Lopez, claimed ownership by virtue of a sheriff’s sale. The sale arose from a mortgage executed by Ramos’s husband over a house located on the land, which led to a judgment against him and a subsequent execution sale that included the land. Ramos filed the suit without joining her husband as a party. The defendants demurred, arguing that a married woman could not litigate without her husband’s intervention. The trial court overruled the demurrer and ruled in favor of Ramos, declaring her the sole owner and entitled to possession.

ISSUE:
1. Whether a married woman may maintain an action to recover possession of her paraphernal property without the intervention of her husband.
2. Whether the evidence proves Ramos’s ownership of the land, notwithstanding the sheriff’s sale.

RULING:
1. Yes. Following established jurisprudence (Jacinto v. Salvador, 22 Phil. 376; Quison v. Salud, 12 Phil. 109), the Supreme Court held that under Section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, a married woman may sue alone to recover her separate property in which her husband has no interest. The trial court correctly overruled the demurrer.

The judgment of the trial court was affirmed, with costs against the defendants.

This is AI (Gemini and Deepseek) Generated. Please Double Check. Powered by Armztrong.