GR 209651; (November, 2014) (Digest)
G.R. No. 209651 , November 26, 2014.
MARCELO INVESTMENT AND MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, and THE HEIRS OF EDWARD T. MARCELO, NAMELY, KATHERINE J. MARCELO, ANNA MELINDA J. MARCELO REVILLA, and JOHN STEVEN J. MARCELO, Petitioners, vs. JOSE T. MARCELO, JR., Respondent.
FACTS
The case involves the intestate estate of Jose T. Marcelo, Sr. (Jose, Sr.), who died in 1987, survived by four compulsory heirs: Edward, George, Helen, and respondent Jose, Jr. Initially, petitioner Marcelo Investment and Management Corporation (MIMCO) filed a petition for letters of administration. Edward, George, and MIMCO ultimately banded together to oppose the petitions of Helen and Jose, Jr. and prayed for Edward’s appointment as regular administrator. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) appointed Edward as regular administrator in 1991. Jose, Jr. challenged this appointment through successive motions and an appeal to the Court of Appeals, which was affirmed. The Supreme Court, in G.R. No. 123883, also affirmed Edward’s appointment via a Minute Resolution dated May 22, 1996. Edward, as administrator, submitted a “Liquidation of the Inventory of the Estate” signed by all four heirs, which the RTC approved as a project of partition in 2001. Edward passed away in 2009. Subsequently, Jose, Jr. filed a motion for his appointment as the new regular administrator. The RTC granted Jose, Jr.’s motion and appointed him as the new administrator. Petitioners (MIMCO and Edward’s heirs) appealed, but the Court of Appeals affirmed the RTC’s order. Petitioners then filed this petition for review on certiorari.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the RTC’s Order appointing respondent Jose T. Marcelo, Jr. as the new regular administrator of the intestate estate of Jose T. Marcelo, Sr.
RULING
The Supreme Court GRANTED the petition. It REVERSED and SET ASIDE the Decision of the Court of Appeals and the Order of the RTC appointing Jose, Jr. as administrator. The Court ruled that the appointment of a new administrator was unnecessary. The project of partition, signed by all compulsory heirs and approved by the RTC, had the effect of terminating the administration proceedings. The estate, upon approval of the project of partition, was no longer under administration but was held in common by the heirs, subject to the payment of estate taxes. The Court found that the only remaining task was the payment of estate taxes, which did not require the appointment of a regular administrator. The Court directed the RTC to complete the settlement of the estate with dispatch, starting with an order setting a deadline for the parties to pay the estate taxes. Furthermore, the Court, citing the preference for a person agreed upon by the heirs, appointed George T. Marcelo as administrator should one still be necessary, upon payment of a bond, to facilitate the closing of the estate settlement.