G.R. No. L-23875 May 27, 1977
TESTATE ESTATE OF THE LATE GREGORIO VENTURA: MARIA VENTURA, executrix-appellant, MIGUEL VENTURA and JUANA CARDOVA, Heirs, vs. MERCEDES VENTURA, and her husband PEDRO D. CORPUZ, and GREGORIA VENTURA and her husband EXEQUIEL VICTORIO, oppositors-appellees.

FACTS

Gregorio Ventura’s will was probated during his lifetime. After his death, Mercedes and Gregoria Ventura filed a motion in the testate estate proceedings to annul the institution of heirs in the probated will. They claimed to be the legitimate children and compulsory heirs of Gregorio, who were preterited (omitted) from the will. Their status was established in a prior civil case (Civil Cases Nos. 1064 and 1476), where the court declared them the legitimate daughters of Gregorio Ventura and Paulina Simpliciano, entitling them to a share in the estate. The executrix, Maria Ventura, appealed that civil decision to the Supreme Court (G.R. No. L-18283), but the appeal was dismissed for failure to pay docket fees on time.
Maria Ventura, as executrix, opposed the motion to annul, arguing the civil decision was not yet final and executory. She contended it was merely interlocutory because it ordered the parties to effect an amicable partition of the adjudicated properties, and she still intended to appeal. The trial court granted the motion to annul the will’s provisions, prompting this appeal by the executrix.

ISSUE

Whether the decision in Civil Cases Nos. 1064 and 1476, declaring Mercedes and Gregoria as legitimate children, had become final and executory, thereby rendering the order annulling the institution of heirs in the probated will proper.

RULING

Yes, the civil decision had become final and executory. The Supreme Court dismissed the executrix’s appeal, holding the issue moot and academic. The legal logic is anchored on the finality of judgments and the nature of the orders issued in the civil cases. The Court found it unnecessary to delve into the doctrinal debate on whether a decision ordering partition is interlocutory or final. Crucially, the trial court in the civil cases had already approved the commissioners’ report of partition. This order of approval is a definitive, appealable order that terminates the case, leaving nothing more for the trial court to do.
Since no appeal was taken from that order of approval, the decision declaring the appellees as legitimate children became final and executory in all respects. Consequently, their status as compulsory heirs of Gregorio Ventura was conclusively established. The preterition of these compulsory heirs in his will warranted the annulment of the institution of heirs therein, as mandated by the Civil Code. The trial court’s orders were therefore correct, and the executrix’s appeal, which sought to relitigate the already-final matter of filiation, was properly dismissed.