G.R. No. 33609 , December 31, 1931
Fructuosa Cadiz, et al. vs. Gregorio Cabuñag, et al.

FACTS

Petronilo Rodriguez died in 1897, survived by his second wife, Fructuosa Cadiz, and four children: three daughters (Eugenia, Regina, Felisa) from his first marriage and one son (Vicente) from his second. In 1904, an informal partition of Petronilo’s estate was made by his brother Venancio, allocating roughly equal numbers of coconut trees (about 800-900 each) to the four heirs. The parcels assigned were held separately thereafter. A cadastral survey later registered the partitioned lands in the names of the respective heirs. In 1927, Fructuosa Cadiz and her son Vicente filed an action for partition of the estate and an accounting, seeking to repartition the lands that had been separately assigned and registered to the other heirs since 1904.

ISSUE

Whether the plaintiffs are entitled to a judicial partition of the lands that were informally partitioned in 1904 and subsequently registered in the names of the respective heirs.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the complaint regarding the lots already partitioned. The informal partition in 1904 was valid and served as a basis for acquisitive prescription by the heirs in separate possession. Vicente Rodriguez, who was a minor until 1917, failed to assert his rights within the prescriptive period after reaching majority. The subsequent registration of the parcels in the names of the other heirs extinguished his unasserted claim. Moreover, under Article 1077 of the Civil Code, Vicente could not maintain the action because he suffered no lesion (prejudice) from the 1904 partition, having received more than his strict legal entitlement (as his share was limited to his father’s half of the community property from the first marriage, but he was given an equal share with the children of the first marriage).

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