GR 33658; (March, 1931) (2) (Digest)
G.R. No. 33658 & 33659; March 24, 1931
HERADIO F. DONADO, plaintiff-appellee, vs. MATILDE MENENDEZ DONADO, MERCEDES MONTEHERMOSO and MIGUEL PEÑARANDA, defendants-appellants.
FACTS
Heradio F. Donado filed two complaints seeking to be declared an acknowledged natural child of Gertrudis Donado and to participate in her estate. The defendants, including Gertrudis’s legitimate daughter Mercedes Montehermoso, opposed the claim. The trial court ruled in favor of Heradio, ordering partition of the estate. The defendants appealed, raising multiple errors, including the validity of Heradio’s acknowledgment under the old law (Law of Toro) and the Civil Code, the permissibility of investigating paternity, and the prescription of the action.
ISSUE
The main issues are: (1) Whether Heradio F. Donado was validly acknowledged as a natural child; (2) Whether such acknowledgment can be impugned by investigating paternity; (3) Whether his right to inherit is governed by the old law or the Civil Code; and (4) Whether his action has prescribed.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment recognizing Heradio’s right to inherit but reversed the order for partition pending further proceedings. The Court held: (1) The right to impugn a voluntary acknowledgment accrues only at the moment of acknowledgment. (2) A voluntary acknowledgment made separately by a mother under the Civil Code, for a child born under the old law, cannot be attacked by a legitimate child if such attack requires investigating the identity of the unacknowledged father, as such inquiry is prohibited under the Civil Code. (3) Heradio’s action filed in 1928 had not prescribed, as his mother died in 1919 and the ten-year prescriptive period for real property actions under the Code of Civil Procedure had not elapsed. (4) Since Gertrudis Donado died while the Civil Code was in force, Heradio’s right to inherit is governed by the Civil Code under its transitory provisions, notwithstanding any right acquired by the legitimate daughter under the old law, as the origins of their rights are different. (5) Partition could not be ordered without first receiving evidence on the defendants’ claim that part of the property originated from the legitimate father of Mercedes Montehermoso.
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