G.R. No. 38036 ; October 15, 1932
MARTINIANO BENIGNO, petitioner, vs. BERNARDO DE LA PEÑA, Judge of First Instance of Ilocos Norte, and GASPAR ACACIO, respondents.

FACTS

Respondent Gaspar Acacio applied for the summary settlement of the estate of the deceased spouses Lorenzo Acacio and Norberta Benigno. The court, after hearing, issued an order on December 17, 1924, dividing the conjugal estate and appointing Gaspar Acacio as administrator to recover properties allegedly in the possession of third persons, including petitioner Martiniano Benigno. The administrator subsequently filed an action (Civil Case No. 2633) against Benigno to recover said properties. Benigno’s motions to set aside the 1924 order were denied. He then filed this petition for certiorari, seeking to annul the 1924 order and the administrator’s appointment, and to halt the proceedings.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court acted without or in excess of jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion in: (1) conducting a single summary settlement proceeding for the estates of both deceased spouses; and (2) appointing an administrator to recover properties allegedly held by third parties.

RULING

The petition is denied. The court did not act without or in excess of jurisdiction.
1. The single proceeding for the settlement of the conjugal estate of the deceased spouses was proper. The cited case of Sy Hong Eng vs. Sy Lioc Suy is inapplicable, as it involved the estates of three different persons, not a conjugal estate of a married couple.
2. The appointment of an administrator to recover properties in the possession of third persons was authorized by law.
3. The petitioner, who is not an heir of the deceased spouses but a possessor of the contested properties, has no right to complain against the order of division. The order was issued seven years prior, and the recovery case filed pursuant thereto is already pending decision. No valid ground exists to annul the order or suspend the proceedings.

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