GR 41354; (September, 1934) (Digest)
G.R. No. 41354 ; September 13, 1934
In re Intestate estate of the deceased Gregorio de la Cruz. IGNACIO DE LA CRUZ, administrator-appellee, vs. IGMIDIO DE LA CRUZ and PEDRO DE LA CRUZ, oppositors-appellants.
FACTS
In the intestate estate proceeding of Gregorio de la Cruz, the administrator, Ignacio de la Cruz, filed a petition with the lower court seeking authorization to sell two parcels of land belonging to the estate at a private sale for not less than P600. The petition alleged the estate had no funds to cover administration expenses, costs of litigation to collect estate credits, and partial payment of attorney’s fees. The lower court granted the authorization. The administrator subsequently sold the properties to Tomas de Guzman and Benita de la Roma for P600. Igmidio de la Cruz and Pedro de la Cruz, legitimate sons and heirs of the deceased, filed a petition to annul the court’s order authorizing the sale and the deed of sale itself. They argued the sale was illegal and void because, among other grounds, the administrator’s petition failed to state the value of the personal estate of the deceased, a requirement under the Code of Civil Procedure.
ISSUE
Whether the failure to allege the value of the personal estate in the administrator’s petition for authority to sell real estate deprives the court of jurisdiction to order the sale, rendering the sale null and void.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court, in a majority decision, set aside the lower court’s orders and declared the sale null and void. The Court held that an averment as to the value of the personal estate of the deceased in a probate proceeding is an essential and necessary requisite to a petition for the sale of real estate. A Court of First Instance acquires no jurisdiction to order such a sale if that averment does not appear in the petition. Consequently, an order issued without this jurisdictional requirement is void, and a sale made under such an order is null and void. The Court sustained the opposition of the heirs-appellants.
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