GR 44302; (January, 1937) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-44302. January 29, 1937.
In Re: GUARDIANSHIP OF THE MINORS MANUEL LIWAG, PACIFICO LIWAG and MERCEDES LIWAG. JOSEFA ONGPAUCO, guardian-appellant; MANUEL LIWAG, ward-appellee.
FACTS
Pablo Liwag died, leaving insurance proceeds to his three minor children. His widow, Josefa Ongpauco, was appointed guardian. The court initially indicated that upon collection, the insurance proceeds should be deposited in a bank. Josefa, who was also the administratrix of Pablo’s intestate estate, used the guardianship funds to pay debts and protect properties of the estate, in which she and her children were the sole heirs. When the eldest child, Manuel, reached majority, he demanded his share. The court disapproved Josefa’s accounts for commingling estate and guardianship expenses and ordered her to deposit the guardianship funds with the clerk of court, threatening arrest for non-compliance. Josefa and her children entered an agreement acknowledging the legality and good faith of her investments, but Manuel later repudiated it. The court ordered Josefa’s arrest, prompting this appeal.
ISSUE
Whether the lower court erred in ordering the arrest and detention of the guardian for her failure to deposit the guardianship funds as ordered.
RULING
No, the order of arrest was improper and is set aside. The initial 1931 resolution was not a strict, enforceable order for deposit. The 1935 order to deposit funds with the clerk was impossible to comply with because the guardian had already spent the funds in good faith to protect the estate’s properties, and she could not replace them as her own share in the conjugal property was still under liquidation. However, the court correctly disapproved her accounts to the extent they charged guardianship funds for expenses of the intestate estate. The guardian must render proper accounts for expenses exclusively for the guardianship’s benefit, and her civil liability remains unaffected. The order of arrest is reversed, but the disapproval of the improper accounts is affirmed.
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