GR 45904; (September, 1938) (Digest)
G.R. No. 45904 ; September 30, 1938
Intestate estate of the deceased Luz Garcia. PABLO G. UTULO, applicant-appellee, vs. LEONA PASION VIUDA DE GARCIA, oppositor-appellant.
FACTS
Luz Garcia died intestate without legitimate descendants. Her forced heirs were her surviving spouse, Pablo G. Utulo (applicant-appellee), and her mother, Leona Pasion Vda. de Garcia (oppositor-appellant). Luz Garcia’s only property was her share in the pending intestate estate of her father, Juan Garcia Sanchez. Utulo filed a petition for the judicial administration of his wife’s estate and asked to be appointed administrator. Leona Pasion opposed, arguing that judicial administration was unnecessary as there were no debts, and that if administration were granted, she, as the mother, had a better right to be appointed administratrix. The trial court appointed Utulo as judicial administrator.
ISSUE
Whether judicial administration and the appointment of an administrator are required for the estate of Luz Garcia under the circumstances.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s order. The general rule under the Code of Civil Procedure requiring judicial administration when a person dies intestate is subject to exceptions. Under the established doctrine, when a person dies without pending obligations and all the heirs are of lawful age, the heirs are not bound to submit the estate to judicial administration, and the appointment of an administrator is superfluous. The heirs immediately succeed to the property of the deceased from the moment of death under the Civil Code. As co-owners, they can partition the property by mutual agreement or through an action for partition if they disagree. Since Luz Garcia’s estate had no debts and her only heirs (her husband and mother) were both adults, there was no necessity for judicial administration. The Court found no merit in Utulo’s argument that appointment was necessary to give him capacity to represent the estate in his father-in-law’s intestate proceedings, as he could appear by right of representation. The second issue regarding preferential right to the office of administrator was rendered moot.
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