G.R. No. 48541 ; January 30, 1943
VALERIANA QUION, ETC., plaintiffs-appellees, vs. VICENTE CLARIDAD, ET AL., defendants. VICENTE CLARIDAD, GODOFREDO FAMY and EULALIA CLARIDAD, appellants.

FACTS

In the intestate proceedings of a deceased, prosecuted by the appellants, they knowingly concealed the fact that the deceased left a second wife with whom he had two children, the herein appellees. A subsequent action was brought by the appellees to recover their legal shares in the deceased’s estate.

ISSUE

Whether the appellees, as heirs from the decedent’s second marriage who were fraudulently concealed in the prior intestate proceedings, have the right to recover their legal share in the estate, and whether their action is barred by the time limits for reopening intestate proceedings.

RULING

The trial court correctly declared the appellees co-owners of the estate to the extent of one-half, with the right to its possession. Their dominion over their share in the inheritance vested in them automatically by operation of law upon the death of the decedent, subject only to creditors’ liens.
There is no merit in the appellants’ claim that the intestate proceedings could no longer be reopened after the expiration of the two-year period under Sections 597 and 598 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The present action is not for reopening those proceedings but is an action by the heirs for relief on the ground of fraud. Such an action may be brought within four years after the discovery of the fraud, pursuant to Section 43 of the Code of Civil Procedure.