G.R. No. L-11796; August 5, 1918
In the matter of the estate of Samuel Bischoff Werthmuller. ANA M. RAMIREZ, executrix-appellant, vs. OTTO GMUR, as guardian of the minors Esther Renate Mory, Carmen Maria Mory, and Leontina Elizabeth, claimant-appellant.

FACTS:
Samuel Bischoff Werthmuller, a Swiss resident of the Philippines, died in Iloilo in 1913. His will, naming his widow Ana M. Ramirez as executrix and sole beneficiary except for a property in Switzerland devised to his siblings, was probated. The testator stated he had no forced heirs. However, he had a natural daughter, Leona Castro, whom he had recognized through a notarial document and by treating her as his daughter. Leona died in 1910, predeceasing the testator.

Leona had two sets of children:
1. Three children (Elena, Federico, Ernesto) from her first marriage to Frederick von Kauffman.
2. Three children (Leontina, Carmen, Esther) from her subsequent union with Dr. Ernest Mory. Leontina was born before Leona’s divorce from von Kauffman and her marriage to Mory. The two younger children were born after Leona and Mory married in London, following a divorce decree obtained by von Kauffman in Paris.

Both sets of children, through their respective guardians, claimed a share in Werthmuller’s estate as compulsory heirs of their mother, Leona, who, if alive, would have been a forced heir entitled to one-third of the estate. The executrix, Ana M. Ramirez, opposed the claims.

The trial court (Judge Mariano) initially ruled in favor of Leontina Mory, admitting her to a share. Later, upon a separate petition, another judge (Judge Powell) ruled in favor of the von Kauffman children. The executrix and the guardian of the Mory children appealed.

ISSUE:
1. Was Leona Castro a duly recognized natural child of the deceased Samuel Bischoff Werthmuller?

3. Is the order of distribution in a testate proceeding conclusive upon minor heirs who were not parties or given notice?

RULING:
1. Yes. The Supreme Court held that Leona Castro was a duly recognized natural daughter of Samuel Bischoff. Recognition was established by: (a) a notarial act of recognition, the contents of which were proven by secondary evidence after a diligent search for the original; (b) a marginal annotation in her baptismal record based on that document; and (c) Bischoff’s tacit recognition through his continuous treatment of Leona as his daughter. Her status was determined under the old Spanish law (Law of Toro) in force at the time of her recognition.
2. Only the von Kauffman children (Elena, Federico, Ernesto) are the legitimate heirs of Leona Castro. The Court ruled:
The French divorce decree obtained by von Kauffman was invalid for lack of proof that Leona had acquired a domicile in France. Therefore, Leona and von Kauffman were still legally married when she later married Dr. Mory in London.
Consequently, the London marriage between Leona and Dr. Mory was bigamous and void.
Thus, all three Mory children were illegitimate. Leontina was not legitimated by the subsequent void marriage, and the two younger Mory children were not legitimate. As illegitimate children, they could not represent their mother in the succession to Werthmuller’s estate.
The von Kauffman children, as the legitimate offspring of Leona, were her only legal heirs and the proper parties to represent her in claiming her legitime from Werthmuller’s estate.
3. No. The order of distribution is not conclusive against minor heirs who were not parties to the proceeding and were given no notice, whether personal or by publication. The rights of forced heirs vest immediately upon the death of the decedent. The probate decree only establishes the will’s due execution, not its intrinsic validity regarding the deprivation of legitimes. The ex parte distribution proceeding under the then Code of Civil Procedure, conducted without notice, could not divest the vested rights of absent heirs.

DISPOSITIVE:
The judgment of Judge Mariano admitting Leontina Elizabeth Mory to the estate was reversed. The decision of Judge Powell admitting the von Kauffman children (Elena, Federico, and Ernesto) to share equally in one-third of the estate (the legitime that would have belonged to their mother, Leona) was affirmed. Costs were to be paid from the estate.