G.R. No. L-23096 & L-23376 April 27, 1972
MARTIN NERY and LEONCIA L. DE LEON, petitioners, vs. ROSARIO, ALFREDO, MARIANO, PACIFICO, ONOFRE, TEOFILO, LOLOY and TRINIDAD, all surnamed LORENZO, respondents. DIONISIO, PERFECTO, MARIA REBECCA, ASUNCION, MAURO, and LOURDES, all surnamed LORENZO, petitioners, vs. MARTIN NERY and LEONCIA L. DE LEON, respondents.

FACTS

The case involves a parcel of land originally owned by Florentino Ferrer and his siblings. Upon Florentino’s death, a 1943 sale document transferred a 3/4 undivided portion to Leoncio Lorenzo, husband of Bienvenida de la Isla. The remaining 1/4 portion belonged to Silvestra Ferrer, who did not participate in the sale. After Leoncio’s death, Bienvenida, as guardian of their minor children, petitioned the probate court for authority to sell the entire property. An order was granted in 1953, and she sold the land to spouses Martin Nery and Leoncia de Leon.
The children of Leoncio Lorenzo and Bienvenida de la Isla challenged the sale’s validity, contending the guardianship court lacked jurisdiction because the two eldest children, both over 14 years old, were not notified of the petition as required by law. The heirs of Silvestra Ferrer also intervened, claiming their 1/4 share. The lower court declared the sale null and void as to the children’s 1/2 share of the 3/4 portion and recognized the Ferrer heirs’ 1/4 ownership. The Court of Appeals modified this, upholding the sale of the entire 3/4 portion but allowing the children to claim their share of the proceeds from their mother.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in upholding the validity of the sale concerning the shares of the minor children despite jurisdictional defects in the guardianship proceedings.

RULING

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the lower court’s decision with modification. The legal logic centers on the mandatory nature of procedural requirements in guardianship proceedings. The Court emphasized that for the probate court to acquire jurisdiction over the persons of minors in a guardianship petition, notice must be given to minors above fourteen years of age. The failure to notify the two elder Lorenzo children, who were over fourteen, constituted a grave jurisdictional defect. Consequently, all subsequent orders issued by the probate court, including the authority to sell the property, were null and void.
Thus, the sale executed by the guardian, Bienvenida de la Isla, was invalid insofar as it covered the shares of the minor children in the conjugal property. The children rightfully owned one-half of the three-fourths portion that pertained to their parents. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s recognition of the Ferrer heirs’ one-fourth share, as there was no evidence of acquisitive prescription by Leoncio Lorenzo’s successors. The Nery spouses could not be considered purchasers in good faith as to the children’s shares due to the patent jurisdictional flaw. The children’s ownership rights were restored in full.