G.R. No. L-2480; August 31, 1949
FLORENTINO ZAFRA VDA. DE VALENZUELA (deceased), substituted by Socorro Z. Valenzuela, et. al., plaintiff-appellant, vs. IRENE ZAFRA DE AGUILAR, defendant-appellee.

FACTS

Florentina Zafra Vda. de Valenzuela filed an action for partition against her sister Irene Zafra de Aguilar over properties inherited from their mother, Agustina del Castillo. Irene agreed to partition but claimed one parcel was exclusively hers via donation. After both parties presented evidence and submitted the case for decision, the trial court discovered prior intestate proceedings (Civil Case No. 1993) involving the same estate, wherein Florentina had been appointed administratrix. The records of those proceedings were lost and never reconstituted. Motu proprio, the trial judge “reconstituted” the intestate proceedings based on a copy of Florentina’s appointment and an affidavit from the clerk of court, then dismissed the partition case on the ground that the properties were under court control in the intestate proceedings and thus not subject to an ordinary action for partition.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in dismissing the partition case on the basis of reviving the prior intestate proceedings.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the dismissal. The prior intestate proceedings were deemed dead and non-existent after the records were destroyed and never reconstituted by the parties, who instead pursued a new partition action. The trial court acted in excess of its jurisdiction by motu proprio reconstituting and reviving the intestate proceedings. The partition case should have been decided on its merits based on the evidence presented, without regard to the defunct intestate proceedings. The case was remanded to the lower court for decision.

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