G.R. No. L-45170; April 10, 1939
ARSENIO DE VERA, et al., plaintiffs-appellants, vs. CLEOTILDE GALAURAN, defendant-appellee.

FACTS

Arsenio de Vera, as surviving spouse of the deceased Isabel Domingo and as guardian ad litem for their six minor children, filed an action to annul a deed of sale of a registered parcel of land. They alleged that the document, which they believed to be a mortgage contract, was actually a pacto de retro sale executed in favor of defendant Cleotilde Galauran. The defendant demurred, arguing that the plaintiffs had no cause of action because they had not been judicially declared legal heirs in a special proceeding. The trial court sustained the demurrer and dismissed the case.

ISSUE

Whether legal heirs must first be judicially declared as such in a special proceeding before they can commence an ordinary action arising from a right belonging to their deceased ancestor.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s order of dismissal. It held that when no special proceeding for the settlement of the estate of a deceased person is pending, the legal heirs may institute an ordinary action to enforce a right that belonged to their ancestor without the need for a prior judicial declaration of their status as heirs. If the heirs are minors, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem for them. The case was remanded to the lower court for further proceedings.

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