GR L 45430; (April, 1939) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-45430; April 15, 1939
In the matter of the estate of the deceased Paulina Vasquez Vda. de Garcia. TERESA GARCIA, plaintiff-appellant, vs. LUISA GARCIA, MARIETA GARCIA, and PURIFICACION GARCIA, and BRAULIO DE VERA, guardian of the minors Antonio, Lourdes and Ramon, surnamed De Vera, defendants-appellees.
FACTS
In the intestate proceedings for the estate of Paulina Vasquez Vda. de Garcia, the special administratrix, Luisa Garcia, filed an inventory of the estate properties. Heir Teresa Garcia objected to this inventory, claiming certain properties were wrongfully excluded. The probate court initially denied her petition to include these properties, without prejudice to her filing an ordinary action. Teresa Garcia then filed a motion to be appointed as a special administratrix for the sole purpose of recovering the alleged estate properties. The court denied this motion and, upon reconsideration, ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear and determine, for inventory purposes, whether the disputed properties belonged prima facie to the estate. Teresa Garcia appealed, arguing the probate court lacked such jurisdiction.
ISSUE
Whether a probate court, in intestate proceedings, has jurisdiction to hear and pass upon an heir’s exceptions to the inventory regarding the inclusion or exclusion of specific properties and credits.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the probate court’s order. A court that acquires jurisdiction over the estate of a deceased person through testate or intestate proceedings has the inherent power and duty to ensure the inventory filed by the administrator is complete. This includes the power to determine, for the purposes of the inventory alone, whether properties or credits should be included or excluded on a prima facie basis. Such a determination is not final or conclusive as to ownership; it is without prejudice to the right of interested parties to raise the question of ownership in a separate proper action. Since Teresa Garcia withdrew her opposition during the hearing, she could not later complain about the suspension of the proceedings. The Court reserved her right to ask for the reopening of the hearing on her opposition and for the appointment of a special administratrix in accordance with law.
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