Case Digest: BOLAÑOS v. ZUÑIGA, et. al.

Sps. Mariano and Emma Bolaños v. Roscef Zuñiga, et. al.
G.R. No. 180997, November 17, 2010

FACTS:

Roman Zuñiga, Sr. married twice during his lifetime. With his first wife, Flavia, he sired seven children, namely: Josefina, Flavia, Woodrow, Pablo, Manuel, Roman, Jr. and Cresencia. When the wife died, Roman married CeferinaBendaña with whom he had four children, herein named private respondents. The case arose when Flavia (Roman’s daughter), without authority from her co-heirs/co-owners of the lot they inherited from their deceased father, sold the same to her sister Cresencia. Cresencia, in turn, executed a notarized Deed of Absolute Sale in favor of petitioner-spouses. As a result, private respondents filed a complaint for declaration of partial nullity of deeds of transfer. The RTC as well as the CA ruled that petitioner-spouses have only acquired ownership over the undivided shares of Flavia and Cresencia.

ISSUE:

Whether or not petitioner-spouses have acquired ownership over the whole of the property subject of the dispute.

RULING:

No. In the case at hand, although the 11 legitimate children of the decedent father were born from different marriages, the provisions of the Civil Code under Articles 979 and 980 acknowledge legitimate children’s right to inherit from the decedent in equal shares. Since there was no partition among Roman’s children, the lot was owned by them in common. Following the laws in co-ownership, a co-owner could only dispose of his/her aliquot share in the property co-owned. Thus, what Flavia was able to transfer was her aliquot share to Cresencia. Consequently, what Cresencia sold to petitioner spouses was her own share and Flavia’s share in the property, which was only 2/11 of the subject property.

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