Testate of Estate of Ramirez v. Ramirez, et al.
GR No. L-27962, February 15, 1982
FACTS:
Jose Eugenio Ramirez died leaving as principal beneficiaries his widow, MarcelleSemoron de Ramirez, a French woman; his two grandnephews Roberto and Jorge Ramirez; and his companion Wanda de Wrobleski. His will was admitted to probate by the Court of First Instance. According to the will ½ shall go to Marcelle in full ownership plus usufruct of the 1/3 of the whole estate; the grandsons shall have the ½ of the whole estate; and a usufruct in favour of Wanda.
ISSUE:
Is the partition according to the will valid?
RULING:
No. As to the usufruct granted to Marcelle, the court ruled that to give Marcelle more than her legitime will run counter to the testator’s intention for his dispositions even impaired her legitime and tended to favor Wanda.As to the usufruct in favour of Wanda, the Court upheld its validity. The Constitutional provision which enables aliens to acquire private lands does not extend to testamentary succession for otherwise the prohibition will be for naught and meaningless. Any alien would be able to circumvent the prohibition by paying money to a Philippine landowner in exchange for devise of a piece of land. Notwithstanding this, the Court upholds the usufruct in favour of Wanda because a usufruct does not vest title to the land in the usufructuary and it is the vesting of title to aliens which is proscribed by the Constitution.
The court distributed the estate by: ½ to his widow and ½ to the grandsons but the usufruct of the second half shall go to Wanda.
