Lim v. IAC
GR L-69679, October 18, 1988
FACTS:
This is a contest over the estate of the late Dra Esperanza Cabatbat. The petitioner Violeta who claims to be her only child and respondents are the sisters of the doctor and the children of her deceased brothers. The IAC found Violeta not to be the offspring of Dra and hence, not a legal heir. Respondents allege that Violeta is merely a ward (ampon) of the Spouses Esperanza and Proceso, without benefit of the adoption proceedings.
ISSUE:
Can Violeta inherit from the Dra Esperanza?
RULING:
NO. She is not the decedent’s child. Being neither legally adopted, nor an acknowledged natural child, nor a child by legal fiction of Esperanza, Violeta is not a legal heir of the deceased because there was no record that Esperanza was admitted to the hospital where Violeta was born on the day of her birth; no certificate of live birth in the hospital and in the civil registrar; certification from Violeta’s school that the spouses were listed as guardians and not as parents; and there was a testimony of a person who met a patient named Benita Lastimosa who gave birth to a baby girl who grew up to be Violeta. The following are proof of her non-filiation thus not entitled to inherit at all.
