Celedonia Solivio v. Court of Appeals
G.R. No. 83484, February 12, 1990
FACTS:
On October 11, 1959, Esteban Javellana, Jr.’s mother Salustia died leaving all her property, including a house and lot in La Paz, Iloilo City, to him. Esteban Jr,” died a bachelor, without descendants, ascendants, brothers, sisters, nephews or nieces. His only surviving relatives are: (1) his maternal aunt, petitioner CeledoniaSolivio, the spinster half-sister of his mother, SalustiaSolivio; and (2) the private respondent, Concordia Javellana-Villanueva, sister of his deceased father, Esteban Javellana, Sr.
Pursuant to an agreement between Concordia and Celedonia, the latter would take care of the proceedings leading to the formation of the foundation. Celedonia in good faith and upon the advice of her counsel, filed for a Special Proceeding for her appointment as special administratrix of the estate of Esteban Javellana, Jr., praying that letters of administration be issued to her; that she be declared sole heir of the deceased; and that after payment of all claims and rendition of inventory and
accounting, the estate be adjudicated to her.
Concordia filed a civil case in the RTC of Iloilo for partition, recovery of possession, ownership and damages. Celedonia averred that the estate of Esteban Jr. was subject to reservatroncal and thus it should redound to her as a relative within the 3rd degree on his mother side.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the estate of the deceased was subject to reservatroncal and that it pertains to her as his only relative within the third degree on his mother’s side
RULING:
No. There is no merit in the petitioner’s argument that the estate of the deceased was subject to reservatroncal, and that it pertains to her as his only relative within the third degree on his mother’s side. The reservatroncal provision of the Civil Code is found in Article 891 which reads as follows:
ART. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree and who belong to the line from which said property came.
The persons involved in reservatroncal are:
-
The person obliged to reserve is the reservor (reservista)—the
ascendant who inherits by operation of law property from his descendants. -
The persons for whom the property is reserved are the reservees (reservatarios)—relatives within the third degree counted from the descendant (propositus), and belonging to the line from which the property came.
-
The propositus—the descendant who received by gratuitous title and died without issue, making his other ascendant inherit by operation of law. (p. 692, Civil Law by Padilla, Vol. II, 1956 Ed.)
Clearly, the property of the deceased, Esteban Javellana, Jr., is not reservable property, for Esteban, Jr. was not an ascendant, but the descendant of his mother, Salustia Solivio, from whom he inherited the properties in question. Therefore, he did not hold his inheritance subject to a reservation in favor of his aunt, Celedonia Solivio, who is his relative within the third degree on his mother’s side. The reservatroncal applies to properties inherited by an ascendant from a descendant who inherited it from another ascendant or a brother or sister. It does not apply to property inherited by a descendant from his ascendant, the reverse of the situation covered by Article 891.
