On October 13, 1908, Ricardo Lopez et
al. brought suit against Adolfo Olbes, the testamentary executor of
the deceased Martina Lopez (the mother of Ricardo and grandmother of
the other plaintiffs), alleging in their complaint that Martina
executed a
public instrument whereby she donated to plaintiffs a parcel of hemp land situated at the place called Ali, in the pueblo of Guinobatan, Albay and that the said Olbes, as executor, claimed to have rights of ownership and possession to the said land adverse to those then held by the plaintiffs, inasmuch as the said estate still continued to belong to the deceased Martina Lopez and was then in charge of a trustee by virtue of an agreement had between the attorneys of the executor and the plaintiff Ricardo, and of the order issued by the court in the aforesaid probate proceedings. The complaint concluded by asking that judgment be rendered in the latter’s favor and against the defendant for the ownership and possession of the said land.
public instrument whereby she donated to plaintiffs a parcel of hemp land situated at the place called Ali, in the pueblo of Guinobatan, Albay and that the said Olbes, as executor, claimed to have rights of ownership and possession to the said land adverse to those then held by the plaintiffs, inasmuch as the said estate still continued to belong to the deceased Martina Lopez and was then in charge of a trustee by virtue of an agreement had between the attorneys of the executor and the plaintiff Ricardo, and of the order issued by the court in the aforesaid probate proceedings. The complaint concluded by asking that judgment be rendered in the latter’s favor and against the defendant for the ownership and possession of the said land.
The defendant filed a demurrer in
writing alleging that the plaintiffs, as the heirs or donees could
not maintain any suit against the testamentary executor to recover
the title or possession of the land so long as the court had not
adjudicated the estate to them or until the time allowed for paying
the debts should have expired, unless they be given possession of the
said land by the executor. The trial court sustained the demurrer of
the defendant and dismissed the case.
ISSUE:
W/N the plaintiffs have the right of
ownership and possession over the parcel of hemp land?
HELD:
Yes. The action exercised by Ricardo et
al is based on the rights which as such donees had acquired by virtue
of the donation inter vivos made by Martina Lopez during her lifetime
on favor of plaintiffs by an instrument the donor, a donation
expressly accepted on the same date by the donees and of which
acceptance the donor was also informed on the same date; wherefore,
these requirements of the law having been complied with, it is
unquestionable that the dominion over the land donated was properly
transmitted to the donees who in fact and by operation of law
acquired the ownership of the property, as customarily occurs in all
contracts of transfer of dominion.
Property of the testate estate of the
deceased Martina Lopez is not here concerned. During her lifetime she
gave away the land mentioned, in the exercise pertained to her as
owner. By virtue of the said donation the sole and true owners of the
land donated are the plaintiffs, so long as said donation is not
proven null, inefficacious, or irregular. All the questions which by
reason of the same are raised by the interested parties must be heard
in a regular trial and decided by a final judgment absolutely
independent of the probate proceedings concerning the estate of the
deceased, who was the previous owner of the land concerned; and
therefore the complaint of the donees should not have been dismissed,
but the trial should have been proceeded with to final judgment.
Digested by Dela Cerna