Cabardo v. Villanueva
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Plaintiff Rosa Cabardo, assisted by her husband, instituted an action to establish her right as a reservee under Article 811 of the Civil Code to certain properties. These properties were formerly owned by Cornelia Abordo, who died intestate and without issue on October 30, 1918. Cornelia inherited the property from her mother, Basilia Cabardo, and her grandmother, Isabel Macaraya. Upon Cornelia's death, her father, Lorenzo Abordo, inherited the property. Lorenzo Abordo died in December 1920. The plaintiff, Rosa Cabardo, is the sister of Basilia Cabardo, making her the aunt of Cornelia Abordo and a relative within the third degree of the line from which the property came. Procedural History: The Court of First Instance of Laguna ruled in favor of the plaintiff, establishing her right as a reservee. The defendant, Francisco Villanueva, as administrator of Lorenzo Abordo's estate, appealed the decision. The Petition: The defendant-appellant questioned the trial court's application of Article 811 of the Civil Code, the character of the property as reservable, the degree of relationship of the plaintiff to the propositus, and the propriety of maintaining a reivindicatory action against an administrator.
Issue(s)
Whether the properties inherited by Cornelia Abordo from her mother and grandmother are reservable property in the hands of her father, Lorenzo Abordo. Whether the plaintiff, Rosa Cabardo, is within the third degree belonging to the line from which the property was derived. Whether a reivindicatory action to recover property claimed to be reservable can be maintained against an administrator.
Ruling
The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance, upholding the plaintiff's right as a reservee under Article 811 of the Civil Code. The Court ruled that the properties in question were indeed reservable and that the plaintiff was the proper reservee entitled to succeed thereto upon the death of Lorenzo Abordo. The Court also held that the action was maintainable against the administrator.
Ratio Decidendi
On whether the properties are reservable property: The Court held that the properties inherited by Cornelia Abordo from her mother, Basilia Cabardo, and her grandmother, Isabel Macaraya, were impressed with the character of reservable property in the hands of Lorenzo Abordo when he succeeded to them by inheritance from his daughter Cornelia. The Court clarified that it is immaterial whether the property originally pertained to the conjugal partnership or was owned in separate right by the ancestor, as long as the descendant acquired it by inheritance from that ancestor. Furthermore, property acquired by Cornelia from her grandmother by gratuitous title, even if through a partition deed, also pertains to the reservable estate. The Court emphasized that gratuitous title includes donation and testate or intestate succession, where the recipient gives nothing in return. On the plaintiff's degree of relationship: The Court rejected the appellant's contention that Lorenzo Abordo should be treated as the propositus from whom degrees are reckoned. Instead, the Court held that Cornelia Abordo herself is the propositus because she was at the end of the line from which the property came and the person upon whom it last devolved by descent. Lorenzo Abordo was considered a stranger to that line. Therefore, the plaintiff, Rosa Cabardo, being the sister of Basilia Cabardo (Cornelia's mother), is within the third degree of relationship to Cornelia, the propositus, belonging to the line from which the property originated, making her the rightful reservee. On the maintainability of the action against the administrator: The Court ruled that a reivindicatory action to recover property claimed to be reservable can be maintained against an administrator. The Court reasoned that if the property is indeed reservable, any interest Lorenzo Abordo and his heirs had in it terminated with his death. Consequently, the property does not form part of his estate. The Court cited Section 699 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which expressly allows actions to recover possession of real estate claimed by the estate to be maintained against the executor or administrator, implying that such property is not, in legal contemplation, part of the estate being administered.
Main Doctrine
Property acquired by inheritance from a deceased ascendant (mother or grandmother) by a descendant who dies without issue is considered reservable property in the hands of the descendant's surviving parent, who is obligated to reserve the same for the benefit of the relatives of the line from which the property came. The degrees for reckoning the reservataries are counted from the descendant who died without issue, not from the surviving parent who inherited the property.