SUCCESSION DIGEST PRELIM #14

1995: Domingo sold the 4,500 sq. m. to his nephew, Eleazar.

G.R. No. 188417 : September 24, 2012

May 1996: The remaining 4,500 sq. m was registered under his
name.

MILAGROS DE BELEN VDA. DE CABALU, MELITON CABALU,

SPS. ANGELA CABALU and RODOLFO TALAVERA, and
PATRICIO ABUS, Petitioners,
August 1996: Domingo passed away.
v.
SPS. RENATO DOLORES TABU and LAXAMANA, Municipal
Trial Court in Cities, Tarlac City, Branch II, Respondents.

FACTS:

October 1996 [2 months after]: Domingo allegedly executed a

Deed of Absolute Sale in favor of R Tabu.
Rs Spouses Tabu subdivided the said lot into 2.

1941: Faustina died without any children.

Faustina left a holographic will, which was not probated [1939],
assigning and distributing her property to her nephews and nieces.
One of her nephews is Benjamin Laxamana, who died in 1960 and
the father of Domingo.
In 1975, Domingo allegedly executed a Deed of Sale of Undivided
Parcel of Land, disposing of his 9,000 square meter share to
Laureano Cabalu, petitioners father.

1994: The forced and legitimate heirs of Faustina executed a

Deed of Extra-judicial Succession with Partition, to give effect to the
holographic will.

1999: R Dolores, together the heirs of Domingo filed an unlawful

detainer action against petitioners and all persons claiming rights
under them.
The heirs claimed that Ps were merely allowed to occupy the lot
by their late father Domingo, and that they refused to vacate the
same.

Petitioners filed cases claiming that they were the lawful owners
of the property because it was sold to their father, Laureano Cabalu
[1975].
- Thus, being the rightful owners by way of succession, they
could not be ejected from the property.

The deed imparted 9,000 sq. m. to Domingo

R Spouses countered that:

1. The Deed of Sale in 1975 was null and void because

Domingo was not yet the owner of the property, as the
same was still registered in the name of Faustina.

- Thus, the 1975 Deed of Sale in favor of Laureano was null

and void.

- Domingo became the owner only on August 1,

1994.
2. Domingo was of unsound mind because he was confined
in a mental institution for a time.

Domingos status as an heir of Faustina by right of representation,

the TCT covering the 9,000 sq. m. property is valid, as this served
as the inheritance of Domingo from Faustina.

Sale to R Tabu
ISSUE:
1) W/N the Deed of Sale of Undivided Parcel of Land
covering the 9,000 square meter property executed by
Domingo in favor of Laureano Cabalu on March 5, 1975, is
valid - NO
2) W/N the Deed of Sale, dated October 8, 1996, covering
the 4,500 square meter portion of the 9,000 square meter
property, executed by Domingo in favor of Renato Tabu, is
null and void - YES

RULING:
In this case, at the time the deed was executed, Faustinas will
was not yet probated; the object of the contract, the 9,000 square
meter property, still formed part of the inheritance of his father
from the estate of Faustina; and Domingo had a mere inchoate
hereditary right therein.
Domingo became the owner of the said property only on August
1, 1994, the time of execution of the Deed of Extrajudicial
Succession with Partition by the heirs of Faustina, when the 9,000
square meter lot was adjudicated to him.

The deed covering the remaining 4,500 sq. m. in favor of R Tabu

is null and void.
The deed itself [October 1996] shows that it was executed more
than 2 months after the death of Domingo.
To form a valid and legal agreement, it is necessary that there be
a party capable of contracting and a party capable of being
contracted with.
- Thus, if any one party to a supposed contract was already
dead at the time of its execution, such contract is
undoubtedly simulated and false and, therefore, null and
void by reason of its having been made after the death of
the party who appears as one of the contracting parties
therein.
- The death of a person terminates contractual capacity.
The contract being null and void, the sale to R Tabu produced no
legal effects and transmitted no rights.
- Thus, the TCTs both registered in the name of Spouses
Tabu are void.