8epubllc of Lhe hlllpplnes

Su8LML CCu81
Manlla

Ln 8AnC

uLClSlCn

!anuary 31, 1987


ln Lhls eLlLlon for 8evlew of Lwo (2) Crders of Lhe CourL of llrsL lnsLance of Cebu
Lhe quesLlon ralsed ls wheLher Lhe wldow whose husband predeceased hls moLher
can lnherlL from Lhe laLLer, her moLher-ln-law.

lL appears from Lhe record of Lhe case LhaL on lebruary 26, 1971, Mrs. eLra v.
8osales, a resldenL of Cebu ClLy, dled lnLesLaLe. She was survlved by her husband
lorLunaLe 1. 8osales and Lhelr Lwo (2) chlldren Magna 8osales Acebes and AnLonlo
8osales. AnoLher chlld, CarLerlo 8osales, predeceased her, leavlng behlnd a chlld,
Maclkequerox 8osales, and hls wldow lrenea C. 8osales, Lhe hereln peLlLloner. 1he
esLaLe of Lhe dlsmlssed has an esLlmaLed gross value of abouL 1hlrLy 1housand
esos (30,000.00).

Cn !uly 10, 1971, Magna 8osales Acebes lnsLlLuLed Lhe proceedlngs for Lhe
seLLlemenL of Lhe esLaLe of Lhe deceased ln Lhe CourL of llrsL lnsLance of Cebu. 1he
case was dockeLed as Speclal roceedlngs no. 3204-8. 1hereafLer, Lhe Lrlal courL
appolnLed Magna 8osales Acebes admlnlsLraLrlx of Lhe sald esLaLe.

ln Lhe course of Lhe lnLesLaLe proceedlngs, Lhe Lrlal courL lssued an Crder daLed
!une 16, 1972 declarlng Lhe followlng ln lndlvlduals Lhe legal helrs of Lhe deceased
and prescrlblng Lhelr respecLlve share of Lhe esLaLe ?

lorLunaLa 1. 8osales (husband), 1/4, Magna 8. Acebes (daughLer), 1/4,
Maclkequerox 8osales, 1/4, and AnLonlo 8osales son, 1/4.

1hls declaraLlon was relLeraLed by Lhe Lrlal courL ln lLs Crder l daLed lebruary 4,
1973.

1hese Crders noLwlLhsLandlng, lrenea 8osales lnslsLed ln geLLlng a share of Lhe
esLaLe ln her capaclLy as Lhe survlvlng spouse of Lhe laLe CarLerlo 8osales, son of
Lhe deceased, clalmlng LhaL she ls a compulsory helr of her moLher-ln-law LogeLher
wlLh her son, Maclkequerox 8osales.

1hus, lrenea 8osales soughL Lhe reconslderaLlon of Lhe aforemenLloned Crders. 1he
Lrlal courL denled her plea. Pence Lhls peLlLlon.

ln sum, Lhe peLlLloner poses Lwo (2) quesLlons for Cur resoluLlon peLlLlon. llrsL ? ls
a wldow (survlvlng spouse) an lnLesLaLe helr of her moLher-ln-law? Second ? are
Lhe Crders of Lhe Lrlal courL whlch excluded Lhe wldow from geLLlng a share of Lhe
esLaLe ln quesLlon flnal as agalnsL Lhe sald wldow?

Cur answer Lo Lhe flrsL quesLlon ls ln Lhe negaLlve.

lnLesLaLe or legal helrs are classlfled lnLo Lwo (2) groups, namely, Lhose who lnherlL
by Lhelr own rlghL, and Lhose who lnherlL by Lhe rlghL of represenLaLlon. 1 8esLaLed,
an lnLesLaLe helr can only lnherlL elLher by hls own rlghL, as ln Lhe order of lnLesLaLe
successlon provlded for ln Lhe Clvll Code, 2 or by Lhe rlghL of represenLaLlon
provlded for ln ArLlcle 981 of Lhe same law. 1he relevanL provlslons of Lhe Clvll
Code are:

ArL. 980. 1he chlldren of Lhe deceased shall always lnherlL from hlm ln Lhelr own
rlghL, dlvldlng Lhe lnherlLance ln equal shares.

ArL. 981. Should chlldren of Lhe deceased and descendanLs of oLher chlldren who
are dead, survlve, Lhe former shall lnherlL ln Lhelr own rlghL, and Lhe laLLer by rlghL
of represenLaLlon.

ArL. 982. 1he grandchlldren and oLher descendanLs shag lnherlL by rlghL of
represenLaLlon, and lf any one of Lhem should have dled, leavlng several helrs, Lhe
porLlon perLalnlng Lo hlm shall be dlvlded among Lhe laLLer ln equal porLlons.

ArL. 999. When Lhe wldow or wldower survlves wlLh leglLlmaLe chlldren or Lhelr
descendanLs and llleglLlmaLe chlldren or Lhelr descendanLs, wheLher leglLlmaLe or
llleglLlmaLe, such wldow or wldower shall be enLlLled Lo Lhe same share as LhaL of a
leglLlmaLe chlld.

1here ls no provlslon ln Lhe Clvll Code whlch sLaLes LhaL a wldow (survlvlng spouse)
ls an lnLesLaLe helr of her moLher-ln-law. 1he enLlre Code ls devold of any provlslon
whlch enLlLles her Lo lnherlL from her moLher-ln- law elLher by her own rlghL or by
Lhe rlghL of represenLaLlon. 1he provlslons of Lhe Code whlch relaLe Lo Lhe order of
lnLesLaLe successlon (ArLlcles 978 Lo 1014) enumeraLe wlLh meLlculous exacLlLude
Lhe lnLesLaLe helrs of a decedenL, wlLh Lhe SLaLe as Lhe flnal lnLesLaLe helr. 1he
consplcuous absence of a provlslon whlch makes a daughLer-ln-law an lnLesLaLe
helr of Lhe deceased all Lhe more conflrms Cur observaLlon. lf Lhe leglslaLure
lnLended Lo make Lhe survlvlng spouse an lnLesLaLe helr of Lhe parenL-ln-law, lL
would have so provlded ln Lhe Code.

eLlLloner argues LhaL she ls a compulsory helr ln accordance wlLh Lhe provlslons of
ArLlcle 887 of Lhe Clvll Code whlch provldes LhaL:

ArL. 887. 1he followlng are compulsory helrs:

(1) LeglLlmaLe chlldren and descendanLs, wlLh respecL Lo Lhelr leglLlmaLe parenLs
and ascendanLs,

(2) ln defaulL of Lhe foregolng, leglLlmaLe parenLs and ascendanLs, wlLh respecL Lo
Lhelr leglLlmaLe chlldren and descendanLs,

(3) 1he wldow or wldower,

(4) Acknowledged naLural chlldren, and naLural chlldren by legal flcLlon,

(3) CLher llleglLlmaLe chlldren referred Lo ln arLlcle 287,

Compulsory helrs menLloned ln nos. 3, 4 and 3 are noL excluded by Lhose ln nos. 1
and 2, nelLher do Lhey exclude one anoLher.

ln all cases of llleglLlmaLe chlldren, Lhelr flllaLlon musL be duly proved.

1he faLher or moLher of llleglLlmaLe chlldren of Lhe Lhree classes menLloned, shall
lnherlL from Lhem ln Lhe manner and Lo Lhe exLenL esLabllshed by Lhls Code.

1he aforesald provlslon of law 3 refers Lo Lhe esLaLe of Lhe deceased spouse ln
whlch case Lhe survlvlng spouse (wldow or wldower) ls a compulsory helr. lL does
noL apply Lo Lhe esLaLe of a parenL-ln-law.

lndeed, Lhe survlvlng spouse ls consldered a Lhlrd person as regards Lhe esLaLe of
Lhe parenL-ln-law. We had occaslon Lo make Lhls observaLlon ln Lachenal v. Salas, 4
Lo WlL:

We hold LhaL Lhe LlLle Lo Lhe flshlng boaL should be deLermlned ln Clvll Case no.
3397 (noL ln Lhe lnLesLaLe proceedlng) because lL affecLs Lhe lessee Lhereof, Lope L.
Leonclo, Lhe decedenL's son-ln-law, who, alLhough marrled Lo hls daughLer or
compulsory helr, ls neverLheless a Lhlrd person wlLh respecL Lo hls esLaLe. ...
(Lmphasls supplled).

8y Lhe same Loken, Lhe provlslon of ArLlcle 999 of Lhe Clvll Code aforeclLed does
noL supporL peLlLloner's clalm. A careful examlnaLlon of Lhe sald ArLlcle conflrms
LhaL Lhe esLaLe conLemplaLed Lhereln ls Lhe esLaLe of Lhe deceased spouse. 1he
esLaLe whlch ls Lhe sub[ecL maLLer of Lhe lnLesLaLe esLaLe proceedlngs ln Lhls case ls
LhaL of Lhe deceased eLra v. 8osales, Lhe moLher-ln-law of Lhe peLlLloner. lL ls from
Lhe esLaLe of eLra v. 8osales LhaL Maclkequerox 8osales draws a share of Lhe
lnherlLance by Lhe rlghL of represenLaLlon as provlded by ArLlcle 981 of Lhe Code.

1he essence and naLure of Lhe rlghL of represenLaLlon ls explalned by ArLlcles 970
and 971 of Lhe Clvll Code, vlz ?

ArL. 970. 8epresenLaLlon ls a rlghL creaLed by flcLlon of law, by vlrLue of whlch Lhe
represenLaLlve ls ralsed Lo Lhe place and Lhe degree of Lhe person represenLed, and
acqulres Lhe rlghLs whlch Lhe laLLer would have lf he were llvlng or lf he could have
lnherlLed.

ArL. 971. 1he represenLaLlve ls called Lo Lhe successlon by Lhe law and noL by Lhe
person represenLed. 1he represenLaLlve does noL succeed Lhe person represenLed
buL Lhe one whom Lhe person represenLed would have succeeded. (Lmphasls
supplled.)

ArLlcle 971 expllclLly declares LhaL Maclkequerox 8osales ls called Lo successlon by
law because of hls blood relaLlonshlp. Pe does noL succeed hls faLher, CarLerlo
8osales (Lhe person represenLed) who predeceased hls grandmoLher, eLra
8osales, buL Lhe laLLer whom hls faLher would have succeeded. eLlLloner cannoL
asserL Lhe same rlghL of represenLaLlon as she has no flllaLlon by blood wlLh her
moLher-ln-law.

eLlLloner however conLends LhaL aL Lhe Llme of Lhe deaLh of her husband CarLerlo
8osales he had an lnchoaLe or conLlngenL rlghL Lo Lhe properLles of eLra 8osales as
compulsory helr. 8e LhaL as lL may, sald rlghL of her husband was exLlngulshed by
hls deaLh LhaL ls why lL ls Lhelr son Maclkequerox 8osales who succeeded from
eLra 8osales by rlghL of represenLaLlon. Pe dld noL succeed from hls deceased
faLher, CarLerlo 8osales.

Cn Lhe basls of Lhe foregolng observaLlons and concluslons, We flnd lL unnecessary
Lo pass upon Lhe second quesLlon posed by Lhe peLlLloner.

Accordlngly, lL ls Cur consldered oplnlon, and We so hold, LhaL a survlvlng spouse ls
noL an lnLesLaLe helr of hls or her parenL-ln-law.

WPL8LlC8L, ln vlew of Lhe foregolng, Lhe eLlLlon ls hereby uLnlLu for lack of
merlL, wlLh cosLs agalnsL Lhe peLlLloner. LeL Lhls case be remanded Lo Lhe Lrlal-courL
for furLher proceedlngs.

SC C8uL8Lu.