G.R. No. 166236, 29 July 2010, 626 SCRA 149

FACTS:

Spouses Henry and Liwanag Andres filed a complaint for accion publiciana with damages against Noli Alfonso and spouses Reynaldo and Erlinda Fundialan on the ground that Jose sold the lot in question without publication of the extrajudicial settlement.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the publication of deed of extrajudicial settlement is needed to pass title to the heirs.

HELD:

No. Art 777 provides that the properties of a person who dies intestate passes at once to his heirs. Such transmission is subject to the claims of administration and the property may be taken from the heirs for the purpose of paying debts and expenses, but this does not prevent an immediate passage of the title, upon the death of the intestate, from himself to his heirs.
The deed of extrajudicial settlement executed by Filomena Santos Vda. de Alfonso and Jose evidences their intention to partition the inherited property. In Alejandrino v. Court of Appeals, the Court upheld the effectivity of a deed of extrajudicial settlement that was neither notarized nor published. It delineated what portion of the inherited property would belong to whom. The sale to respondents was made after the execution of the deed of extrajudicial settlement of the estate. The extrajudicial settlement of estate, even though not published, being deemed a partition of the inherited property, Jose could validly transfer ownership over the specific portion of the property that was assigned to him.

*Case digest by Rosemarie Baliquig, LLB-4, Andres Bonifacio Law School, SY 2018-2019