G.R. No. 141882

J.L.T. AGRO, INC., REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGER, JULIAN L.
TEVES, PETITIONER VS. ANTONIO BALANSAG AND HILARIA

CADAYDAY, RESPONDENT
G.R. No. 141882, 11 March 2005
TINGA, J.:
FACTS:
During his lifetime, Don Julian L. Teves (Don Julian) contracted marriage
twice. First, with Antonia Baena and second, with Milagros Donio Teves. In the
first marriage, he had two children, Josefa and Emilio. In the second marriage, he
had four children, Maria, Jose, Milagros and Pedro, all surname Teves. There was
a property Lot No. 63 which was originally registered under the names of Julian
and Antonia (TCT 5203) forming part of their conjugal partnership. After Antonia
died, Lot No. 63 was among the properties involved in an action for partition. The
parties entered into a Compromise Agreement which embodied the partition of all
the properties of Don Julian. The Agreement showed that a tract of land known as
Hacienda Medalla Milagrosa was to be owned in common by Don Julian and his
two (2) children of the first marriage which would remain undivided during his
lifetime. The two children were given other properties. Lot No. 63 was retained by
Don Julian.
Paragraph 13 of the Compromise Agreement provided that the properties
now selected and adjudicated to Julian L. Teves (not including his share in the
Hacienda Medalla Milgrosa) shall exclusively be adjudicated to the wife in second
marriage of Julian L. Teves and his four minor children, namely, Milagros Donio
Teves, his two acknowledged natural children Milagros Reyes Teves and Pedro
Reyes Teves and his two legitimate children Maria Evelyn Donio Teves and Jose
Catalino Donio Teves.
Subsequently, Don Julian, Emilio and Josefa executed a Deed of
Assignment of Assets with Assumption of Liabilities in favor of J.L.T. Agro, Inc.
Less than a year later, Don Julian, Josefa and Emilio also executed an instrument
which constituted a supplement to the earlier deed of assignment transferred
ownership over Lot No. 63, among other properties, in favor of JLT Agro. On 14
April 1974, Don Julian died intestate.
On the strength of the Supplemental Deed in its favor, JLT Agro, Inc. sought
the registration of the subject lot in its name. A court issued an order canceling
OCT No. 5203 in the name of spouses Don Julian and Antonia on 12 November
1979, and on the same date TCT No. T-375 was issued in the name of JLT Agro.
Since then, JLT Agro has been paying taxes assessed on the subject lot.
Meanwhile, Milagros Donio and her children had immediately taken
possession over the subject lot after the execution of the Compromise Agreement.
In 1974, they entered into a yearly lease agreement with spouses Antonio Balansag
and Hilaria Cadayday. Lot No. 63 was sold to Antonio Balansag and Hilaria
Cadayday. After the death of Don Julian, Milagros Donio and her children
executed a Deed of Extrajudicial Partition of Real Estate where Lot No. 63 was
allotted to Milagros and her two children, Maria and Jose. Unaware that Lot No. 63
has been registered under the name of JLT Agro, Inc., Antonio and Hilaria tried to
register the deed of sale, but failed. They filed a complaint to declare the title of
JLT Agro, Inc. void which was dismissed.
ISSUE:
Whether or not future legitime be determined, adjudicated and reserved
prior to the death of the owner of a property without resulting to preterition
RULING:
The partition inter vivos of the properties of Don Julian is undoubtedly valid
pursuant to Article 1347. However, considering that it would become legally
operative only upon the death of Don Julian, the right of his heirs from the second
marriage to the properties adjudicated to him under the compromise agreement was
but a mere expectancy. It was a bare hope of succession to the property of their
father. Being the prospect of a future acquisition, the interest by its nature was
inchoate. It had no attribute of property, and the interest to which it related was at
the time nonexistent and might never exist. At the time of the execution of the deed
of assignment covering Lot No. 63 in favor of petitioner, Don Julian remained the
owner of the property since ownership over the subject lot would only pass to his
heirs from the second marriage at the time of his death. Thus, as the owner of the
subject lot, Don Julian retained the absolute right to dispose of it during his
lifetime. His right cannot be challenged by Milagros Donio and her children on the
ground that it had already been adjudicated to them by virtue of the compromise
agreement.
Article 854 provides that the preterition or omission of one, some, or all of
the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution
of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir;
but the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious.
Manresa defines preterition as the omission of the heir in the will, either by not
naming him at all or, while mentioning him as father, son, etc., by not instituting
him as heir without disinheriting him expressly, nor assigning to him some part of
the properties. It is the total omission of a compulsory heir in the direct line from
inheritance. Don Julian did not execute a will since what he resorted to was a
partition inter vivos of his properties, as evidenced by the court approved
Compromise Agreement. Thus, it is premature if not irrelevant to speak of
preterition prior to the death of Don Julian in the absence of a will depriving a
legal heir of his legitime. Besides, there are other properties which the heirs from
the second marriage could inherit from Don Julian upon his death; the total
omission from inheritance of Don Julian’s heirs from the second marriage, a
requirement for preterition to exist, is hardly imaginable as it is unfounded.

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J.L.T. AGRO, INC., REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGER, JULIAN L.

TEVES, PETITIONER VS. ANTONIO BALANSAG AND HILARIA

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