a. Limited and Special Jurisdiction Romero vs. CA, G.R. No. 188921, 18 April 2012

a. Limited and Special Jurisdiction

Romero vs. CA, 

G.R. No. 188921, 18 April 2012


FACTS The case involves a Petition filed under Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, seeking to reverse the Court of Appeals' decision dated April 14, 2009, which dismissed the petitioners' Certiorari Petition. The petitioners, Leo and Amando Romero, alleged that their mother, Aurora Romero, fraudulently sold several properties to their brother, Vittorio Romero, under duress. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) dismissed their complaint, stating that the resolution of their claims must first be addressed in ongoing intestate proceedings regarding their father's estate. The petitioners discovered in 2006 that various properties, which they claimed were conjugal, had been registered in Vittorio's name through fraudulent means. They filed a complaint for annulment of sale and nullification of title against Aurora and Vittorio. The RTC ruled that the intestate court must first determine the heirs' shares in the estate before adjudicating the claims. The Court of Appeals affirmed this decision, leading the petitioners to argue that they should be allowed to file a separate civil action to protect their interests, despite the pending intestate proceedings. Whether or not petitioners in this case may file a separate civil action for annulment of sale and reconveyance of title, despite the pendency of the settlement proceedings for the estate of the late Judge Dante Y. Romero.


RULING No, because as an exemption, question of ownership may be decided by the probate court if the interested parties are the heirs who have all appeared in the intestate proceeding. Under the Law, although generally, a probate court may not decide a question of title or ownership, yet if the interested parties are all heirs, or the question is one of collation or advancement, or the parties consent to the assumption of jurisdiction by the probate court and the rights of third parties are not impaired, then the probate court is competent to decide the question of ownership.


Here, the instant case may be treated as an exception to the general rule that questions of title should be ventilated in a separate action. Here, the probate court had already received evidence on the ownership of the twelve-hectare portion during the hearing of the motion for its exclusion from (the) inventory. The only interested parties are the heirs who have all appeared in the intestate proceeding. Thus, the question of ownership may be decided by the probate court








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