Production and Probate of Will San Luis vs. San Luis, G.R. No. 133743, 06 February 2007

Production and Probate of Will

San Luis vs. San Luis, 

G.R. No. 133743, 06 February 2007


FACTS The instant case involves the settlement of the estate of Felicisimo T. San Luis, former governor of the Province of Laguna. Felicisimo was married three times. His first wife, Virginia Sulit, predeceased him in 1963. He later married Merry Lee Corwin in 1968, but their marriage ended in divorce in 1973. In 1974, he married respondent Felicidad San Luis, with whom he lived until his death on December 18, 1992. Following his death, Felicidad filed a petition for letters of administration before the Regional Trial Court of Makati City, alleging that at the time of his death, Felicisimo was residing in New Alabang Village, Alabang, Metro Manila. Petitioner Rodolfo San Luis, Felicisimo’s son from his first marriage, moved to dismiss the petition, arguing that the proper venue was the Province of Laguna, as this was Felicisimo’s place of residence prior to his death. The trial court ruled in Rodolfo’s favor, holding that since Felicisimo was the elected governor of Laguna, he was a resident of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, making it the correct venue for estate settlement. Felicidad appealed to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the trial court’s ruling. The appellate court held that under Section 1, Rule 73 of the Rules of Court, the "place of residence" for estate settlement purposes refers to actual physical habitation rather than legal residence or domicile. Since Felicisimo lived in Alabang, Muntinlupa, the petition was properly filed in Makati City. Rodolfo and his brother Edgar challenged this decision, insisting that venue was improperly laid because Felicisimo’s legal residence was in Sta. Cruz, Laguna. They argued that under case law, "residence" is synonymous with "domicile," which refers to a fixed permanent residence to which one intends to return. (1) whether venue was properly laid, and (2) whether respondent has legal capacity to file the subject petition for letters of administration.


RULING Yes because  “resides” should be viewed or understood in its popular sense, meaning, the personal, actual or physical habitation of a person, actual residence or place of abode.


Under Section 1, Rule 73 of the Rules of Court, the petition for letters of administration of the estate of Felicisimo should be filed in the Regional Trial Court of the province “in which he resides at the time of his death.”


Thus, for purpose of fixing venue in this case, the residence of Felicisimo T. San Luis is his personal, actual or physical habitation, or actual residence or place of abode, which may not necessarily be his legal residence or domicile provided he resides therein with continuity and consistency. Hence, it is possible that a person may have his residence in one place and domicile in another.







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