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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
In general, a partition is the separation, division, and assignment of a thing held in common among those to whom it may belong. Every act intended to put an end to indivision among co-heirs is deemed to be a partition. (Heirs of Jarque v. Jarque, G.R. No. 196733, November 21, 2018)
In the case of Heirs of Morales v. Agustin, G.R. No. 224849, June 6, 2018, the Supreme Court held that generally, an action for partition may be seen to simultaneously present two issues: first, there is the issue of whether the plaintiff is indeed a co-owner of the property sought to be partitioned; and second, assuming that the plaintiff successfully hurdles the first issue, there is the secondary issue of how the property is to be divided between the plaintiff and defendants.
The Court emphasizes that this definition does not take into account the difference between (1) an action of partition based on the successional rights of the heirs of a decedent, and (2) an ordinary action of partition among co-owners.
The laws governing the partition of inheritance draws basis from Article 777 of the Civil Code, which states:
Article 777. The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of death of the decedent.
As such, from that moment, the heirs, legatees, and devisees’ successional rights are vested, and they considered to own in common the inheritance left by the decedent. Under the law, partition of the inheritance may only be effected by (1) the heirs themselves extrajudicially, (2) by the court in an ordinary action for partition, or in the course of administration proceedings, (3) by the testator himself, and (4) by the third person designated by the testator.
According to Rule 74 of the Rules of Court, the heirs may resort to an ordinary action of partition of the estate of the deceased if they disagree as to the exact division of the estate, and only if the decedent left no will and no debts and the heirs are all of age, or the minors are represented by their judicial or legal representatives duly authorized for the purpose.
The ordinary action for partition therefore is meant to take the place of the special proceeding on the settlement of the estate. The reason is that, if the deceased dies without pending obligations, there is no necessity for the appointment of an administrator to administer the estate for the heirs and the creditors, much less, the necessity to deprive the real owners of their possession to which they are immediately entitled.
Thus, an action for partition with regard to the inheritance of the heirs should conform to the law governing the partition and distribution of the estate, and not only to the law governing ordinary partition.
Particularly, according to Article 1078 of the Civil Code, where there are two or more heirs, the whole estate of the decedent is owned in common by such heirs, subject to the payments of debts of the deceased. Partition, the Civil Code adds, is the separation, division and assignment of a thing held in common among those to whom it may belong. Thus, every act which is intended to put an end to indivision among co-heirs and legatees or devisees is deemed to be a partition, although it should purport to be a sale, an exchange, a compromise, or any other transaction.
In addition, and on account of this partition, Article 1061 of the Civil Code requires the parties to collate the properties of the decedent which they may have received by way of gratuitous title prior to the former’s death, to wit:
Article 1061. Every compulsory heir, who succeeds with other compulsory heirs, must bring into the mass of the estate any property or right which he may have received from the decedent, during the lifetime of the latter, by way of donation, or any other gratuitous title, in order that it may be computed in the determination of the legitime of each heir, and in the account of the partition.
On the procedural aspect, the partition of the estate based on the successional rights of the heirs, is required by Rule 74 of the Rules of Court to follow the rules on ordinary action or partition. This pertains to Rule 69, Section 13 of the same rules, which states:
Section 13. Partition of personal property. – The provisions of this Rule shall apply to partitions of estates composes of personal property, or of both real and personal property, in so far as the same may be applicable.
Once legally partitioned, each heir is conferred with the exclusive ownership of the property, which was adjudicated to him/her.
In contrast, an ordinary partition of co-owned property, specifically of real property, is governed by Title III of the Civil Code on co-ownership.
Article 484 of the Civil Code provides that there is co-ownership whenever the ownership of an undivided things or right belongs to different persons. It further provides that no-co-owner shall be obliged to remain in the co-ownership; each co-owner may demand at any time the partition of the thing owned in common, insofar as his share is concerned. The partition may be made by agreement between the parties, or by judicial proceedings, which, like the procedural aspect of the partition by virtue of successional rights, is governed by Rule 69 of the Rules of Court.
Thus, while both partitions make use of Rule 69 as the procedural rule that would govern the manner of partition, the foregoing disquisitions explicitly elaborate that the bases of the ownership are different, and the subject matters concerned are also different, one speaks of the partition of the estate to distribute the inheritance to the heirs, legatees, or devisees, whereas the other speaks of partition of any undivided thing or right to distribute to the co-owners thereof.
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- SALE BEFORE PARTITION OF A CO-OWNED PROPERTY
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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 09175772207/ 09778050020.
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