EUGENIO C. DEL PRADO, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLANT, VS. AUREA S. SANTOS, LEGAL GUARDIAN OF THE MINOR JESUS SANTOS DEL PRADO, DEFENDANT AND APPELLEE.

Del Prado versus Santos

The Case

This is a succession case that every Bar candidate should know for one clean, examinable rule: an illegitimate child, even one other than a natural child, excludes the deceased's collateral relatives from the intestate estate. Eugenio del Prado sued Aurea Santos, as legal guardian of the minor Jesus Santos del Prado, to annul a deed of adjudication and the transfer certificate of title issued under it, claiming he had been deprived of his rightful share in the estate of his deceased brother Anastacio. The defendant answered that her son Jesus, an acknowledged natural child of the deceased, was entitled to the property, and she counterclaimed for damages. The case matters because it fixes the order of intestate succession between an illegitimate child and a brother of the decedent, and because it shows how a recognition made in the birth certificate, admitted by stipulation, binds the party who admitted it.

Procedural History

Eugenio del Prado filed his complaint in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, praying for annulment of the deed of adjudication and of the transfer certificate of title issued to the minor. The parties entered into a stipulation of facts and submitted the case for decision without further evidence. The trial court dismissed the complaint, holding that since the deceased left no legitimate descendants or ascendants, the minor Jesus succeeds to the entire estate to the exclusion of the plaintiff, who is only a collateral relative. The plaintiff elevated the matter to the Court of Appeals, which certified the case to the Supreme Court because the questions involved were purely legal. The Supreme Court thus resolved the case in the first instance, on a pure question of law.

Facts

Anastacio C. del Prado died intestate in Manila on August 11, 1958. At the time of his death he was single. The plaintiff Eugenio is his legitimate brother.

The defendant Aurea Santos was legally married to Deogracias Demetria in 1945, but had in fact separated from him. Anastacio and Aurea cohabited without the benefit of matrimony, and as a result of that cohabitation they had one son, the minor Jesus Santos del Prado, born on December 19, 1957. Anastacio admitted the child to be his son in the latter's birth certificate.

After Anastacio's death, his estate, including a parcel of land in Caloocan, Rizal, covered by a transfer certificate of title in his name with an assessed value of 750 pesos, was adjudicated to the minor Jesus by an affidavit of adjudication executed by Aurea as mother and natural guardian. By reason of that adjudication, the Register of Deeds cancelled the title in Anastacio's name and issued a new one in the name of the minor. Eugenio then sued to annul the deed and the new title, and the parties stipulated to the foregoing facts for purposes of the action only.

Issues

• Whether or not the minor Jesus Santos del Prado was validly recognized as the illegitimate son of the deceased Anastacio del Prado.
• Whether or not the illegitimate child succeeds to the entire estate of the deceased, to the exclusion of the deceased's legitimate brother, who is only a collateral relative.

Applicable Provisions

Article 2263 of the Civil Code provides:

Article 2263. The rights to the succession of a person are governed by the law in force at the time of his death.

This fixes the governing law: because Anastacio died in 1958, the new Civil Code applies to his succession.

Article 287 of the Civil Code provides:

Article 287. Illegitimate children other than natural are entitled to successional rights.

This confirms that even an illegitimate child who is not a natural child has successional rights.

Article 988 of the Civil Code provides:

Article 988. In the absence of legitimate descendants or ascendants, the illegitimate children shall succeed to the entire estate of the deceased.

This is the decisive rule: with no legitimate descendants or ascendants, the illegitimate child takes the whole estate, excluding collateral relatives.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the appellant's contention was untenable. The facts he himself stipulated were clear: the deceased and the defendant cohabited without the benefit of matrimony, had one son, the minor Jesus, born on December 19, 1957, and the deceased admitted him to be his son in the latter's birth certificate. Having admitted these facts by stipulation, the appellant could not later argue that there was no showing that the recognition was made at the instance or with the consent of the deceased, or that the birth certificate was not authentic.

On the second issue, the Court applied the Civil Code because the deceased died in 1958. It held that illegitimate children other than natural are entitled to successional rights, and that where the deceased died intestate, without legitimate descendants or ascendants, his illegitimate child shall succeed to his entire estate, to the exclusion of the appellant, who is only a collateral relative. The trial court's ruling was therefore correct, and the decision appealed from was affirmed, with costs against the appellant.

Doctrine

First, the rights to the succession of a person are governed by the law in force at the time of his death. Second, illegitimate children other than natural are entitled to successional rights. Third, in the absence of legitimate descendants or ascendants, the illegitimate children succeed to the entire estate of the deceased, to the exclusion of collateral relatives such as a brother. Fourth, a fact admitted in a stipulation of facts, such as the deceased's admission of paternity in the child's birth certificate, is binding on the party who stipulated it, and he cannot later deny the recognition on the ground that its authenticity was not shown.

Disposition

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court dismissing the complaint, with costs against the appellant Eugenio del Prado, so that the minor Jesus Santos del Prado kept the adjudicated land.

Remember This

Memorize the line: in the absence of legitimate descendants or ascendants, the illegitimate child succeeds to the entire estate of the deceased, to the exclusion of collateral relatives. Examiners use this case in succession problems testing the order of intestate succession between an illegitimate child and the decedent's brother, and in civil procedure questions on the binding effect of a stipulation of facts.