Q. Sir, Good Day! I have an Aunt who was married and owned a 1 hectare of rice field which they bought it from her parents and tenanted by her 3 brothers. Her husband sold to my aunt his share of the land for a reason that their marriage is at stake. My Aunt executed a document notarized by a PAO lawyer. But my aunt died first.My question is.
Could her husband have still the right to the said property?
A year after her husband died too, and they don’t have a child.
Who will now be the legal heirs?
And my aunt when she was still alive gives a power of attorney as administrator of the said property to one of his brothers. What is now the status of the executed power of attorney now she had already died? How is the validity of the said documents?
Do we have the right to have position of the land as heirs of her two brothers who was once a tenant of the said property? Because one of the brothers given the power of attorney doesn’t like the idea.
Did the relatives of my aunt husband has the right to claim any share of the property?
Sir I would really appreciate your brilliant answer since i could hardly find an attorney to consult such matter since I am teaching in far flung areas her in Davao. Thank you very much and Good Bless us all. Very truly yours, MSM.
ANS: Let’s first tackle the first issue. Based on the appreciation and understanding of your narratives, it appears that your Aunt and her husband bought a 1-hectare rice land from her parents. Thereafter, this husband sold her “share” of this property to your Aunt( his spouse). Then this Aunt, in turn, executed a “notarized document” . It is not clear in your letter what is this “notarized document” . A deed of Sale or Deed of Assignment of the same 1-hectare rice land?
Secondly, under the law, spouses cannot sell or donate the property to each other. This is contrary to law and public policy. Hence, the sale of the husband’s share of the conjugal property to his spouse(your aunt) is not valid. Being the case, the said conjugal property is still intact and as part of their respective estate.
However, if this notarized document refers to the sale of the same property in favor of a third party by virtue of the “notarized deed of sale and without the written consent of the husband of your aunt, this could only be valid, to the extent of her conjugal share over the subject property.
Now, according to your narrative both spouses thereafter died and both of them have no child. With respect to the Power of Attorney executed by your Aunt during her lifetime and granting authority to one of her brothers as the administrator of the property, the effectivity of the said power of attorney, is deemed extinguished upon her death.
Considering that the spouses have no child, the relatives nearest to the deceased is entitled to inherit from their respective estate. Although, your aunt who could have sold the same property, as stressed earlier , the sale is only valid to the extent of her share of the conjugal property. And upon her death, the surviving spouse(husband) being considered as compulsory heir becomes her heir together with the surviving siblings of the deceased, assuming that the deceased have no surviving parents. Under this situation, the surviving spouse is entitled to ½ as his longtime and other ½ to be divided equally among the siblings of the deceased, pursuant to Art.1001 of the Civil Code of the Philippines.
Now, upon the death of the spouses, and they are childless the siblings are entitled to succeed or inherit from the estate pursuant to Art.1004 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. As the heirs are deemed co-owners of the subject property upon the death of the spouses and the ownership thereof is passed upon to the surviving heirs upon the death of the decedent(s).Hence they have to right of possession of the estate immediately. And if they are prevented from exercising this right, they have a cause of action against such person or party and the surviving heirs can go to court for redress and other remedies.
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