Wills Case Digest
(1) G.R. No. 169144
IN RE: IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION TO APPROVE THE WILL OF RUPERTA PALAGANAS WITH PRAYER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR, MANUEL MIGUEL PALAGANAS and BENJAMIN GREGORIO PALAGANAS, petitioners, vs. ERNESTO PALAGANAS, respondent.
January 26, 2011
ABAD, J.:
FACTS: Ruperta C. Palaganas (Ruperta), a Filipino who became a naturalized United States (U.S.) citizen in 2001, died single and childless. In the last will and testament she executed in California, she designated her brother, Sergio C. Palaganas (Sergio), as the executor of her will for she had left properties in the Philippines and in the U.S.
Private respondent Ernesto C. Palaganas (PR/Ernesto), another brother of Ruperta, filed with the RTC of Malolos, Bulacan in 2003, a petition for the probate of Ruperta’s will and for the former’s appointment as special administrator of her estate. Petitioners Manuel Miguel Palaganas (Manuel) and Benjamin Gregorio Palaganas (Benjamin), nephews of Ruperta, opposed the petition on the ground that Ruperta’s will should not be probated in the Philippines but in the U.S. where she executed it. Manuel and Benjamin added that, assuming Ruperta’s will could be probated in the Philippines, it is invalid nonetheless for having been executed under duress and Palaganas vs. Palaganas without the testator’s full understanding of the consequences of such act. Ernesto, they claimed, is also not qualified to act as administrator of the estate.
After the RTC granted Ernesto’s motion for leave to take the depositions of Ruperta’s foreign-based siblings, Gloria and Sergio, said court admitted to probate Ruperta’s will and appointed respondent Ernesto as special administrator at the request of Sergio. Aggrieved, petitioner nephews appealed to the CA, arguing that an unprobated will executed by an American citizen in the U.S. cannot be probated for the first time in the Philippines. The CA affirmed the lower’s court decision. Hence, this petition.
ISSUE:
IN RE: IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION TO APPROVE THE WILL OF RUPERTA PALAGANAS WITH PRAYER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR, MANUEL MIGUEL PALAGANAS and BENJAMIN GREGORIO PALAGANAS, petitioners, vs. ERNESTO PALAGANAS, respondent.
January 26, 2011
ABAD, J.:
FACTS: Ruperta C. Palaganas (Ruperta), a Filipino who became a naturalized United States (U.S.) citizen in 2001, died single and childless. In the last will and testament she executed in California, she designated her brother, Sergio C. Palaganas (Sergio), as the executor of her will for she had left properties in the Philippines and in the U.S.
Private respondent Ernesto C. Palaganas (PR/Ernesto), another brother of Ruperta, filed with the RTC of Malolos, Bulacan in 2003, a petition for the probate of Ruperta’s will and for the former’s appointment as special administrator of her estate. Petitioners Manuel Miguel Palaganas (Manuel) and Benjamin Gregorio Palaganas (Benjamin), nephews of Ruperta, opposed the petition on the ground that Ruperta’s will should not be probated in the Philippines but in the U.S. where she executed it. Manuel and Benjamin added that, assuming Ruperta’s will could be probated in the Philippines, it is invalid nonetheless for having been executed under duress and Palaganas vs. Palaganas without the testator’s full understanding of the consequences of such act. Ernesto, they claimed, is also not qualified to act as administrator of the estate.
After the RTC granted Ernesto’s motion for leave to take the depositions of Ruperta’s foreign-based siblings, Gloria and Sergio, said court admitted to probate Ruperta’s will and appointed respondent Ernesto as special administrator at the request of Sergio. Aggrieved, petitioner nephews appealed to the CA, arguing that an unprobated will executed by an American citizen in the U.S. cannot be probated for the first time in the Philippines. The CA affirmed the lower’s court decision. Hence, this petition.
ISSUE: