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2.0 Cruz Vs de Jesus - Batch3

When one spouse dies, it terminates the power of management of the surviving spouse, which passes to the court-appointed administrator. There are two methods under Philippine law to liquidate the property of a conjugal partnership dissolved by death: 1) through a testate or intestate proceeding if the deceased spouse died with or without a will, or 2) through an ordinary liquidation and partition proceeding if there are no outstanding debts or money owed to the estate and the lands are unencumbered. In this case, the Supreme Court held that since the deceased spouse left no debts and the lands were free of liens, an ordinary liquidation and partition proceeding was allowed.

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71 views2 pages

2.0 Cruz Vs de Jesus - Batch3

When one spouse dies, it terminates the power of management of the surviving spouse, which passes to the court-appointed administrator. There are two methods under Philippine law to liquidate the property of a conjugal partnership dissolved by death: 1) through a testate or intestate proceeding if the deceased spouse died with or without a will, or 2) through an ordinary liquidation and partition proceeding if there are no outstanding debts or money owed to the estate and the lands are unencumbered. In this case, the Supreme Court held that since the deceased spouse left no debts and the lands were free of liens, an ordinary liquidation and partition proceeding was allowed.

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TOPIC: Methods of liquidating the property of a conjugal partnership if one spouse dies

Death of one spouse terminates the power of management of the surviving spouse; power
passed on to the appointed administrator

G.R. No. L-30491 March 2, 1929


DONATO CRUZ, ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, vs. TEOFILO DE JESUS, ET AL., Defendants-
Appellees.

FACTS:
On death of his spouse, Donato Cruz filed an action for partition before the CFI of Nueva Ecija.
In its order, the court held that the proper action for the partition of property belonging to a conjugal
partnership dissolved by the death of one of the spouses is the estate or the intestate proceeding for the
settlement of the estate of the deceased spouse, wherein said conjugal property must first be liquidated
before the partition is made.
Petitioner sought to amend the original complaint filed before the CFI from “Partition” to
“Liquidation and partition” and to insert statement that deceased Julian Nobong left no debt outstanding
at her death nor any money or credit payable to the estate and that lands stated therein are free from all
liens and encumbrances.
The court denied the motion to amend the complaint.

ISSUE:
Whether or not an action lies for the liquidation and partition of the property of a conjugal
partnership dissolved by the death of the wife

HELD:
Yes. Section 685 of Act No. 190, as amended by Act No. 3176, provides as follows:

SEC. 685. When the marriage is dissolved by the death of the husband or wife, the
community property shall be inventoried, administered, and liquidated, and the debts
thereof shall be paid, in the testamentary or intestate proceedings of the deceased
spouse, in accordance with the provisions of this Code relative to the administration and
liquidation of the estates of deceased persons, or in an ordinary liquidation and
partition proceeding, unless the parties, being all of age and legally capacitated, avail
themselves of the right granted to them by this Code of proceedings of the extrajudicial
partition and liquidation of said property.

This legal provision establishes two methods of liquidating the property of a conjugal partnership,
if the marriage is dissolved by the death of one of the spouses: the first by a testate or intestate
proceeding according to whether the deceased died with or without a will; and the other by an
ordinary proceeding for liquidation and partition.
According to the legal provision quoted above, when the marriage is dissolved by the death of the
wife, the legal power of management of the husband ceases, passing to the administrator appointed by the
court in the testate or intestate proceedings instituted to that end if there be any debts to be paid, and
when there is no debt pending, the liquidation and partition may be made in an ordinary
proceeding for that purpose.
Since the complaint for partition alleges that there are no debts to pay, and as it does not appear
that there are any, paid action will lie, for while it is true that it prays for a liquidation of the property of
the conjugal partnership dissolved by the death of Juliana Nabong, said liquidation is implied in the action
for partition
For the foregoing considerations, the SC held, that in accordance with section 685 of Act No.
190, as amended by Act No. 3176, when there are no debts to pay, the liquidation and partition of the
property of the conjugal partnership, dissolved by the death of one of the spouses, may be made in an
ordinary action instituted for that purpose.
By virtue whereof, the order appealed from is revoked, and it is ordered that the case be
remanded to the court of origin for further proceedings, without prejudice to the right of any creditor of
the dissolved conjugal partnership, and without special pronouncement as to costs.

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