Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Title 4
Title 4
stationed in the foreign country in which the record is keptand (b) authenticated by the seal of his
office.
The burden of proof lies with the party who alleges the existence of a fact or thing necessary in
the prosecution or defense of an action.
It is well-settled in our jurisdiction that our courts cannot take judicial notice of foreign laws.
Like anyother facts, they must be alleged and proved. The power of judicial notice must be
exercised with caution, and everyreasonable doubt upon the subject should be resolved in the
negativeIn this case, the US divorce obtained by Orlando, a naturalized American citizen, for his
marriage with Felicitas maybe recognized in the Philippines.
It appears that the trial court no longer required petitioner to prove the validity of Orlandos
divorce under the laws of
theUnited States and the marriage between petitioner and the deceased. Thus, there is a need to
remand the proceedings to the trialcourt
for further reception of evidence to establish the fact of divorce.Should petitioner prove the
validity of the divorce and the subsequent marriage, she has the preferential right to be issued
theletters of administration over the estate. Otherwise, letters of administration may be issued to
respondent, who is undisputedly thedaughter or next of kin of the deceased.