SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS RULE 90

Uriarte vs, Court of First Instance33 SCRA 252May 29, 1970

Facts of the Case:

Juan Uriarte y Goite died in Spain and he left reasonable properties in thePhilippines.
Vicente Uriarte, who is claiming to be the son and sole heir of thedeceased, filed a petition for the
intestate settlement of the estate of the deceased inthe Court of First Instance of Negros
Occidental. However, said petition was opposed bythe nephews of Juan stating that there is a valid
will left by the deceased in Spain, acopy of which is being requested. Then, the nephews filed a
settlement of the estate inthe court of Manila, on the basis of the alleged will of the
deceased.Vicente filed an opposition to the settlement of estate in the court of Manilastating that
the court of Negros Occidental has already acquired original jurisdiction over the case. The
opposition of Vicente was dismissed together with the intestate settlementIn the CFI of
Negros.Hence, Vicente filed a petition for certiorari questioning the dismissal of theintestate
settlement in the CFI of Negros.
I
ssue: Whether or not the intestate settlement should be dismissed.

Ruling of the Case:

The Supreme Court held that the dismissal of the intestate proceeding is proper.Under the
Rules on the settlement of estate of the deceased person, testateproceedings enjoy priority over
intestate proceedings. Therefore, in case intestatesettlement was filed prior to the finding of the will
of the deceased, then the intestateproceedings shall be dismissed to give priority to the testate
proceeding.