PILAPIL and HEIRS OF DONATA ORTIZ BRIONES vs. HEIRS OF MAXIMINO R.

BRIONES

R. No. 150175, February 5, 2007)

FACTS:

Maximino Briones was married to Donata Ortiz-Briones but their union did not produce any children. When Maximino died, Donata
instituted an intestate proceedings to settle her husband’s estate and was appointed by the CFI as the administratrix and later on
awarded the ownership of the disputed land.

When Donata died, Erlinda, one of her nieces, instituted with the RTC a petition for the administration of the intestate estate of Donata
and was appointed together with her husband Gregorio by the RTC as administrators.

The heirs of Maximino filed a Complaint with the RTC against the heirs of Donata for the partition, annulment, and recovery of possession
of real property. They alleged that Donata, as administratrix of the estate of Maximino, through fraud and misrepresentation, in breach of
trust, and without the knowledge of the other heirs, succeeded in registering in her name the real properties belonging to the intestate
estate of Maximino.

ISSUE:

Can Respondents (Heirs of Maximino) validly assail the court’s decision vesting title to the disputed property in favor of Donata to be not
binding upon them on the ground that they were not made a party to the proceeding thereon?

HELD:

No. While it is true that since the CFI was not informed that Maximino still had surviving siblings and so the court was not able to order
that these siblings be given personal notices of the intestate proceedings, it should be borne in mind that the settlement of estate,
whether testate or intestate, is a proceeding in rem, and that the publication in the newspapers of the filing of the application and of the
date set for the hearing of the same, in the manner prescribed by law, is a notice to the whole world of the existence of the proceedings
and of the hearing on the date and time indicated in the publication. The publication requirement of the notice in newspapers is precisely
for the purpose of informing all interested parties in the estate of the deceased of the existence of the settlement proceedings, most
especially those who were not named as heirs or creditors in the petition, regardless of whether such omission was voluntarily or
involuntarily made.