Civil Law Review I

(Property & Wills & Succession)

Final Exam
30 January 2021

JD 4C

By: Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

(NOTE: This exam consists of two (2) parts: Property and Succession. The perfect
score will be 200% which will be apportioned as mid-term and final grades.)

Part I. Property

I. Maria is the owner of several parcels of land. She decides to sell those
which are adjoining the national highway obviously forgetting that the
tract of land she retained had become isolated without any adequate
outlet to said highway. In order to reach the highway, Maria needs to
traverse the lots which are now respectively owned by Serena, Venus
and Roger.

1. If Maria does not own a car but just takes public commute, and
there is a pathway at the backside towards the National Highway
which will not bother the lots of Serena, Venus and Roger, but
the pathway is rather cogonal, grassy, dark and during rainy
season, it becomes heavily flooded, may Maria demand a right of
way? Explain. (5 pts.)
2. In the preceding question, what if Maria purchases a car which
cannot possibly pass through the backside pathway but needs to
cut across the lands of Serena, Venus and Roger, would your
answer be the same? Discuss. (5 pts.)
3. Still on the same set of facts, is Maria obliged to pay indemnity?
Why or why not? ( 5 pts.)
4. Still further on the same question, what if Maria instead of
selling the lots to Serena, Venus and Roger, donated the tracts of
land. Would your answer in para. 3 still be the same? Explain. (5
pts.)

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II. X is the usufructuary of a parcel of land while Y is the naked owner. The
usufruct was constituted over the building and the land where it
stands. If the building is destroyed by a fortuitous event, what right/s
do X have over the materials and the land? (5 pts.) What if the usufruct
was constituted only on the building but not on the land, would your
answer be the same? Explain. (5 pts.)

III. Jose, Maria and Pedro are co-owners of a parcel of land. Because Maria
and Pedro are based in the United States of America, only Jose is in
actual physical possession of the land. One day, a distant relative from
the province asked for permission to build a small nipa hut for his
temporary stay on a portion of the land. Jose agreed upon condition
that the relative will vacate once Jose needs it.

Answer the following questions:

1. Jose files a case for unlawful detainer after sending the requisite
demand to vacate. If the relative questions the case for failure of
Maria and Pedro to join as plaintiffs, how should the court
resolve the dispute? Discuss. (5 pts.)
2. Given that only Jose is in actual physical possession, will he be
able to acquire the land by acquisitive prescription? Explain. (5
pts.)
3. Suppose, in the preceding question, Jose obtains a torrens title
over the land solely in his name, will your answer be the same?
Why? (5 pts.)
4. What if Jose sells a definite portion of the land to the relative
without consulting Maria and Pedro, would the sale be deemed
valid? Explain. (5 pts.)
5. What if in the preceding question, Maria and Pedro were aware
and did not object when they kew full well that the relative was
already having the land surveyed and titled in his name, would
your answer in the preceding question be the same? Explain. (5
pts.)
IV.

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 1. Define Easement. (5 pts.)
2. What are the modes of acquiring Easements? (5 pts.)
3. Don Pepe is the owner of a parcel of land consisting of 400 square
meters. He decided to sub-divide it into two parcels of land
consisting of 200 square meters each and designated them as Lots
1 and 2. He sold lot 1 to Juan and Lot 2 to Pedro. At the time of Sale,
a house stands on Lot 2 with a window affording a direct view on
Lot 1.

3.1 If you are the lawyer for Juan, what would you advise him to
demand from Don Pepe in order that the easement of light and
view will not be acquired by Pedro? Explain. (5 pts.)

3.2Suppose that based on the same set of facts, except that at the
time of sale, there was no window on the house standing on
Lot 2. Instead, it was only after Pedro had taken over
possession that he himself opened the window and it so
happened that the window was opened on a wall which is just
two (2) feet away from the boundary line between Lots 1 and 2.
Again, being the lawyer for Juan, if he does not like being
watched by Pedro, what are the available legal remedies to
Juan against that window? Explain fully. (5 pts.)

V. Your client is a firm engaged in developing subdivision projects. It so

happened that a portion of the land which is part of your client’s
project site adjoins a creek. Your client is seeking your legal advise on
the following:

1. Can it prohibit people from passing through the 3-meter zone

that adjoins the creek but is part of the property of your client?
Explain. (5 pts.)
2. What if these people instead of passing through, build houses
thereon. Can your client file a case for ejectment? Explain. (5
pts.)
3. What case can you suggest to your client that it should file in
court? Why? (5 pts.)
4. What is an aqueduct? Explain. ( 5pts.)

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 VI. Juan wants to donate a piece of land to a group of nuns subject
to the condition that their institution will establish and run a
nursing school on the donated lot itself. (5%)

VI.1. Should a concern regarding the legal personality of the

nuns as donee crop up, how would you advise the nuns in
order to ensure that the donation will be validly accepted
by them?
VI.2. If after the donation is already validly made and Juan has
already passed away, and it is found out that the lot
donated is not suitable for educational purposes, will the
done be violating the condition of the donation if it enters
into a deed of exchange to replace the lot with another
lot? Explain.

Part II. Wills & Succession

1)Princess married Roberto and bore a son, Onofre. Roberto died in a

plane crash. Princess later married Mark and they also had a son - Pepito.
Onofre donated to Pepito, his half-brother, a lot in Makati City worth
P3,000,000.00. Pepito succumbed to an illness and died intestate. The lot given
to Pepito by Onofre was inherited by his father, Mark. Mark also died intestate.
Lonely, Princess followed Mark to the life beyond. The claimants to the subject
lot emerged - Jojo, the father of Princess; Victor, the father of Mark; and Jerico,
the father of Roberto.

Who among the three (3) ascendants is entitled to the lot? Explain. (2016
Bar Exam Question)

2) What is the legitime of a surviving spouse? Discuss the rule, exception,

and exception to exception.

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 3) Distinguish Preterition from Ineffective Disinheritance and their legal
consequences.

4) A and B are married. They begot C and D. D is married to X and they

have a child E. A and B die. D dies. Can E inherit from C? What if E has a child F.
Can F inherit from C? Explain.

5) A and B are married. They have children C, D and E. C has 2 children, X

and Y. E has one child, Z. D is a spinster. If A and B die. Then C and E follow
them to the grave, how will D’s estate be divided upon D’s death?

But, what if, after the death of A and B only E dies and then D dies?

6) Dissent Holdings, Inc., a duly registered and legally existing

corporation in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, was
granted an inheritance by the Estate of Don Julio. What are the requirements
for its acceptance? What about for its repudiation?

7) In her last Will and Testament, the Testatrix, Maria, bestowed her
entire estate to be under a trust fund for administration and only the net
profits of her business shall be distributed to her heirs. The heirs would not be
contented with this and so they petitioned the Court to distribute her entire
estate to them. Which will prevail, Maria’s Last Will and Testament? Or the
Heirs’ Right to Inherit? Explain.

8) X, Y and Z are children of A and B. When A and B died in a plane crash

that overshoot the runway, X, Y and Z inherited vast tracts of land. Z, however,
immediately after the interment, went back to the United States and continued
working as a nurse. X and Y, in the meantime, executed an Extra-Judicial
Settlement of Estate and Sale whereby they declared that they are the only
heirs of A and B and as such, they are selling definite portions of the inherited
properties to CDE Corporation. Discuss the validity/ invalidity of the Extra-
Judicial Settlement and Sale.

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 9) X and Y, Filipinos but immigrants of a foreign country, execute Last
Wills and Testament. In respect to Formalities, should they follow Philippine or
foreign law? What if they execute a last will and Testament jointly which is
allowed in the foreign country. Is it valid? Discuss.

10) During their lifetime, A and B were the owners of a 2,000 square
meter piece of land located very near SM City, Iloilo City that could fetch up to
P50,000.00 per square meter. They have a daughter, C. A, the husband,
unfortunately died of a strange disease. Then C likewise passed away because
she was infected with the same disease. When B later died as well, the
claimants over the 2,000 square meter lot near SM City, Iloilo City are the
following:

a. X and Y who are the children of F and G- the latter are the brother and
sister of A respectively and that they are already both dead; and,

b. Z who is the sister of B.

10.1. Who will inherit the 2,000 square meter lot? Discuss.

10.2. What if X and Y are still alive at the time of B’s death, will your
answer still be the same? Explain.

~~ End ~~

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