Guy v.

CA
G.R. No. 163707 September 15, 2006

Facts: Private-respondents Karen and Kamille, represented by their mother Remedios Oanes,
alleged that they are the acknowledged  illegitimate children of Sima Wei (a.k.a. Rufina Guy
Susim) who died intestate, they filed a petition for the issuance of letters of administration before
the RTC Makati City.
Petitioner, one of the children of the deceased with his surviving spouse, filed for the dismissal
of the petition alleging that his father left no debts hence, his estate may be settled without the
issuance of letters administration. The other heirs filed a joint motion to dismiss alleging that the
certification of non-forum shopping should have been signed by Remedios and not by counsel.
Rtc denied the MTD as well as the supplemental motion, ruling that the mother is not the duly
constituted guardian of the minors hence, she could not have validly signed the waiver.  It also
rejected the petitioner's objections to the certificate of non-forum shopping. CA affirmed the
orders of the RTC.
Issue: WON a guardian can validly repudiate the inheritance the wards.
Held: No, repudiation amounts to alienation of property and parents and guardians must
necessarily obtain judicial approval. Repudiation of inheritance must pass the court's scrutiny in
order to protect the best interest of the ward. Not having been authorized by the court, the release
or waiver is therefore void.
The private-respondents could not have waived their supposed right as they have yet to prove
their status as illegitimate children of the decedent. It would be inconsistent to rule that they have
waived a right which, according to the petitioner, the latter do not have.

Even assuming that Remedios truly waived the hereditary rights of private respondents, such
waiver will not bar the latter’s claim. Article 1044 of the Civil Code, provides:

ART. 1044. Any person having the free disposal of his property may
accept or repudiate an inheritance.

Any inheritance left to minors or incapacitated persons may be accepted by their parents or
guardians. Parents or guardians may repudiate the inheritance left to their wards only
by judicial authorization.
 Vda de Chua vs. CA
GR No. 70909, January 5, 1994

Facts: Roberto Lim Chua, during his lifetime, lived out of wedlock with Florita Vallejo from
1970-1981 and had two illegitimate children, Roberto and Rudyard. Roberto died intestate in
Davao City in 1992. Vallejo filed on July 2, 1992 with RTC-Cotabato a petition for declaration
of guardianship of the two child and their properties worth P5M.

Petitioner Antonietta filed a motion alleging that she was the true wife of Roberto. However,
according to Vallejo, she is not the surviving spouse of the latter but a pretender to the estate
since the deceased never contracted marriage with any woman and died a bachelor.

RTC ruled that Antonietta had no personality to file the MTD not having proven her status as
wife of the decedent. CA affirmed RTC and ruled that the original petition filed was one for
guardianship of the illegitimate children of the deceased as well as for administration of his
intestate estate.

Issue: WON the original petition was for a twin purpose, for guardianship and for intestate estate
proceedings.

Held: NO, title alone of the original petition clearly shows that the petition is one which
includes the issuance of letters of administration.

The original petition also contains the jurisdictional facts required in a petition for the issuance
of letters of administration.

The jurisdictional facts required under Sec. 2 Rule 79 of the Rules of court in a petition for
issuance of letters of administration are: (1) the death of the testator; (2) residence at the time of
death in the province where the probate court is located; and (3) if the decedent was a non-
resident, the fact of being a resident of a foreign country and that the decedent has left an estate
in the province where the court is sitting.19

While paragraph 4 of the original petition failed to indicate the residence of the deceased at the
time of his death, the omission was cured by the amended petitions.

Moreover, petitioner has no legal standing to file the MTD as she is not related to the deceased,
nor does she have any interest in his estate as creditor or otherwise.

Only an interested person may oppose the petition for issuance of letters of administration. An
interested person is one who would be benefited by the estate such as an heir, or one who has a
claim against the estate, such as a creditor; his interest is material and direct, and not one that is
only indirect or contingent.21

Petitioner was not able to prove her status as the surviving wife of the decedent. The best proof
of marriage between man and wife is a marriage contract which Antonietta Chua failed to
produce.