1. Alipio v.

CA, GR 134100, 29 Sept 2000

a) In this case, the respondent leased a fishpond, which he subsequently
subleased to two couples. These couples are the spouses Alipio and the
spouses Manuel. The lease was to be paid in installments. However, in
the subsequent installments, the two couples failed to pay. As a result,
respondent the Alipio and Manuel Spouses.
b) Petitioner Purita Alipio moved to dismiss the case on the ground that
her husband, Placido Alipio passed away 10 months before the
respondent sued them and that according to the Rules of Court that in
actions for recovery of money and the defendant dies, the case shall be
dismissed.
c) The issue that the Supreme Court sought to resolve was whether the
case should be dismissed, at least on the part of the Alipio spouses,
due to the death of the husband.
d) The Court ruled that it should be dismissed since a creditor cannot sue
the surviving spouse of a decedent in an ordinary proceeding if the
liability is chargeable to the conjugal partnership. The proper remedy
for the creditor is to file a claim in the settlement of estate of the
decedent.
e) When the spouses contracted the sublease, they did so for the benefit
of the family, that’s why it is chargeable to the conjugal partnership.
However, when Purita’s husband died, the conjugal partnership was
automatically dissolved and debts chargeable against it are to be paid
in the settlement of estate proceedings in accordance with Rule 73,
Sec. 2.
f) In a case cited by the Supreme Court, it is said that the creditor still
has remedy. Under Rule 78, Sec. 6, the creditor may apply in court for
letters of administration in his capacity as a principal creditor of the
deceased if the more rightful administrator failed to apply.
I think that the law applied in this case is one where it ensures that the wife is
not further burdened by the death of her husband, in cases where they
incurred a debt together or separately, and the protection of the rights
of the creditors-- that even if he cannot go after the surviving spouse
directly, he still has a remedy for the debt to be satisfied.