I am Elyn D. Apiado.

I am currently working at the Land Registration Authority – Registry of

Deeds of La Union. The reason why I want
Hello Atty., I expect to learn a lot from this subject through your expertise. I expect to learn and
understand the basic principles in succession, the rights and obligations among heirs, the
nature and characteristics of wills and how to make them, compute the legitimes of compulsory
heirs, disinheritance and its grounds, and how does a partition and distribution of an estate
works.

Modes of Acquiring Ownership (OLD-TIPS)

1. Occupation

2. Law

3. Donation

4. Tradition

5. Intellectual Creation

6. Prescription

7. Succession (Art. 712)

CASE DIGEST: DKC HOLDINGS V. CA

Published by kbautista on March 11, 2014 | Leave a response

DKC Holdings v. CA
G.R. No. 118248. April 5, 2000

On March 16, 1998, petitioner DKC Holdings Corporation (DKC) entered into a Contract

of Lease with Option to Buy with Encarnacion Bartolome, decedent herein, whereby
petitioner was given the option to lease or lease with purchase the subject land.

Encarnacion died. Thereafter, petitioner coursed its payment to private respondent

Victor Bartolome, being the sole heir of Encarnacion. Victor, however, refused to accept
these payments. On March 14, 1990, petitioner served upon Victor, via
registered mail, notice that it was exercising its option to lease the property, tendering
the amount of P15,000.00 as rent. Again, Victor refused to accept the tendered rental
fee and to surrender possession of the property to petitioner. On April 23, 1990,
petitioner filed a complaint for specific performance and damages against Victor and
the Register of Deeds
ISSUE: Whether or not the rights under a Contact of Lease with Option to Buy were
transmissible.

YES. The general rule, therefore, is that heirs are bound by contracts entered into by

their predecessors-in-interest except when the rights and obligations arising therefrom
are not transmissible by (1) their nature, (2) stipulation or (3) provision of law. The
Court held that there is neither contractual stipulation nor legal provision making the
rights and obligations under the lease contract intransmissible. More importantly,
the nature of the rights and obligations therein are, by their nature, transmissible.

In the case at bar, the subject matter of the contract is a lease, which is a property right.
The death of a party does not excuse nonperformance of a contract which involves a
property right, and the rights and obligations thereunder pass to the personal
representatives of the deceased. Similarly, nonperformance is not excused by the death
of the party when the other party has a property interest in the subject matter of the
contract.

Therefore, Victor is bound by the subject Contract of Lease with Option to Buy.

What are the modes of acquiring ownership?

*
Under Article 712 of the Civil Code, ownership is acquired by occupation, law, donation, tradition,
intellectual creation, prescription, and succession.

What are the elements of succession as defined by the Civil Code?*

The elements of of succesion are the following: 1) Decedent and the successors/heirs which are
the subjective elements of succession; 2) Death of the person which is the causal element of
succession; and 3) Inheritance which is the objective element of succession.

Distinguish inheritance from succession.*

The difference between succession and inheritance is that succession refers to the legal mode by
which inheritance is transmitted to the persons entitled to it, on the other hand, inheritance refers
to the universality or entirety of the property, rights and obligations of a person who died.

What is the difference between a decedent and a testator?*

The difference between a decedent and a testator is that a decedent is the general term for a
person whose property is transmitted through succession, whether or he left a will whereas a
testator is a person a term used to refer a person who made or left a will in accordance with
Article 775 of the Civil Code.
What is the importance of the distinction between heirs on the one hand, and the
legatees and devisees on the other?*
The importance of the distinction between heirs, legatees, and devisees is to determine the kind
of succession that will be applicable, either by will (testamentary) or by operation of law
(Intestate). An heir is a person called to the whole or to an aliquot portion of the inheritance either
by will or by operation of law, while a legatee and devisee are persons whom a gift of personal
property and real property, respectively, is given by virtue of a will.