Intestate Succession; Reserva Troncal (1999)

Mr. Luna died, leaving an estate of Ten Million (P1

0,000,000.00) Pesos. His widow gave birth to a child four
months after Mr, Luna's death, but the child died five hours
after birth. Two days after the child's death, the widow of Mr.
Luna also died because she had suffered from difficult
childbirth. The estate of Mr. Luna is now being claimed by his
parents, and the parents of his widow. Who is entitled to Mr.
Luna's estate and why? (5%)

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

Half of the estate of Mr. Luna will go to the parents of Mrs.

Luna as their inheritance from Mrs. Luna, while the other
half will be inherited by the parents of Mr. Luna as the
reservatarios of the reserved property inherited by Mrs. Luna
from her child.

When Mr. Luna died, his heirs were his wife and the unborn
child. The unborn child inherited because the inheritance was
favorable to it and it was born alive later though it lived only
for five hours. Mrs. Luna inherited half of the 10 Million
estate while the unborn child inherited the other half. When
the child died, it was survived by its mother, Mrs. Luna. As
the only heir, Mrs. Luna inherited, by operation of law, the
estate of the child consisting of its 5 Million inheritance from
Mr. Luna. In the hands of Mrs. Luna, what she inherited
from her child was subject to reserva troncal for the benefit
of the relatives of the child within the third degree of
consanguinity and who belong to the family of Mr. Luna, the
line where the property came from.

When Mrs. Luna died, she was survived by her parents as her
only heirs. Her parents will inherit her estate consisting of the
5 Million she inherited from Mr. Luna. The other 5 Million
she inherited from her child will be delivered to the parents of
Mr. Luna as beneficiaries of the reserved property.
In sum, 5 Million Pesos of Mr. Luna's estate will go to the
parents of Mrs. Luna, while the other 5 Million Pesos will go
to the parents of Mr. Luna as reservatarios.