1. No, Chinabank is not correct.

The operation of Article 777 occurs at the very moment of the

decedent's death -the transmission by succession occurs at the precise moment of death and, therefore,
the heir is legally deemed to have acquired ownership of his/her share in the inheritance at that very
moment.

Here, the decedent died last year. Hence, the Court has held that the "title or rights to a deceased
person's property are immediately passed to his or her heirs upon death. The heirs' rights become
vested without need for them to be declared heirs. Chinabank incorrectly claimed that Justine had no
legal personality to question the mortgage and foreclosed property.

2. Yes, Chinabank may sue Justin to pay the loan of his decedent father.

1. Yes. Under the Civil Code, the absentee shall not be presumed dead for the purpose of opening his
succession till after an absence of five years shall be sufficient in order that his succession may be
opened. Here, Cardo was an absentee and presumed dead since May 2011 or more than five years from
his absence. It shall be sufficient in order that his succession be opened.

2. For purposes of settlement of his estate, a person shall be presumed dead if absent and unheard from
for the periods fixed in the Civil Code. But if such person proves to be alive, he shall be entitled to the
balance of his estate after payment of all his debts. The balance may be recovered by motion in the
same proceeding.

Here, Cardo was the pilot of the aircraft that lost in May 2011 in the Indian Ocean. Thus, Cardo
presumed to

have died there being no evidence to prove otherwise.

1. If I were the probate judge, I will not grant the opposition on the argument that the will should not be
probated because of preterition. There was no preterition of the sister of Tomas. Preterition happens
when the heir omitted was a compulsory heir in the direct line. Here, the omission as sister of Tomas is
not preterition of a compulsory heir in the direct line. Hence, the argument that the will should not be
probated because of preterition should not be sustained.