Dorotheo v. CA

[G.R. No. 108581.
December 8, 1999]
LOURDES L. DOROTHEO, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, NILDA D.

QUINTANA, for Herself and as Attorney-in-Fact of VICENTE DOROTHEO and
JOSE DOROTHEO, respondents.
DECISION
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
May a last will and testament admitted to probate but declared intrinsically void in an order
that has become final and executory still be given effect? This is the issue that arose from the
following antecedents:
Private respondents were the legitimate children of Alejandro Dorotheo and Aniceta
Reyes. The latter died in 1969 without her estate being settled. Alejandro died
thereafter. Sometime in 1977, after Alejandros death, petitioner, who claims to have taken care
of Alejandro before he died, filed a special proceeding for the probate of the latters last will and
testament. In 1981, the court issued an order admitting Alejandros will to probate. Private
respondents did not appeal from said order. In 1983, they filed a Motion To Declare The Will
Intrinsically Void. The trial court granted the motion and issued an order, the dispositive portion
of which reads:
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, Order is hereby issued declaring Lourdes Legaspi not
the wife of the late Alejandro Dorotheo, the provisions of the last will and testament of
Alejandro Dorotheo as intrinsically void, and declaring the oppositors Vicente Dorotheo, Jose
Dorotheo and Nilda Dorotheo Quintana as the only heirs of the late spouses Alejandro Dorotheo
and Aniceta Reyes, whose respective estates shall be liquidated and distributed according to the
laws on intestacy upon payment of estate and other taxes due to the government.[1]
Petitioner moved for reconsideration arguing that she is entitled to some compensation since
she took care of Alejandro prior to his death although she admitted that they were not married to
each other.Upon denial of her motion for reconsideration, petitioner appealed to the Court of
Appeals, but the same was dismissed for failure to file appellants brief within the extended
period granted.[2] This dismissal became final and executory on February 3, 1989 and a
corresponding entry of judgment was forthwith issued by the Court of Appeals on May 16,
1989. A writ of execution was issued by the lower court to implement the final and executory
Order. Consequently, private respondents filed several motions including a motion to compel
petitioner to surrender to them the Transfer Certificates of Titles (TCT) covering the properties
of the late Alejandro. When petitioner refused to surrender the TCTs, private respondents filed a
motion for cancellation of said titles and for issuance of new titles in their names. Petitioner
opposed the motion.
An Order was issued on November 29, 1990 by Judge Zain B. Angas setting aside the final
and executory Order dated January 30, 1986, as well as the Order directing the issuance of the
writ of execution, on the ground that the order was merely interlocutory, hence not final in
character. The court added that the dispositive portion of the said Order even directs the
distribution of the estate of the deceased spouses. Private respondents filed a motion for
reconsideration which was denied in an Order dated February 1, 1991. Thus, private respondents
filed a petition before the Court of Appeals, which nullified the two assailed Orders dated
November 29, 1990 and February 1, 1991.
Aggrieved, petitioner instituted a petition for review arguing that the case filed by private
respondents before the Court of Appeals was a petition under Rule 65 on the ground of grave
abuse of discretion or lack of jurisdiction. Petitioner contends that in issuing the two assailed
orders, Judge Angas cannot be said to have no jurisdiction because he was particularly
designated to hear the case. Petitioner likewise assails the Order of the Court of Appeals
upholding the validity of the January 30, 1986 Order which declared the intrinsic invalidity of
Alejandros will that was earlier admitted to probate.
Petitioner also filed a motion to reinstate her as executrix of the estate of the late Alejandro
and to maintain the status quo or lease of the premises thereon to third parties.[3] Private
respondents opposed the motion on the ground that petitioner has no interest in the estate since
she is not the lawful wife of the late Alejandro.
The petition is without merit. A final and executory decision or order can no longer be
disturbed or reopened no matter how erroneous it may be. In setting aside the January 30, 1986
Order that has attained finality, the trial court in effect nullified the entry of judgment made by
the Court of Appeals. It is well settled that a lower court cannot reverse or set aside decisions or
orders of a superior court, for to do so would be to negate the hierarchy of courts and nullify the
essence of review. It has been ruled that a final judgment on probated will, albeit erroneous, is
binding on the whole world.[4]
It has been consistently held that if no appeal is taken in due time from a judgment or order
of the trial court, the same attains finality by mere lapse of time. Thus, the order allowing the
will became final and the question determined by the court in such order can no longer be raised
anew, either in the same proceedings or in a different motion. The matters of due execution of
the will and the capacity of the testator acquired the character of res judicata and cannot again be
brought into question, all juridical questions in connection therewith being for once and forever
closed.[5] Such final order makes the will conclusive against the whole world as to its extrinsic
validity and due execution.[6]
It should be noted that probate proceedings deals generally with the extrinsic validity of the
will sought to be probated,[7] particularly on three aspects:
whether the will submitted is indeed, the decedents last will and testament;
compliance with the prescribed formalities for the execution of wills;
the testamentary capacity of the testator;[8]
and the due execution of the last will and testament.[9]

Under the Civil Code, due execution includes a determination of whether the testator was of
sound and disposing mind at the time of its execution, that he had freely executed the will and
was not acting under duress, fraud, menace or undue influence and that the will is genuine and
not a forgery,[10] that he was of the proper testamentary age and that he is a person not expressly
prohibited by law from making a will.[11]
The intrinsic validity is another matter and questions regarding the same may still be raised
even after the will has been authenticated.[12] Thus, it does not necessarily follow that an
extrinsically valid last will and testament is always intrinsically valid. Even if the will was
validly executed, if the testator provides for dispositions that deprives or impairs the lawful heirs
of their legitime or rightful inheritance according to the laws on succession,[13] the unlawful
provisions/dispositions thereof cannot be given effect. This is specially so when the courts had
already determined in a final and executory decision that the will is intrinsically void. Such
determination having attained that character of finality is binding on this Court which will no
longer be disturbed. Not that this Court finds the will to be intrinsically valid, but that a final and
executory decision of which the party had the opportunity to challenge before the higher
tribunals must stand and should no longer be reevaluated. Failure to avail of the remedies
provided by law constitutes waiver. And if the party does not avail of other remedies despite its
belief that it was aggrieved by a decision or court action, then it is deemed to have fully agreed
and is satisfied with the decision or order. As early as 1918, it has been declared that public
policy and sound practice demand that, at the risk of occasional errors, judgments of courts must
at some point of time fixed by law[14] become final otherwise there will be no end to
litigation. Interes rei publicae ut finis sit litium - the very object of which the courts were
constituted was to put an end to controversies.[15] To fulfill this purpose and to do so speedily,
certain time limits, more or less arbitrary, have to be set up to spur on the slothful.[16] The only
instance where a party interested in a probate proceeding may have a final liquidation set aside is
when he is left out by reason of circumstances beyond his control or through mistake or
inadvertence not imputable to negligence,[17] which circumstances do not concur herein.
Petitioner was privy to the suit calling for the declaration of the intrinsic invalidity of the
will, as she precisely appealed from an unfavorable order therefrom. Although the final and
executory Order of January 30, 1986 wherein private respondents were declared as the only heirs
do not bind those who are not parties thereto such as the alleged illegitimate son of the testator,
the same constitutes res judicatawith respect to those who were parties to the probate
proceedings. Petitioner cannot again raise those matters anew for relitigation otherwise that
would amount to forum-shopping. It should be remembered that forum shopping also occurs
when the same issue had already been resolved adversely by some other court.[18] It is clear from
the executory order that the estates of Alejandro and his spouse should be distributed according
to the laws of intestate succession.
Petitioner posits that the January 30, 1986 Order is merely interlocutory, hence it can still be
set aside by the trial court. In support thereof, petitioner argues that an order merely declaring
who are heirs and the shares to which set of heirs is entitled cannot be the basis of execution to
require delivery of shares from one person to another particularly when no project of partition
has been filed.[19] The trial court declared in the January 30, 1986 Order that petitioner is not the
legal wife of Alejandro, whose only heirs are his three legitimate children (petitioners herein),
and at the same time it nullified the will.But it should be noted that in the same Order, the trial
court also said that the estate of the late spouses be distributed according to the laws of
intestacy. Accordingly, it has no option but to implement that order of intestate distribution and
not to reopen and again re-examine the intrinsic provisions of the same will.
It can be clearly inferred from Article 960 of the Civil Code, on the law of successional
rights that testacy is preferred to intestacy.[20] But before there could be testate distribution, the
will must pass the scrutinizing test and safeguards provided by law considering that the deceased
testator is no longer available to prove the voluntariness of his actions, aside from the fact that
the transfer of the estate is usually onerous in nature and that no one is presumed to give - Nemo
praesumitur donare.[21] No intestate distribution of the estate can be done until and unless the
will had failed to pass both its extrinsic and intrinsic validity. If the will is extrinsically void, the
rules of intestacy apply regardless of the intrinsic validity thereof. If it is extrinsically valid, the
next test is to determine its intrinsic validity that is whether the provisions of the will are valid
according to the laws of succession. In this case, the court had ruled that the will of Alejandro
was extrinsically valid but the intrinsic provisions thereof were void.Thus, the rules of intestacy
apply as correctly held by the trial court.
Furthermore, Alejandros disposition in his will of the alleged share in the conjugal
properties of his late spouse, whom he described as his only beloved wife, is not a valid reason to
reverse a final and executory order. Testamentary dispositions of properties not belonging
exclusively to the testator or properties which are part of the conjugal regime cannot be given
effect. Matters with respect to who owns the properties that were disposed of by Alejandro in the
void will may still be properly ventilated and determined in the intestate proceedings for the
settlement of his and that of his late spouses estate.
Petitioners motion for appointment as administratrix is rendered moot considering that she
was not married to the late Alejandro and, therefore, is not an heir.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED and the decision appealed from is AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
Davide, Jr., C.J., (Chairman), Puno, Kapunan, and Pardo, JJ., concur.

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[G.R. No. 108581.

LOURDES L. DOROTHEO, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, NILDA D.

compliance with the prescribed formalities for the execution of wills;

the testamentary capacity of the testator;[8]

and the due execution of the last will and testament.[9]

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