Dear PAO,
Recently, a nephew of mine, Manuel, suddenly died of a heart attack. He acquired a certain property from his father, my brother, through donation just before the latter died. This property is part of a larger piece of land considered to be owned by our clan.
Manuel died single and had no known children. We were told that the portion of the lot he inherited from my brother, his father, will now go to my nephew’s mother, his only surviving “tagapagmana.” Our clan considers the property inherited by Manuel to be part of our ancestral heritage, and we would like to buy the property from Manuel’s mother. While we have no quarrel with Manuel’s mother, and she is very cooperative, we would like to be enlightened of our rights as to a property considered part of our heritage.
Manix D.
Dear Manix,
The situation of the subject property touches on a very particular provision of our laws on succession and inheritance. Reserva troncal is a legal rule which requires an ascendant, who inherited a property from a descendant, to preserve the same in favor of the descendant’s relatives who originally owned it. This particular set of rules appears under Article 891 of the New Civil Code, which specifically provides:
“Art. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree and belong to the line from which said property came.”
The principle of reserva troncal conceives of three transmissions as explained by the Supreme Court in Mendoza vs. Policarpio (GR 176422, March 20, 2013, Ponente: Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes):
“There are three (3) lines of transmission in reserva troncal. The first transmission is by gratuitous title, whether by inheritance or donation, from an ascendant/brother/sister to a descendant called the prepositus. The second transmission is by operation of law from the prepositus to the other ascendant or reservor, also called the reservista. The third and last transmission is from the reservista to the reservees or reservatarios who must be relatives within the third degree from which the property came.”
The rule applies in the instant case considering there are also three transmissions of the property: (i) Manuel acquired the property from his father through donation; (ii) he died without a spouse or children and therefore Manuel’s mother (his ascendant) acquired the property as his only heir; and (iii) Manuel’s mother have the obligation to reserve the property in favor of the relatives within the third degree where the property originally came from, which is Manuel’s paternal line.
In this instance, Manuel’s mother is considered a reservista who has the obligation to reserve the property for the benefit of the relatives within the third degree of Manuel’s father, which includes you as brother of the prepositus. Thus, her ownership of the subject property is subject to the resolutory condition that such title will be extinguished if a reservee or reservatario survives her (i.e., she passes away before the relatives of Manuel’s father within the third degree).
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is solely based on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net.
.jpeg)
