EN BANC
[G.R. Nos. L-11519 & L-11520. April 30, 1958. ]
INES PORCIUNCULA, ETC. ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. NICOLAS E. ADAMOS, ET AL., Defendants-Appellees.
Capistrano & Capistrano for Appellants.
Quirino D. Carpio for petitioners-intervenors.
Vicente C. Feria and Nicolas E. Adamos in their own behalf.
SYLLABUS
1. CONJUGAL PROPERTIES; SALE BY THE SURVIVING SPOUSE BEFORE PARTITION; EFFECT OF. — After the death of either husband or wife, the properties acquired by the spouses during their marriage cease to belong to the conjugal partnership which was then dissolved, and instead become the properties of the surviving spouse and the heirs of the deceased. Thus, the surviving spouse can not validly alienate the properties of the partnership before any partition of the properties is made and in the absence of proof that the heirs have renounced their inheritance from the deceased. The sale shall be valid only as to the portion that may correspond to the surviving spouse in the partition.
2. PLEADING AND PRACTICE; MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL; ALLOWANCE OR DENIAL OF MOTION DISCRETIONARY UPON COURT. — The granting or denial of a motion for new trial rests upon the sound discretion of the court and in the interest of justice, a motion for new trial based on a ground which may be considered as falling under fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence may be allowed by the courts. And where a court’s ruling on a question calls for the exercise of this prerogative, such ruling deserves the respect of the appellate courts in the absence of manifest abuse of discretion.
2. PLEADING AND PRACTICE; MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL; ALLOWANCE OR DENIAL OF MOTION DISCRETIONARY UPON COURT. — The granting or denial of a motion for new trial rests upon the sound discretion of the court and in the interest of justice, a motion for new trial based on a ground which may be considered as falling under fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence may be allowed by the courts. And where a court’s ruling on a question calls for the exercise of this prerogative, such ruling deserves the respect of the appellate courts in the absence of manifest abuse of discretion.
D E C I S I O N
FELIX, J.:
Lots Nos. 818-C-3, 818-C-4 and 818-C-5 of the Piedad Estate, subdivision plan Psd-16489, containing 29,995, 29,995 and 50,005 square meters, respectively, formerly parts of Lot No. 818-C of plan Psd-2507, GLRO Record No. 5975, located in barrio Bayanbayanan, Caloocan, Rizal (now Diliman, Quezon City) were formerly owned and registered in the name of Juan Porciuncula, married to Regina Nicolas, and covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 419 (Exh. A). Ten thousand (10,000) square meters of Lot No. 818-C-5, however, appears to have been sold to Antonio Isidro on September 26, 1940.
On November 22, 1940, Juan Porciuncula executed a deed conferring on Nicolas E. Adamos, a lawyer, the authority to look for buyers of the abovementioned lots as well as of Lot No. 824-B of the Piedad Estate, subdivision Plan Psd-824, the area of which was not stated, also owned by the former and covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 20898 (Exh. G). This instrument was superseded by another document dated January 13, 1941, authorizing said Nicolas Adamos to subdivide the same into small lots to be sold either in cash or on installments (Exh. H), and pursuant thereto, Lots Nos. 818-C-3, 818-C-4, and 818-C- 5 were consolidated and divided into 3: Lot No. 1 containing an area of 40,000 sq. m. was sold in cash to the Real Monasterio de la Pur
On November 22, 1940, Juan Porciuncula executed a deed conferring on Nicolas E. Adamos, a lawyer, the authority to look for buyers of the abovementioned lots as well as of Lot No. 824-B of the Piedad Estate, subdivision Plan Psd-824, the area of which was not stated, also owned by the former and covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 20898 (Exh. G). This instrument was superseded by another document dated January 13, 1941, authorizing said Nicolas Adamos to subdivide the same into small lots to be sold either in cash or on installments (Exh. H), and pursuant thereto, Lots Nos. 818-C-3, 818-C-4, and 818-C- 5 were consolidated and divided into 3: Lot No. 1 containing an area of 40,000 sq. m. was sold in cash to the Real Monasterio de la Pur
