Rosendo Hernaez y Espinosa v. Mateo Hernaez y Espinosa

Summary

This 1915 Supreme Court case involves the right of subrogation among coheirs in estate inheritance. After Pedro Hernaez and Juana Espinosa died, their son Domingo sold his inheritance to his son Vicente in 1901, but later fraudulently purported to sell the same interests to third parties in 1907 with Vicente's connivance. When another son, Rosendo, learned of these sales in 1913, he timely exercised his right of subrogation under Civil Code Article 1067. The Supreme Court affirmed his right but modified the subrogation price from P10,000 to P4,500, ruling that the proper amount is the original purchase price paid by the heir who sold his interest, not any subsequent resale price. The decision establishes important precedents on estoppel principles, the timing requirements for subrogation rights, and the calculation of subrogation prices in estate inheritance disputes.