- Petitioner
- Aurora L. Tecson
- Respondent
- Minerva
- Citation
- G.R. No. 180683
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- First Division
- Ponente
- Perez, J.
- Decided
- June 1, 2011
Summary
This Supreme Court case involved a property dispute over Lot 2189, originally co-owned equally by siblings Atty. Agustin Fausto and Waldetrudes Fausto-Nadela. After their 1974 partition agreement dividing the 1,015 sq.m. lot equally, Atty. Jose Tecson fraudulently orchestrated a second partition in 1977 that drastically favored Waldetrudes (964 sq.m. vs. 51 sq.m.), enabling the sale of the enlarged portion to his sister Aurora, who immediately transferred it to him. The Fausto heirs sued for recovery of the excess 457 sq.m. The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals' finding of fraud, ruling that the Second Partition Agreement was absolutely simulated and void, and that Atty. Tecson was not an innocent purchaser. The decision established that co-owners' shares are presumed equal under Article 485 of the Civil Code and that fraudulent schemes to manipulate property partitions will not be tolerated, ordering reconveyance of the excess land and substantial damages.