Intestate Estate of the Deceased Marcelino Luanzon y Herrera (Alias Ortega). Luisa Puzon v. Dorotea Ortega

Summary

This Supreme Court case involves the intestate succession rights of unacknowledged natural children under the Civil Code. Dorotea Ortega claimed inheritance rights as the natural sister of deceased Marcelino Luanzon, challenging his widow's petition for letters of administration. While evidence proved their natural sibling relationship through common parents Antonio Ortega and Simplicia Tuason, the Court held that formal acknowledgment by natural parents is required for inheritance rights under Article 945. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's ruling that unacknowledged natural siblings cannot inherit from each other in intestate succession, establishing that the Civil Code's provisions on succession by natural brothers and sisters apply only to acknowledged natural children, even though Article 945 does not expressly state this requirement.