Paz de Santos v. The Bank of the Philippines Islands

Summary

This case involved a dispute over an extrajudicial partition of nine parcels of land among five siblings of the De Santos family. The Bank of the Philippine Islands challenged the partition, claiming it was fraudulent and designed to defeat their attachment against co-owner Isidoro de Santos' interest. The siblings had partitioned the properties by lot on April 21, 1931, one day before the Bank's attachment was registered. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court's finding of fraud, holding that the Bank failed to prove fraud conclusively. The Court emphasized that partition among co-owners is not alienation under onerous title, and the method of partition by lot demonstrated good faith. The timing of the partition did not constitute evidence of fraud since Civil Code provisions do not require registration for presumption of fraud to arise. This decision clarifies the rights of co-owners to partition common property and the burden of proving fraud in such transactions.