Heirs of Bartolome Infante v. The Honorable Court of Appeals

Summary

This case involves a family property dispute over Lot No. 931 in Dumaguete City, inherited from Ceferino Infante. When Esteban Infante filed the cadastral answer in 1925, he fraudulently excluded his half-brothers Catalino and Ponciano as co-owners, obtaining title only for himself and his full brothers. Forty-eight years later, the excluded heirs' descendants sued for reconveyance and damages. The trial court dismissed the case as prescribed, but the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that implied trust actions are imprescriptible. The Supreme Court modified the decision, clarifying that while reconveyance actions do prescribe in 10 years, the case could be treated as one for partition, which does not prescribe when co-ownership is recognized. The Court found evidence that the titled owners had recognized the co-ownership by allowing the excluded heirs to possess portions of the property. The case was remanded for proceedings as a partition suit, demonstrating judicial flexibility in treating pleadings liberally to achieve substantial justice.