Hernández v. Registrar of San Juan
Hernández v. Registrar of San Juan
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The property concerned belonged to Tomasa González, who died in 1881, and for the purposes of the collection of taxes the said property was assessed in the name of Juan Ballesteros Núñez, who was the executor of Tomasa Gon-zález. Por a default in the payment of taxes the property was sold to Hernández Mena, appellant in this case. The certificate of sale was presented for record to the Registrar of San Juan, First Section, who denied the record on three grounds, namely:
1st. That the property was then recorded in the name of the succession of the heirs of Tomasa González. — 2nd. That the notice of sale for taxes was not made to the right person. — 3rd. For reasons that are a variation of the first ground.
The registrar is evidently in error in regard to the first and third grounds. Under the principle of universal succession it is not only the heirs of a person, but also the heirs of the heirs, who continue the personality of the original owner.
The notice of sale, however, was insufficient. It was di
In a previous appeal with regard to the same property, where it was requested that the property should be recorded in the name of the executor, we expressed a doubt as to whether the property should ever be recorded in the name of an executor, and we still have that doubt.
The registrar does not place his refusal on that ground, but we doubt whether a notice to the executor, if he had been living, would now avail the appellant. The property was devised to the executor for certain religious purposes, which by suit have now been declared to have lapsed, and the property awarded to the heirs and recorded in their names. Hence there may be a serious question whether a notice of sale directed against an executor under these circumstances could avail against a record made in the names of the heirs.
The note of the registrar must be affirmed on the second ground of refusal.
Affirmed.
ON RECONSIDERATION.
On motion for reconsideration Mr. Justice Wole, on April 17, 1922, delivered the following opinion of the court:
While in writing our opinion to describe the person on
The motion to reconsider must be
Denied.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.