Torrellas v. Santos
Torrellas v. Santos
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
In this case the court below rendered an opinion as follows:
“In the partition proceedings of the estate of Emilio Patxot y Blanch, Ana Torrellas, widow of the deceased,, was awarded the property described in the third count of the complaint for the purpose of paying Josefa Tió Segarra a debt of $7,282.37, due and owing to her lly Emilio Patxot at the time of his death.
“Said partition was approved by the Court of First Instance of Mayagiiez in its decree of May 11, 1895.
“The said deed of partition included, in addition to the property allotted to Ana Toimellas for the payment of liabilities, a half interest in the ‘Isabel’ property valued at $15,765, of which the widow was allotted the absolute ownership of an interest of $1,995.42 and a usufructuary interest of $4,592.52, the heirs Gerónimo Pas-easio and Emilio Patxot y Torrellas being awarded an interest of $4,592.52 each.
“Ana Torrellas sold Josefa Segarra the property described in the third count of the complaint in settlement of the amount due and owing to her by the former owner of the estate; and she later sold the said property to Carmen and Manuela Santos, defendants herein.
“Ana Torrellas died in Mayagiiez on October 16, 1896, and Ge-rónimo Pascasio and Emilio Patxot y Torrellas were adjudged her sole and universal heirs, by virtue of which title they recorded their hereditary right to the interest adjudicated in the proceedings for the partition of the estate of Emilio Patxot y Blanch in the co-ownership of the ‘Isabel’ property.
“At the time the partition of the estate of Emilio Patxot y Blanch was made, the heirs Gerónimo Pascasio and Emilio Patxot y Torrellas wei’e minors.
“Upon attaining majority the said heirs leased to José A. and Francisco Menéndez their part interest in the ‘Isabel’ property, allotted to them in the partition of the estate of Emilio Patxot y Blanch under deed executed before notary Mariano Riera on January 18, 1906, their title being recorded in the registry of property.
“And subsequently, by' deed executed before the same notary on May 24, 1905, they sold their half interest in the ‘Isabel’ property to Estela Bianchi.
*86 “Upon the death of Emilio Patxot without other heirs than his brother Gerónimo Paseasio of the same surname, and after the death of the' latter at a subsequent date, leaving as his sole and universal heirs his daughters Ana and Clotilde Patxot y Torrellas and his widow Clotilde Torrellas, the last named have filed suit to recover the property allotted to Ana Torrellas in the partition of the estate of Emilio Patxot y Blanch in settlement of the debt that the ancestor owed to Josefa Tió Segarra.
“In view of these facts and bearing in mind the doctrine laid down by our Supreme Court in the cases of Vázquez v. Santalis, 26 P. R. R. 614, and Diaz v. Balseiro, 27 P. R. R. 132, this court is of the opinion that the plaintiffs have no cause of action against the defendants, nor right nor action to recover the property in controversy, nor right nor action to ask for the annulment of the partition, because such right or action has prescribed.”
In Vázquez v. Santalís, 26 P. R. R. 614, and in Díaz Llenza v. Balseiro & Giorgetti, 27 P. R. R. 132, it was conceded or admitted, as the case may be, that similarly to the case of Longpré v. Díaz, 237 U. S. 512, the several adjudications in payment of specific lands were originally void or voidable, but that, in distinction to said case of Longpré v. Díaz, the acts of the parties bad ratified or confirmed the adjudications so made. That the adjudications were originally void or voidable sprung from the fact that the propertjr Concerned belonged to minors and that hence there could be no alienation of the said property without a previous judicial authorization. The appellants here seek to distinguish the present case from either Vázquez v. Santalís or Díaz Llenza v. Balseiro & Giorgetti by reason of various matters.
The principal point of distinction insisted on is that in this suit no part of the specific land, object of the original adjudication and of the present revendieation, was ever in the possession of the complainants and that they never exercised the slightest act of possession or dominion over the said specific property. In Vázquez v. Santalís and in
As in that case the Court of Appeals drew attention to the fact that the will appointing commissioners did not seem to have entered into the consideration of the courts below, we shall say in passing that we have sume question whether an appointment by will of commissioners who subsequently divide the land among the heirs might .not distinguish the case from Longpré, supra, although there are strong doubts the other way. In that Case there was a mere private agreement and no judicial or quasi-judicial partition as exists when commissioners are appointed by will or by the court and who are presumably disinterested. There is a question too when' there is partition of the testamentary estate in which commissioners intervene and a subsequent approbation of the proceedings of the .court, whether the whole testamentary proceeding is not recognized by local law and is not similar to the various modes of partition that obtain in the various states of the United States, the partition there being normally made by commissioners and ratified by the court. Extrajudicial settlements are frequently recommended by wills wherein generally commissioners are named. Family settlements are very Common in Porto Rico. These are all matters to which we have given no special attention for the purpose of this ease, as after the decision in Díaz v. Longpré, every one has assumed that an adjudication or elation in paiment is an illicit contract for anyone to make in testamentary proceedings where minors are concerned.
The judgment appealed from must be
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.