Ex parte Vázquez Barreto
Ex parte Vázquez Barreto
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Estebanía Vázquez Barreto filed, in the District Court of Aguadilla, a petition for a declaration of heirship and alleged, in brief, among other facts, the following: (1) that Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto died intestate in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 26, 1939, leaving as his sole and universal heirs his widow Aurea Irizarry and his father Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega; (2) that Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega, father of the decedent Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto, died intestate in Isabela, Puerto Rico, on March 1, 1942, he being survived by his children Ana Dámasa, Agustín, Carmen, Ma-ría Cristina, Generosa, Guillermina, Encarnación, and Es-tefanía, petitioner herein, all of them surnamed Vázquez Ba-rreto, and his grandchildren, issue of his deceased son Félix Vázquez Barreto, named María, Félix, and Juan Manuel Váz-quez Avilés, and other grandchildren, issue of his deceased daughter Rosa Vázquez Barreto, named Eva, Estela, and Carmen Margot Quiñones Vázquez, who are his sole and universal heirs; (3) that both Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto and Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega died leaving no other heirs than the ones mentioned above; but they left property subject to partition. The petition concluded with the prayer (1) that there should be declared as heirs of Juan Manuel
On July 29, 1945, the District Court -of Aguadilla decided: (1) to declare, as it did, sole and universal heirs of Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega his above-mentioned children and grandchildren; and (2) to hold that a declaration of heirship as to the estate of Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto did not lie, because the petition had not been presented by a person having an interest in said estate, inasmuch as such fact did not appear from either the petition or the evidence introduced. (Sec. 552 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1933 ed.)
The petitioner has taken the present appeal from the second pronouncement of the foregoing decision, and she urges that the court a quo erred in holding that a declaration of' heirship as to the estate of Juan Vázquez Barreto did not lie, basing such action on the claim that she, the petitioner herein, had no interest in the estate of her deceased brother, Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto.
From the petition it appears that Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto, as well as his father Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega, left property subject to partition. The evidence introduced shows that each of them left and inheritance consisting of an undivided interest or condominium in a lot with a house thereon, situated in the town of Isabela, Puerto Bico. The pleadings and the evidence also show that Juan Manuel Váz-quez Barreto died intestate, leaving as his heirs his father Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega and his widow Aurea Irizarry, and that afterward Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega died, leaving as his sole and universal heirs his above-named legitimate children and grandchildren, among whom is found the petitioner herein.' In other words, we have an inheritance left by
The facts recited above show the interest of the petitioner and her coheirs in the estate of the decedent Juan ‘Manuel Vázquez Barreto. The lower court, in the order entered in this case, declared as sole and universal heirs of Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega his above-named legitimate children and grandchildren including the petitioner herein; which is equivalent to declaring them successors of the person of their predecessor in interest Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega, so that it can not be said that the latter is a person different from the former. See Dávila v. Registrar, 15 P.R.R. 652. To this should be added that the inheritance includes all the property, rights, and obligations of a person which are not extinguished by his death (§ 608 of the Civil Code); and that the heirs succeed to all the rights and obligations of the de
For the reasons stated, we think that the order rendered by the lower court should be modified in the sense -of declaring as sole and universal heirs of Juan Manuel Vázquez Barreto, his father Juan Manuel Vázquez Vega and his widow Aurea Irizarry, in the manner and share provided by law, and as thus modified, the order should be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.