Del Valle Ríos v. González
Del Valle Ríos v. González
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit which in essence seeks to redeem the possession of a parcel of land of 1.50 cuerdas situated in ward Algarrobo of Vega Baja, now in the possession and ownership of appellee Juan González. The most outstanding facts show that on September 5, 1946 appellants Jesús and Jaime del Valle Rios and their sister Maria, feigning to be 18 and 16 years old,
Six years later, on June 3, 1950, the same parties appeared again to sign a private document which they called “Assignment of Rights and Actions by Sale.” All of them declared they were of age and identified the origin of their
“A. — José del Valle Tacoronte, as legitimate father of María del Valle Ríos, Jesús del Valle Ríos and Jaime del Valle Ríos, and the latter in their own right also, hereby Assign, Sell, Give, and Transfer, in favor of Eugenio Sostre, and the latter thus buys and accepts, the parcel of land previously described in the first averment of this recital, I mean, in the Fourth averment of this recital, with all its uses, rights, servi-tudes, annexes, buildings, and whatever is annexed and inherent, as well as whatever right and action they have or may have in said inheritance of their aforementioned mother, Julia Rios, who died intestate in this town, the vendors binding themselves to warranty against eviction of this sale according to law and without further limitations than this execution.”
It is claimed that since the vendors were underage at the date of the execution of both documents, the same have no legal force for the purpose of a valid transfer of title. In fact, it was established, by the corresponding certificates, that María and Jesús were born on December 24, 1929 and Jaime on September 6, 1932.
After a trial on the merits,
All of appellants’ arguments seem to rely on the fact that since from the first document it appeared that the vendors were underage, the transaction could not be ratified by the second document in which they appear as being of age. But actually, although the document executed in 1960 mentioned the word ratification — obviously drafted by a person lacking a thorough knowledge of the juridical scope of this concept — it shows that the parties wanted “to execute again” the sale. And in the appeal there is evidence that they received an additional price.
The judgment rendered by the Superior Court, San Juan Part, on November 17, 1965 is affirmed and costs in the present appeal are imposed on appellants.
María and Jesús are twins.
On the date of the execution of the first document, María and Jesús were 16 years 8 months 11 days old; on the date of the second, 20 years 6 months 11 days old. On the first execution Jaime was 14 years old; on the second, he was 17 years 8 months 27 days old.
During the trial the lower court entered an order on September 30, 1964 dismissing the special defenses set up by the defendant, on the ground that said contracts were nonexistent for lack of valid consent of the contracting parties because they were minor's. In petition No. C-64-74, after entering an order to show cause, we set aside said order and stated insofar as pertinent:
*443 “The motion [to show cause] for that purpose submitted by plaintiffs in the principal action, and interveners in this petition, does not adduce any reason of merit to justify the order challenged.
The dismissal of said special defenses adduced by the defendants in the principal suit being evidently incorrect and also premature, the writ of certiorari is issued . . . and a hearing on the merits will be held at the trial court.” (Italics ours.)
The only evidence on this particular sustains the finding copied above. On the other hand, plaintiffs made no effort to establish that the purchaser knew that the vendors were minors.
An uncle of plaintiffs testified that:
“And the second time, for how much did they sell ?
“Well, when they came, their brother was in the army and he came to claim that they were minors, and that if they were not given more money they would not sign the documents, they had to give them the same money.”
Appellants did not request that the transcript of evidence be. sent to this Court as part, of the record for review; appellee did. We also note that plaintiffs’ exhibits 6 .to 8 were withdrawn at their request before the original record was sent to this Court.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.