CRUZ vs.

CRUZ
G.R. No. 173292; September 1, 2010

FACTS: Memoracion filed a Complaint for Annulment of Sale,

Reconveyance, and Damages against her son Oswaldo.

Memoracion claimed that during her union with her common-law

husband, she acquired a parcel of land in Tondo; the said lot was
registered in her name. Sometime in July 1992, she discovered that the
title to the said property was transferred by Oswaldo and his wife in their
names in August 1991 by virtue of a Deed of Sale dated in 1973. She
claims that the said Deed was null and void.

Memoracion died in 1996 after she finished presenting her evidence in

chief.

Oswaldo sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds that

reconveyance action is a personal action which does not survive a party’s
death and that to allow the case to continue would result in legal absurdity
whereby one heir is representing the defendant and is a co-plaintiff in this
case.

The trial court rendered a decision dismissing the case. Memoracion’s son-
heir, Edgardo, appealed to the CA. The dismissal was affirmed by the CA.

ISSUE: W/N a Petition for Annulment of Deed of Sale, Reconveyance and

Damages is a purely personal action which does not the death of a
petitioner.

RULING: No. If the case affects primarily and principally property and
property rights, then it survives the death of the plaintiff or petitioner. A
Petition for Declaration of Nullity of Deed of Sale of Real Property is one
relating to property and property rights. Thus, the instant case for
annulment of sale merits survival despite the death of petitioner
Memoracion.

The CA erred in affirming the trial court’s dismissal of the petition.

When a party dies during the pendency of a case, the deceased may be
substituted by his heirs in the pending action.
The reason for this rule is to protect all concerned who may be affected
by the intervening death, particularly the deceased and his estate