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Table of Contents
Who may file an action?
May the heirs be the real parties-in-interest of an action pertaining to the estate of
the decedent?
1
In filing an action related to defending or protecting property of the estate, must all
the heirs be impleaded as plaintiffs?
2
How can one heir represent the other heirs in filing an action?
In Emnace v. Court of Appeals4, where no administrator had yet been appointed, the
Supreme Court held that a surviving spouse does not need to be appointed as executrix or
administratrix of the estate before she can file an action. She and her children are complainants
in their own right as successors of [the decedent].
In filing an action related to defending or protecting property of the estate, must all the
heirs be impleaded as plaintiffs?
Yes. In Speed Distributing Corp. v. Court of Appeals 5, the complainant sought the nullification
of a Deed of Absolute Sale, as the surviving spouse and as one of the compulsory heirs of the
decedent. While the Supreme Court cited Emnace v. Court of Appeals 6 to affirm the
complainants right to sue as one of the decedents heirs, it held that all of the compulsory heirs
of the decedent are indispensable parties to such case and must be impleaded therein.
Section 7, Rule 3 of the Rules of Court provides that parties-in-interest without whom on final
determination can be had of an action shall be joined either as plaintiffs or defendants. Thus, the
rule on joining indispensable parties to an action applies to plaintiffs as well as defendants.
In Servicewide Specialists, Inc. v. Court of Appeals 7, the Supreme Court held that no
final determination of a case shall be had if there has been a failure to implead all the
indispensable parties to an action.
However, non-joinder of indispensable parties to an action is curable.
In Macababbad, Jr. v. Masirag8, the Supreme Court held that the Regional Trial Court
had erroneously dismissed the case on the ground of non-joinder of indispensable parties. The
Supreme Court applied Section 11, Rule 3 of the Rules of Court, which states: [] neither
misjoinder nor non-joinder of parties is ground for dismissal of an action. Parties may be
dropped or added by order of the court on motion of any party or on its own initiative at any
stage of the action and on such terms as are just []
In other words, had A filed a case against B without impleading co-heir C, an
indispensable party, such defect alone is not a ground for dismissal under Section 11, Rule 3 of
the Rules of Court. The Court will allow A to implead C, as a party-plaintiff, while the case is
still pending. However, pursuant to Section 11 of Rule 3 of the Rules of Court, the Court will not
make a final determination until C has been impleaded.
How can one heir represent the other heirs in filing an action?
The other heirs may deliver a power of attorney in favor of one of them. In this case, a special
power of attorney9 is necessary in order to grant one of the heirs the authority to represent all of
the other heirs in this specific action.