RAMIREZ v.

BALTAZAR

GR No.L-25049, August 30, 1968

22 SCRA 918

FACTS: Victoriana Eguaras, single, mortgaged a real estate to spouses Baltazar, defendants in this case.
Upon demise of Victoriana, the mortgagees, as creditors of the deceased, filed a petition for the
intestate proceedings of Victoriana's estate, alleging further that plaintiffs Felimon and Monica Ramirez
are heirs of the deceased. Felimon was later appointed as adminstrator but did not qualify so that
Artemio Diawan was appointed as judicial administrator of the estate. The mortgagees then filed a
foreclosure of the property in question and succeeded, after Diawan failed to file an answer against the
petition. The foreclosure sale ensued, the property was bought by the mortgagees themselves and the
sale was confirmed by the court. Felimon sued for the annulment of the entire foreclosure proceedings,
alleging among others the failure of the judicial administrator to protect their interests. Defendants
contended that plaintiffs have no legal capacity to sue and hava no cause of action.

ISSUE: Have plaintiffs the cause of action against the defendant?

HELD: Yes. There is no question that the rights to succession are automatically transmitted to the heirs
from the moment of the death of the decedent. While, as a rule, the formal declaration or recognition to
such successional rights needs judicial confirmation, this Court has, under special circumstances,
protected these rights from encroachments made or attempted before the judicial declaration. In
Pascual vs. Pascual, it was ruled that although heirs have no legal standing in court upon the
commencement of testate or intestate proceedings, this rule admits of an exception as "when the
administrator fails or refuses to act in which event the heirs may act in his place."