Collation

Collation is the return of the donations made by the deceased to his hereditary estate either by adding mathematically the value of said donation or by actually bringing them back to the estate. It takes place when there are compulsory heirs to determine the legitime and the free portion so that there will be equality of distribution among them. But who are the compulsory heirs? This is answered in this case of the estate of Don Pedro.

Don Pedro died intestate (without a will) with only his siblings, Andres, Alfredo and Ana as surviving heirs. He left several properties consisting of lands, shares of stocks and cash in banks. During his lifetime, he donated one of his real estate properties located in a prime area in favor of his sister Ana as evidenced by a duly notarized Deed of Donation.

In the judicial settlement of Don Pedro’s intestate estate, Alfredo and Andres questioned the donation he made in favor of his sister Ana who was then already under the guardianship of her daughters Rina and Angie. They contended that said property donated still formed part of Don Pedro’s estate subject to collation and may be considered advance legitime of Ana.

Although the Probate Court (RTC) found that the Deed of Donation is valid in the light of the presumption of validity of notarized documents, it still held that the property donated is subject to collation in order that it may be computed in the determination of the legitime of each heir. This ruling was sustained by the Court of Appeals (CA). Were the RTC and CA correct?

No. Don Pedro was only survived by his siblings who are his collateral relatives. They are not his compulsory heirs and therefore not entitled to any legitime — that part of the decedent’s property which he cannot dispose of because the law has reserved it for compulsory heirs.

The compulsory heirs may be classified into: (1) primary, (2) secondary and (3) concurring. The primary compulsory heirs are the legitimate children and descendants who have precedence over and exclude the secondary heirs. The secondary heirs are the legitimate parents and ascendants who succeed only in the absence of the primary heirs. The concurring compulsory heirs are the illegitimate children and the surviving spouse who succeed together with the primary or secondary compulsory heirs.

Since Don Pedro had not left any compulsory heir who is entitled to any legitime, he was at liberty to donate all his properties even if nothing was left for his siblings-collateral relatives to inherit. So the property donated to Ana is not subject to collation. His remaining estate will thus be divided among Andres, Alfredo and Ana in equal shares in accordance with Articles 1003 and 1004 of the Civil Code (Arellano vs. Pascual, G.R. 189776, December 15, 2010, 638, SCRA 826).

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