Valid donation

This case of Ben is about a donation made in consideration of marriage, or a donation made before its celebration and in favor of one or both of the future spouses, known in law as “donation propter nuptias.”

Ben was the oldest of the six children of the spouses Gardo and Linda. He was engaged to be married to Myrna on June 4, 1944. A few weeks before their marriage or on May 22, his parents Gardo and Linda executed a donation written in the Ilocano dialect and denominated as “Inventario Ti Sagut,” wherein he and his prospective bride Myrna were gifted with four parcels of land, as well as a male cow and one-third portion of his parents’ conjugal house covered by OCT No. 18259. After their marriage, the fact of their marriage was inscribed at the back of the land titles donated.

Gardo and Linda died on Dec. 15, 1962 and Jan. 9, 1968 respectively, leaving as heirs Ben and his two brothers and three sisters. With Ben and Myrna’s permission, the youngest sister Mary took possession and cultivated one of the lands donated to Ben and Myrna with an area of 4,876 square meters and covered by OCT No. 18383 wherein the fact of their marriage was annotated.

Meanwhile, on May 15, 1970, Ben and Myrna registered the Deed of Donation so the titles of the donated land, including OCT 18383, were already cancelled and in lieu thereof, new titles were issued in Ben and Myrna’s name. OCT 18383 was thus replaced by TCT 84897. Mary, however, remained in possession and cultivation of the land.

On March 18, 1973, Ben and his siblings executed a Deed of Partition with Recognition of Rights wherein the remaining properties of their parents, consisting of 12 parcels of land, were distributed among the three sisters because Ben and his two other brothers have already received their shares in the estates of their parents by virtue of previous donations and conveyances. Subsequently, on June 12, 1976, the heirs executed another Deed of Compromise Agreement concerning the distribution of two more parcels of land that were not included in the Deed of Partition. All the other stipulations and provisions in the Deed of Partition were confirmed by the heirs.

Sometime in 1977, when Mary’s husband got sick, her daughter Wilma took over possession of the land with an area of 4,876 sq. meters formerly covered by OCT 18383 and later replaced by TCT 84897 already in the name of Ben and Myrna, which was one of the lands donated to them by their parents.

Sometime in 1983, the apparent calm pervading among the heirs was disturbed. Wilma filed an action for annulment of title against Ben and Myrna before the RTC which was however dismissed. This move prompted Ben and Myrna to file an action for ejectment of Wilma before the Municipal Trial Court, which rendered a decision on Nov. 25, 1985 ordering Wilma to vacate the land.

To counter this ruling, Wilma and her mother Mary filed another complaint before the RTC for the annulment of Ben and Myrna’s TCT No. 84897. They alleged that the donation propter nuptias or Inventario Ti Sagut was spurious because it did not observe the form required by law as there was no written acceptance on the document itself or in a separate public instrument. Were they correct?

No. Unlike ordinary donations, donations propter nuptias are not governed by the same rules, especially as regards the formal requisites. Under the Old Civil Code (Article 1330), acceptance is not necessary to the validity of said gifts. The execution of a public instrument in which the property is specifically described and the celebration of the marriage between the beneficiary couple are enough to effectuate the donation.

Under the new Civil Code, the donation must be in writing to be enforceable and acceptance is necessary, although it need not be expressed for the donation to be valid (Article 129). Implied acceptance is sufficient.

The law applicable here is the law existing at the time of the execution of the contract. Since the donation was executed in 1944, it is the old Civil Code which applies because the New Civil Code took effect only on Aug. 30, 1950. So applying Article 1330 of the Old Civil Code, it does not matter whether or not the donees accepted the donation for its validity.

Indeed, even if the New Civil Code were to be applied, the case of Mary and Wilma would collapse just the same, because implied acceptance of a donation propter nuptias suffices under said Code. So Wilma has to turn over possession of the property to Ben and Myrna (Valencia and Valencia vs. Locquiao et. al., G.R. 122134, Oct. 3, 2003).

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