civil law answers to the bar as arranged by topics

7/25/2019 CIVIL LAW Answers to the BAR as Arranged by Topics

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CIVIL LAWAnswers to the BAR as Arranged by Topics (Year 1990-2006)

ANSWERS TO BAR

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS

IN


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Effect of Obiter & Dissenting Opinion; C Decisions (199!)

5 (hat are the !inding eects of an o!iterdictum and a dissenting opinion? ; How cana decision of the #upreme Court !e set aside?ALTERNATIVE ANSWERS:45 !one. biter dictum and opinions are not necessary to thedetermination of a case. They are not bindin and

cannot have the force of official precedents. It is as if the "ourtwere turnin aside from the main topic of the case to collateralsub2ects6 a dissentin opinion affirms or overrules a claim, riht orobliation. It neither disposes nor awards anythin it merelye/presses the view of the dissenter. 7"ivil "ode, Paras8

; A decision of a division of the #upreme

Court may!e set aside !y the #upreme Courtsitting en !anc, a #upreme Court decision may!e set aside !y a contrary ruling of the#upreme Court itself or !y a correctivelegislative act of Congress, although said lawscannot adversely aect those favored prior tothe #upreme Court decision. 2Civil Code,


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E$%it" follows te Law ('##)

t is said that @e8uity follows the law (hat doyou understand !y this phrase, and what areits !asic implications? BSUGGESTED ANSWER:

@+8uity Dollows the law means that courtseercising e8uity /urisdiction are !ound !yrules of law and have no ar!itrary discretion todisregard them. (Arsenal v IAC, 143 SCRA 40[1986]). +8uity is applied only in the a!senceof

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CIVIL LAWAnswers to the BAR as Arranged by Topics (Year 1990-2006)!ut never against statutory law. (Toyota Motor !"l. #CA

$. 9he civil action involves an issue similar orintimately$16 SCRA $36 [199$]).

gnorance of te Law vs. *ista+e of ,act (199-)

s there any dierence in their legal eect!etween ignorance of the law and ignorance ormista0e of fact?SUGGESTED ANSWER:es, there is a dierence. (hile ignorance ofthe law is not an ecuse for not complying

with it, ignorance of fact eliminates criminalintent as long as there is no negligence *Art,'CC. n addition, mista0e on a dou!tful ordiicult 8uestion of law may !e the !asis ofgood faith *Art. B5E. 'CC. &ista0e of factmay, furthermore, vitiate consent in a contractand ma0e it voida!le *Art. $;=>. 'CC.

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:

es. ignorance of the law diers in legal eectfrom gnorance or mista0e of fact. 9he formerdoes not ecuse a party from the legalconse8uences of his conduct while the latterdoes constitute an ecuse and is a legaldefense.nferior Co%rts Decisions (199!)Are decisions of the Court of Appeals consideredlaws?ALTERNATIVE ANSWERS:

$ a 'o, !ut decisions of the Court ofAppeals may serve as precedents for inferiorcourts on points of law not covered !y any#upreme Court decision, and a ruling of theCourt of Appeals may !ecome a doctrine.(M"ran%a vs.. I&'er"al !"l. 1066).! 'o. Fecisions of the Court of Appealsmerely have persuasive, and therefore nomandatory eect. However, a conclusion orpronouncement which covers a point of lawstill undecided may still serve as /udicial guideand it is possi!le that the same may!e raisedto the status of doctrine. f after it has !eensu!/ected to test in the cruci!le of analysis,the #upreme Court should 6nd that it hasmerits and 8ualities suicient for itsconsideration as a rule of /urisprudence *CivilCode,


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ADDITIONAL ANSWER:

related to the issue raised in the criminalaction, and5. the resolution of such issue determineswhether or not the criminal action mayproceed.*c Conse8uences 9he criminal case must !esuspended. 9hus, in a criminal case fordamages to oneJs property, a civil action thatinvolves the ownership of said property should

6rst !e resolved *Fe Leon vs. &a!anag. ;5

PERSONS

Cange of 2ame; 3n0er 45 9#!6 ('##-)

Kirthoussous delos #antos 6led a petition forchange of name with the %ice of the CivilIegistrar of &andaluyong City under theadministrative proceeding provided inIepu!lic Act 'o. =>. He alleged that his 6rstname sounds ridiculous and is etremelydiicult to spell and pronounce. After

complying with the re8uirements of the law,the Civil Iegistrar granted his petition andchanged his 6rst name Kirthoussous to"3esus." His full name now reads "3esus delos#antos."

3esus delos #antos moved to General #antos City to

wor0 in a multi7national company. 9here, he fell in

love and married &ary Grace delos #antos. #he

re8uested him to have his 6rst name changed

!ecause his new name "3esus delos #antos" is the

same name as that of her father who a!andoned her

family and !ecame a notorious drug lord. #he

wanted to forget him. Hence, 3esus 6led another

petition with the %ice of the Local Civil Iegistrar

to change his 6rst name to "Io!erto." He claimed

that the change is warranted !ecause it will

eradicate all vestiges of the infamy of &ary GraceJsfather.

"ll t!e 'et"t"on /or !ane o/ na&e o/ es2s%elos Santos to Ro-erto %elos Santos 2n%erRe'2-l" At o. 9048 'ros'er 5'la"n. (107)SUGGESTED ANSWER: 'o, under the law, 3esusmay only change his name once. n addition,the petition for change of name may !e deniedon the following grounds:*$ 3esus is neither ridiculous, nor taintedwith dishonor nor etremely diicult to writeor pronounce.*5 9here is no confusion to !e avoided orcreated with the use of the registered 6rstname or nic0name of the petitioner.*; 9he petition involves the same entry inthe same document, which was previouslycorrected or changed under this %rder 2Iules

and Iegulations mplementing IA =>.

!at entr"es "n t!e C"v"l Re"stry &ay -e!ane% or orrete% "t!o2t a 2%""al or%er($.+7)SUGGESTED ANSWER: %nly clerical ortypographical errors and 6rst or nic0 namesmay !e changed or corrected without a /udicialorder under IA =>.Clerical or typographical errors refer tomista0es committed in the performance ofclerical wor0 in writing, copying, transcri!ingor typing an entry in the civil register. 9hemista0e is harmless and innocuous, such aserrors in

CIVIL LAWAnswers to the BAR as Arranged by Topics (Year 1990-2006)spelling, visi!le to the eyes or o!vious to theunderstanding,

a!solute community amounting to $ &illion


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SUGGESTED ANSWER:

$. 'o, (ilma cannot successfully claim that(illy had a hereditary share in his fatherJsestate. Nnder Art. ;, Civil Code, two persons"who are called to succeed each other" arepresumed to have died at the same time, inthe a!sence of proof as to which of them died6rst. 9his presumption of simultaneous deathapplies in cases involving the 8uestion ofsuccession as !etween the two who died, whoin this case are mutual heirs, !eing father andson.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

5. et, (ilma can invo0e the presumption ofsurvivorship and claim that one7half of theproceeds should !elong to (illyJs estate,under #ec. ; *// par. B Iule $;$, Iules of

Court, as the dispute does not involvesuccession. Nnder this presumption, theperson !etween the ages of $B and E> years isdeemed to have survived one whose age wasover E> at the time of their deaths. 9he estateof (illy endowed with /uridical personalitystands in place and stead of (illy, as!ene6ciary.

Deat; Effects; im%ltaneo%s Deat (1999)

&r. and &rs. Cru1, who are childless, met witha serious motor vehicle accident with &r. Cru1at the wheel and &rs. Cru1 seated !eside him,resulting in the instant death of &r. Cru1. &rs.Cru1 was still alive when help came !ut shealso died on the way to the hospital. 9hecouple ac8uired properties worth %ne &illion

*>>,>>>.>> Million half share in the absolutecommunity and her =.4> Million inheritance from her husband, or atotal of =.?>= Million Pesos.

n sum, the parents of &r. Cru1 will inherit5B>,>>> ,>>> ,>>>,>>, or one7half of their con/ugal property of >>.>> per set of parents.Deat; Effects; im%ltaneo%s Deat ('###)

! Cristy and her late hus!and Luis had twochildren, Iose and , too0 the two children,then aged $> and $5, with her on a !oat trip toCe!u. Nnfortunately, the vessel san0 en route,and the !odies of the three were never found.'one of the survivors ever saw them on thewater. %n the settlement of her mother7in7lawJs estate, Cristy 6les a claim for a share ofher estate on the ground that the same wasinherited !y her children from theirgrandmother in representation of their father,and she inherited the same from them. (ill

her action prosper? *5

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

'o, her action will not prosper. #ince there

was no proof as to who died 6rst, all the threeare deemed to have died at the same time andthere was no transmission of rights from oneto another, applying Article ; of the 'ewCivil Code.

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER:

'o, her action will not prosper. Nnder Article; of the 'ew Civil Code, inasmuch as there isno proof as to who died 6rst, all the three arepresumed to have died at the same time andthere could !e no transmission of rights amongthem. Her children not having inherited fromtheir grandmother. Cristy has no right to sharein her mother7inlawJs estate. #he cannot sharein her own right as she is not a legal heir of hermother7in7law. 9he survivorship provision of

Iule $;$ of the Iules of Court does not applyto the pro!lem. t applies only to those caseswhere the issue involved is not succession.%ri0ical Capacit" vs. Capacit" to 5ct (199-)Fistinguish /uridical capacity from capacity to act,SUGGESTED ANSWER:

3NIFCAL CA


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SUGGESTED ANSWER:

$. 3uanJs capacity to contract marriageis governed !y $, Dilipe,then domiciled in Los Angeles, California, died,leaving one child !y Delisa, and another one !y#agundina. He left a will which he left hisestate to #agundina and his two children andnothing to Delisa. #agundina 6les a petition forthe pro!ate of DelipeQs will. Delisa 8uestionsthe intrinsic validity of the will, arguing thather marriage to Delipe su!sisted despite thedivorce o!tained !y Delipe !ecause saiddivorce is not recogni1ed in the > .

*5. (ith respect to Delipe the divorce is valid,!ut with respect to Delisa it is not. 9he divorcewill not capacitate Delisa to remarry !ecauseshe and Delipe were !oth Dilipinos at the timeof their marriage. However, in F%3 %pinion'o. $; series of $==;, Delisa is allowed toremarry !ecause the in/ustice sought to !ecorrected !y Article 5E also o!tains in her

case.SUGGESTED ANSWER:O. 9he foreigner who eecutes his will in the


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SUGGESTED ANSWER:

C.


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SUGGESTED ANSWER:

A. es. As stated in the pro!lem. #wiss lawdoes not allow illegitimate children to inheritHence, 3ane cannot inherit the property of3aco! under > a month.t was su!mitted to and approved !y the>.>> amonth. Having no other choice, Alma signedthe contract !ut when she returned to the>.>> a month. OothFragon #ervices, Ltd. and its local agentclaimed that the second contract is valid underthe laws of Hong0ong, and therefore !indingon Alma. s their claim correct? +plain.

SUGGESTED ANSWER:

9heir claim is not correct. A contract is the law!etween the parties !ut the law can disregardthe contract if it is contrary to pu!lic policy.9he provisions of the $=- Constitution on theprotection of la!or and on social /ustice *#ec.$>. Art em!ody a pu!lic policy of the>. 9he relations !etweencapital and la!or are not merelycontractual. 9hey are so impressedwith pu!lic interest that la!orcontracts must yield to the commongood. 9herefore, such contracts aresu!/ect to the special laws on la!orunions, collective !argaining, stri0esand loc0outs, closed shop, wages,wor0ing conditions, hours of la!or andsimilar su!/ects."

ALTERNATIVE ANSWER

A. (hen a contract has a foreign element such

as in the factual setting stated in the pro!lemwhere one of the parties is a foreigncorporation, the contract can !e sustained asvalid particularly the stipulation epressingthat the contract is governed !y the laws of theforeign country. Given this generally acceptedprinciple of international law, the contract!etween &aritess and 3AL is valid and itshould therefore !e enforced.5pplicable Laws; laws governing marriages (199')n $==, &aris, a Dilipino citi1en, married her!oss 3ohnson, an American citi1en, in 9o0yo ina wedding ceremony cele!rated according to3apanese laws. %ne year later, 3ohnsonreturned to his native 'evada, and he validly

o!tained in that state an a!solute divorce fromhis wife &aris.

After &aris received the 6nal /udgment ofdivorce, she married her childhood sweetheart


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SUGGESTED ANSWER:

Assuming that the estate of the decedent is!eing settled in the


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