"x x x.
Two. As for the right of the administrator of Rosita’s estate to the production and examination of the specified documents believed to be in Robert’s possession, Section 6, Rule 87 of the Rules of Court provides that these can be allowed based on the administrator’s belief that the person named in the request for subpoena has documents in his possession that tend to show the decedent’s right to real or personal property. Thus:
Section 6. Proceedings when property concealed, embezzled, or fraudulently conveyed. – If an executor or administrator, heir, legatee, creditor, or other individual interested in the estate of the deceased, complains to the court having jurisdiction of the estate that a person is suspected of having concealed, embezzled, or conveyed away any of the money, goods or chattels of the deceased, or that such person has in his possession or has knowledge of any deed, conveyance, bond, contract or other writing which contains evidence of or tends to disclose the right, title, interest, or claim of the deceased to real or personal estate, or the last will and testament of the deceased, the Court may cite such suspected person to appear before it and may examine him on oath on the matter of such complaint; and if the person so cited refuses to appear, or to answer on such examination or such interrogatories as are put to him, the court may punish him for contempt, and may commit him to prison until he submits to the order of the court. The interrogatories put to any such person, and his answers thereto, shall be in writing and shall be filed in the clerk’s office. (Emphasis supplied)
The production and examination is nothing to be afraid of since the intestate court has no authority to decide who the decedent’s heirs are in connection with such incident which is confined to the examination of documents which may aid the administrator in determining properties believed to belong to the decedent’s estate. What is more, that court has no authority to decide the question of whether certain properties belong to the estate or to the person sought to be examined.[11]
In fact, if after the examination the court has good reason to believe that the person examined is in possession of properties that belong to the deceased, the administrator cannot detain the property. He has to file an ordinary action for recovery of the properties.[12] The purpose of the production and examination of documents is to elicit information or secure evidence from persons suspected of having possession of, or knowledge of properties suspected of belonging to the estate of the deceased. The procedure is inquisitorial in nature, designed as an economical and efficient mode of discovering properties of the estate.[13]
x x x."
