The creditors or assignees of the co-owners may take part in the division of the thing owned in common and object to its being effected without their concurrence.

"x x x .

The disputed property originally formed part of the estate of the late Bibiano Quijano, and passed on to his heirs by operation of law upon his death.22 Prior to the partition, the estate was owned in common by the heirs, subject to the payment of the debts of the deceased.23 In a co-ownership, the undivided thing or right belong to different persons, with each of them holding the property pro indivisoand exercising her rights over the whole property. Each co-owner may use and enjoy the property with no other limitation than that he shall not injure the interests of his co-owners. The underlying rationale is that until a division is actually made, the respective share of each cannot be determined, and every co-owner exercises, together with his co-participants, joint ownership of the pro indiviso property, in addition to his use and enjoyment of it.24

Even if an heir’s right in the estate of the decedent has not yet been fully settled and partitioned and is thus merely inchoate, Article 49325 of the Civil Codegives the heir the right to exercise acts of ownership. Accordingly, when Eliseo sold the disputed property to the respondent in 1990 and 1991, he was only a co-owner along with his siblings, and could sell only that portion that would beallotted to him upon the termination of the co-ownership. The sale did not vest ownership of the disputed property in the respondent but transferred only the seller’s pro indiviso share to him, consequently making him, as the buyer, a co-owner of the disputed property until it is partitioned.26

As Eliseo’s successor-in-interest or assignee, the respondent was vested with the right under Article 497 of the Civil Codeto take part in the partition of the estate and to challenge the partition undertaken without his consent.27 Article 497 states:

Article 497. The creditors or assignees of the co-owners may take part in the division of the thing owned in common and object to its being effected without their concurrence. But they cannot impugn any partition already executed, unless there has been fraud, or in case it was made notwithstanding a formal opposition presented to prevent it, without prejudice to the right of the debtor or assignor to maintain its validity.

The respondent could not deny that at the time of the sale he knew that the property he was buying was notexclusively owned by Eliseo.1âwphi1 He knew, too, that the co-heirs had entered into an oral agreement of partition vis-à-vis the estate, such knowledge being explicitly stated in his answer to the complaint, to wit:

12. That defendant, before he acquired the land from Eliseo Quijano was informed by the latter that the portion sold to him was his share already; that they have orally partitioned the whole lot before defendant acquired the portion from him.28

His knowledge of Eliseo’s co-ownership with his co-heirs, and of their oral agreement of partition notwithstanding, the respondent still did not exercise his right under Article 497. Although Eliseo made it appear to the respondent that the partition had already been completed and finalized, the co-heirs had not taken possession yet oftheir respective shares to signify that they had ratified their agreement, if any. For sure, the respondent was no stranger to the Quijanos, because he himself had served as the lawyer of Eliseo and the petitioner herself.29 In that sense, it would have been easy for him to ascertain whether the representation of Eliseo to him was true. As it turned out, there had been no prior oral agreement among the heirs to partition the estate; otherwise, Eliseo would have questioned the deed of extrajudicial partition because it did not conform to what they had supposedly agreed upon. Had the respondent been vigilant in protecting his interest, he could have availed himself of the rights reserved to him by law, particularly the right to take an active part in the partition and to object to the partition if he wanted to. It was only on September 30, 1992, or two years and five months from the time of the first sale transaction, and a year and two months from the time of the second sale transaction, that the co-heirs executed the deed of extrajudicial partition. Having been silent despite his ample opportunity to participate in or toobject to the partition of the estate, the respondent was bound by whatever was ultimately agreed upon by the Quijanos.

x x x."

See:

G.R. No. 164277, October 8, 2014

FE U. QUIJANO, Petitioner,
vs. ATTY. DARYLL A. AMANTE, Respondent.