alan joseph a. sheker vs. estate of alice o. sheker

7/25/2019 ALAN JOSEPH A. SHEKER VS. ESTATE OF ALICE O. SHEKER

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G.R. No. 157912, December 13, 2007

ALAN JOSEPH A. SHEKER, PETITIONER,

S.

ESTATE O! ALI"E O. SHEKER, I"TORIA S. #EDINA$

AD#INISTRATRI%, RESPONDENT

A&STRIA$#ARTINE', J.

!(c)*+

Victoria S. Medina is the duly appointed administratrix of the estate

of Alice O. Sheker, which is pending adjudication before the !" of

#ligan "ity. Alan $oseph Sheker filed a money claim against the estate, acontinent claim for agent%s commission due him amounting to

approximately &'(),'*(.(( in the e+ent of the sale of certain parcels of

land belonging to the estate, and the amount of &'*,(((.((, as

reimbursement for expenses incurred and-or to be incurred by petitioner in

the course of negotiating the sale of said realties. Victoria mo+ed to

dismiss the money claim, on the following grounds /0 the re1uisite

docket fee, as prescribed in Section 2a0, ule /3/ of the ules of "ourt,

had not been paid4 2'0 petitioner failed to attach a certification against

non5forum shopping4 and 260 petitioner failed to attach a writtenexplanation why the money claim was not filed and ser+ed personally.

I**e+

Must a contingent claim filed in the probate proceeding contain a

certification against non5forum shopping, failing which such claim should

be dismissed7

.

T-e R/+

!he petition is imbued with merit.

8owe+er, it must be emphasi9ed that petitioner%s contention that

rules in ordinary actions are only supplementary to rules in special

proceedings is not entirely correct.

Section ', ule ', &art ## of the same ules of "ourt pro+ides

Sec. '.Applicability of rules of Civil Actions. : I )-e (b*ece o

*ec/( ro4/*/o*, the rules pro+ided for in ordinary actions shall be, as

far as practicable, applicable in special proceedings.

Stated differently, special pro+isions under &art ## of the ules of

"ourt go+ern special proceedings4 but in the absence of special

pro+isions, the rules pro+ided for in &art # of the ules go+erning ordinary


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ci+il actions shall be applicable to special proceedings, as far as

practicable.

!he word ;practicable< is defined aspossible to practice or

perform; capable of being put into practice, done or accomplished/. !his

means that in the absence of special pro+isions, rules in ordinary actions

may be applied in special proceedings as much as possible and where

doing so would not pose an obstacle to said proceedings. =owhere in the

ules of "ourt does it categorically say that rules in ordinary actions are

inapplicable or merely suppletory to special proceedings. &ro+isions of

the ules of "ourt re1uiring a certification of non5forum shopping or

com(/)* ( //)/()or6 e(/*, a written explanation for non5

personal ser+ice and filing, and the payment of filing fees for money

claims against an estate would not in any way obstruct probate

proceedings, thus, they are applicable to special proceedings such as thesettlement of the estate of a deceased person as in the present case.

!hus, the principal 1uestion in the present case is did the !" err

in dismissing petitioner%s contingent money claim against respondent

estate for failure of petitioner to attach to his motion a certification against

non5forum shopping7

!he "ourt rules in the affirmati+e.

!he certification of non5forum shopping isre/re o6 orcom(/)* ( o)-er //)/()or6 e(/*. !he !" erred in ruling that

a contingent money claim against the estate of a decedent is an initiatory

pleading. #n the present case, )-e 8-oe rob()e rocee/ 8(*

//)/()e o )-e // o )-e e)/)/o or (o8(ce o )-e ecee)*

8/. >nder Sections / and *, ule ?) of the ules of "ourt, after granting

letters of testamentary or of administration, all persons ha+ing money

claims against the decedent are mandated to file or notify the court and

the estate administrator of their respecti+e money claims4 otherwise, they

would be barred, subject to certain exceptions.'

Such being the case, a money claim against an estate is more akin to amotion for creditors% claims to be recogni9ed and taken into consideration

in the proper disposition of the properties of the estate.

A money claim is only an incidental matter in the main action for

the settlement of the decedent%s estate4 more so if the claim is contingent

since the claimant cannot e+en institute a separate action for a mere

contingent claim. 8ence, -ere/ e)/)/oer* co)/e) moe6 c(/m,

o) be/ ( //)/()or6 e(/, oe* o) re/re ( cer)//c()/o

((/*) o$orm *-o/.

:HERE!ORE, the petition is GRANTED. !he Orders of the

egional !rial "ourt of #ligan "ity, @ranch ) dated $anuary /*, '((6 and

April , '((6, respecti+ely, are REERSEDand SET ASIDE. !he

egional !rial "ourt of #ligan "ity, @ranch ), is hereby DIRE"TEDto


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gi+e due course and take appropriate action on petitioner%s money claim

in accordance with ule ?' of the ules of "ourt.

=o pronouncement as to costs.

alan joseph a. sheker vs. estate of alice o. sheker

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